In our last post, I shared about my answer to the question, “What church do you go to?” and the answer, “I belong to the church in Goiânia, Brazil.” Today, we’ll cover the question, “Who is your pastor?” My answer to this question is also quite Biblical, but it shocks the religious. It is, “My pastor is Jesus.”

Everything I share in this post, I explained in detail in my book I Am Persuaded. I am just sharing the overview of my answer here.

“Who is your pastor?”

When I say, “My pastor is Jesus,” many respond, “But you need a spiritual covering.” I ask them to show me where the Bible says that. A Bible study shows that every Biblical sense of the word “covering” is a role that belongs to God and God alone. The primary meaning of “covering” in the Bible is “atonement.” It is also the role of a husband to his wife. Having anyone other than the Lord himself “cover” us in any Biblical sense of the word is idolatry and spiritual adultery. Don’t put anyone else in the role that belongs to the Lord alone.

It is important to stay accountable to other Christians, as long as we are accountable first to the Lord himself. It’s important to learn from other Christians who have more experience, but only to the extent that they imitate Christ. The notion of “spiritual covering” goes far beyond the importance of being humble and teachable. It goes beyond anything the Bible teaches. It’s another tradition of men that negates God’s word.

Many talking about “spiritual covering” are repeating the errors of the Shepherding movement and of other groups that essentially turned into cults in the past. It was not that those groups exaggerated and became “too authoritarian.” It was that their whole hierarchical paradigm was in error. Some of them recognized that error and later repented, acknowledging that they had even destroyed families by their error. Those who insist on having a person as your “spiritual covering” might think I’m unteachable. Rather, I am convinced that they are being unteachable. They refuse to submit their doctrine to scripture and they imitate the errors of those who came before them. They should learn from the repentance of Derek Prince and others who got it wrong the first time!

The New Testament uses the singular noun “pastor” a dozen times in reference to Jesus himself, and never uses it in the singular form to refer to anybody other than Jesus. So while the religious consider it quite scandalous to respond “My pastor is Jesus,” my language is quite Biblical and theirs is not.

I’m 39 years old, I’ve been around Charismatic churches since I was a kid, I’ve been to a dozen countries, and I follow events in the worldwide church. I have repeatedly seen the “spiritual covering” and singular pastor paradigms lead people into error instead of protecting them. Examples? The pastor was in adultery and many people knew but everyone hid it. The pastor was caught acting as a sexual predator for the umpteenth time, and half the church still calls him “my pastor” and wants to follow him. The pastor teaches human traditions and nobody dares submit his teaching to scripture. Even worse, the pastor is preaching blatant heresy and the vast majority of the church is still following him. They are willing to follow their pastor right away from Jesus and right away from the gospel. Yet many of the people in those very churches would consider me “rebellious” or “unaccountable” because I say, “My pastor is Jesus.”

This tendency to idolize “the pastor” is even worse in the culture I’m in now, in which many people have a background in Catholicism and the pastor is sometimes treated as the mediator between God and man, when there is only one mediator, Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 2:5) It is taboo for many to question anything a pastor says….even if what the pastor says directly contradicts scripture.

As we demonstrated in I Am Persuaded, what most people today see as the role of a pastor is exaggerated. It isn’t healthy for pastors, and it isn’t healthy for the church. This is evidenced by the immaturity of the church and the high rates of pastoral burn-out, depression, isolation, and other problems. The paradigm in which everyone comes to receive from “the pastor” keeps God’s people as spectators and hinders them from ever becoming disciples of Jesus. In the local churches where I live, most people who have been in church for more than 20 years are still not disciples doing what Jesus taught his followers to do.

Teachability, Humility, and a Plurality of Elders

I believe in humility and teachability.
I believe in learning from those who have come before us, from both their successes and mistakes.
I believe in being an “open book” with nothing to hide, and accountability.
I believe in having people in our lives who can give a godly rebuke.
I believe we should recognize, honor, and learn from the experience of elders in the church, imitating them to the extent that they imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Yet the New Testament teaches a plurality of elders and pastors. Their role is important, but limited. It can never come close to the role of Christ himself. The only one who has the honor of being the singular, “my pastor,” is Jesus himself.

The New Testament says, in the context of teaching, that, “We all stumble in many ways” or, “We all err in many ways.” Jesus is the only one who doesn’t. If I put anybody but Jesus in the singular role of, “My pastor,” I will imitate their errors, not only their strengths!”

As I explained in I Am Persuaded, the Greek New Testament commands Christians to “be persuaded by” elders, not to unquestioningly obey them. In many churches, religious traditions take precedence over God’s word and there are certain traditions you just can’t question. For that reason, I’m making it clear in our “Open Heaven” discipleship group that you don’t “have to” agree with me, and that questions are welcome if you’re not so sure about what I’m saying. This protects the church from error and helps us to hold to the Bible as our standard. When I teach others, I want them to be convinced of truth for themselves. Christian culture today is full of religiosities that come from parroting others rather than being persuaded and grounded in scripture.

Many people have played a pastoring role in my life over the years. I’ve humbled myself and learned from them. But I often received something from one person that was beneficial, yet that same person was in error in another area. God used another “elder” to correct me where the first one had led me astray! This attitude of learning from different people yet following Christ is healthy. Calling anybody but Jesus himself, “my pastor,” is not.

Religiosity is Concerned With Appearances, Not With The Heart

Matthew 23:27-28 (NIV) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness…”

Religiosity is concerned with appearances, not reality. I could easily pick one group here that I would call, “my church” and call their leader, “my pastor.” But I doubt that doing so would add any healthy relationship or godly accountability to my life. Jesus himself closely pastored a handful of people, including the 12 and a few others such as Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Yet in today’s religious paradigm, often thousands of people are expected to call one person they rarely or never even talk to, “my pastor.” In this paradigm, being a “pastor” often has very little to do with pastoring. The only point of calling someone “my pastor” who is not pastoring me would be to satisfy the demands of religiosity. But it would not be honest!

A young man here was worried that I said, “Jesus is my pastor.” I asked what he thought I should do differently to have “a pastor.” He didn’t know. If I attend your Sunday morning services and call your leader “my pastor,” will that add any accountability to my life? Will it make that man more of an example to me of walking in the Spirit and imitating Jesus than he would have been if I didn’t call him “my pastor?” Will I suddenly have someone to talk with about my struggles? No.

In Greek and most other languages, “pastor” is the same word as “shepherd.” Just calling someone “my pastor” doesn’t make him a shepherd to you. Shepherding is what the shepherd does, not what the sheep do. A lack of shepherds is not the fault of the sheep. Although we have many people called “pastors,” true servants who shepherd God’s flock are lacking. Many who are shepherding God’s flock are not called “pastors,” and many who are called “pastors” are not actually shepherding most of the people who call them “pastor.”

For real shepherding to happen, we must have a plurality of elders with Jesus himself as the chief Shepherd. In Jesus’ day, there were many religious leaders, yet Jesus had compassion on the people because they were like “sheep without a shepherd.” Calling a person “pastor” doesn’t make him a pastor. Jesus didn’t tell the people, “You’re in spiritually dangerous territory. You don’t have a pastor.” Rather, he pastored them himself. People who are concerned about a lack of pastoring should become pastors. They should be concerned with the lack of true shepherds in the church. The religious blame sheep for not having a shepherd instead of realizing that the problem lies in the lack of servants doing the work of shepherding God’s flock. Humble under-shepherds will have no problem with the Christians they serve calling Jesus, the chief Shepherd, “my pastor.”

The Lord has used many people to teach me, correct me, and give me an example to imitate. But why would I even call someone “a pastor” to me, much less “my pastor,” unless I see something in their life that I want to imitate and learn from? In many cases, in the local churches and the religious system as it is, I see errors I want to avoid, not examples I want to imitate.

The Religious Paradigm About Pastors Leads the Church into Error

The demand that you choose someone to call “my pastor” is sometimes presented with the pretext of “protection,” but what’s really behind it is usually the desire for control. Submitting to that control would lead me into disobedience to Jesus. I could not be ministering to people on the streets and in recovery houses or helping the poor to the extent that I am if I submitted to the control and demands of a local religious organization. Some may criticize, but I don’t believe anybody in any of the local churches is doing the work that I am. Some are to a much lesser extent, but more is needed.

Rather than protecting from error, I’ve often seen the notions of a personal pastor and “spiritual covering” used to excuse error and escape accountability. Nationally known preachers living in sin or teaching serious doctrinal error have often evaded accountability to God’s Word and to the church by saying, “I’m submitted to such-and-such” a person. Because they consider themselves to be the “spiritual fathers,” they are the ones who are unteachable and unable to relate as brothers with one Father. This paradigm is about appearances, not about the heart.

Some think I’m dangerous and susceptible to error because I say, “My pastor is Jesus.” If anybody is offended by me making such a thoroughly Biblical statement, it is because they are the one in error! Refusing to allow others to usurp Jesus’ role as the chief Shepherd has protected me from error. It has kept me from falling away from Jesus when I’ve seen so many leaders fail. Many who once called one of those leaders “my pastor” are no longer even walking with Jesus.

Do you think I need more pastoring? OK. Imitate Jesus and show me an example I want to follow. Maybe start by taking the time to talk with me instead of talking with others about how you think I need a pastor! 🙂

I dedicated my life to missions as a young teenager and never looked back. I felt love flowing through my whole body like a current and began to weep for nations. I learned languages to share the gospel. I couldn’t turn back just because few stood with me. I wanted relationship, fellowship, communion. Few offered it. It was lonely when I moved to Brazil!

The apostle Paul said “Everyone in the province of Asia has abandoned me” and “at my first defense, no one came to my support, but everybody deserted me.” I also felt abandoned by many. Yet a few friends from the United States encouraged me throughout the years. Bob Geiger, a Brethren in Christ Pastor who was a missionary in Colombia and helps people in drug and alcohol recovery in Lancaster PA, told me I could give people his reference if they asked about my “sending church.” I was involved in their church when I lived in the United States. It was a group meeting in houses, mostly of people getting off drugs and alcohol.

I call Bob every few months, as well as talking to my parents and a few other friends. Many of the people who’ve been the greatest encouragement are Facebook friends. When our lives were in danger and the pastor of my old church in the US said they couldn’t stand with us, it was blog readers and Facebook friends who prayed and helped us to care for Edgar, an elderly man we rescued. I connect online with Stuart Morrison from South Africa and other distant friends to talk and pray. I have good Christian friends in Brazil, both in my city and in other cities. Instead of asking “Who is your pastor?” it is better to ask about relationships and healthy connections in the body of Christ!