Daily Reading

QUESTION: In light of a statement in your correspondence course that “Nowhere do you read of a pastor (preacher) being head over a congregation,” would you explain Ephesians 4:11?
ANSWER: The thrust of the paragraph in which this statement was made was to show that the denominational world has departed from the scriptural pattern for the organization of the church. The denominations have rejected the divine pattern by assigning the title of “pastor” to the preacher, or the evangelist, thus giving him the rule over the local congregation. First the word “pastor” is never scripturally applied to the preacher or evangelist. The words preacher and evangelist refer to the same function in the church. In other words, the evangelist is the preacher! Note that Paul told Timothy, in II Timothy 4:2, to “preach the word,” and then in II Timothy 4:5, he told him to “do the work of an evangelist.” Therefore, they are the same!