“Whose Business Trip?”

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Was it God's intention for the pastor to be both a pastor and an evangelist who travels and holds weekly meetings in other churches?

Sincerely,
Ramblin’ Man

Dear Ramblin’ Man,

A pastor is not the same office as an evangelist.  Timothy was an evangelist (2 Tim 4:5), but he was not a pastor.  In fact, Timothy was told to appoint pastors in the congregation where he preached (1 Tim 3:1).  A pastor is the same as an elder (1 Pet 5:1-3).  An elder/pastor is also called a bishop (Tit 1:5-7).  An elder/pastor/bishop is appointed to oversee the work of a local congregation.  He only has authority in that particular congregation (the church “among them” – 1 Pet 5:2).  The qualifications for a pastor are laid out in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9.

An evangelist is an entirely different position.  ‘Evangelist’ means ‘proclaimer of a message’.  An evangelist is the same thing as a preacher.  Preachers and evangelists have no decision-making authority within a local congregation.  They are only tasked with preaching and proclaiming God’s Word from the pulpit (2 Tim 4:1-5).

An elder may also serve as an evangelist, but the two jobs are separate.  Peter was an apostle (Matt 10:2), an elder/pastor (1 Pet 5:1) and an evangelist (Acts 2:14).  Peter fulfilled all three roles, but each role was distinctly different.  A man can go preaching and holding meetings as an evangelist at multiple congregations, but he is not a pastor outside of his home congregation.

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