At the building where meet to worship we have a voicemail service provided by the phone company.  On a nearly daily basis we get a variety of calls for a variety of reasons.  Invariably, someone will ask for the Pastor to call them back.  As the one who returns the calls, most of the time the conversation will go something like this, " thank you Pastor for returning my call."  " Well, I'm the preacher here at Northside, but I'm not a Pastor." "Oh, I thought all preachers are Pastors".... The concept of the preacher being the Pastor is the way most people think.
What does the word mean?  That's our lesson for this morning.
1)  WHERE IS THE WORD PASTOR FOUND IN THE BIBLE?
     a.  Ephesians 4:11 - the Greek word is poimen - meaning a shepherd. Used only once in English.
     b.  What does a shepherd do?  It watches over (oversees) the flock. 
     c.   There are numerous other references to the word shepherd in the Bible, both literally and figuratively (Luke 2:15; John 10:11; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25).
2)  WHAT IS THE PASTOR?
    a.  The pastors in the New Testament were the "elders"
         1.  1 Peter 5: 1-2; Acts 20: 28 and Acts 20:17
         2.  Elders had (and have) the responsibility to "shepherd" the congregation they oversee.
         3.  Different terms are used to describe the responsibilites of the elder.
              a.  presbuteros - Elders - Acts 14:23 - older men
              b. episkopos - Bishops - overseers - Acts 20:28
              c.  poimen - Pastor - shepherd Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-2
              d.  a variety of responsibilities for one individual!
    b.  An evangelist is never called a pastor in the Bible
3)  WHY IS AN EVANGELIST, PREACHER, OR MINISTER CALLED A PASTOR BY MANY?
     a.  First, we need to define some terms
          1.  Preacher - a kerux - one who heralds or proclaims
              a.  Mt 3:1 - John the Baptist; Mt 4: 17, 23; 9:35 - Jesus; Acts 8:5; Acts 9:20; 2 Tim 4:2 - Timothy was charged to preach the Word; Romans 10: 14-15 - It's role is so important
          2.  Evangelist - used 3 times in the New Testament, the Philip in Acts 21:8 is later described as an 
evangelist(8:4-5, 40); Timothy was charged to do that work in 2 Timothy 4:5. 
               a.  this is someone who's an euaggelistes, who proclaims the euangelion (a proclaimer who proclaims the Good News)
                    1.  Notice what Paul instructs Timothy in both letters to the young evangelist and also what recorded in Titus:  (1 Timothy 1: 3-4; 4:6,12,13,16; 5:19-21), (2 Timothy 2:2,15; 4:1-5), ( Titus 1:5; 2:2)
          3.   Minister - a diakonos - a servant - this term is not limited to the preacher or evangelist but anyone who serves a congregation in some way (i.e. deacons, inherent in the name). In the strict sense of the word an elder is even a servant because they serve God in watching over the flock, but a minster is not necessarily a pastor.  Evangelists or preachers are ministers - 1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 3:6; 6:4; 11:23 -an evangelist reaches out to the lost as ministers of the New Covenant.
     b.  An evangelist proclaims the Word
     c.  A gospel preacher is not a "pastor", shepherd, elder or counselor.  A brother put it this way in an article about the preacher and his work, "The work of a preacher is short and simple in it's description, but large and vital in it's scope.  Men dissatisfied with God's simple work have devised many other roles and work for their preachers.  By this device, Satan delays, distracts and diverts the important work of the King's royal heralds into a thousand channels.  Simply preaching the Word is not sufficient work for preachers, according to some men.  As churches have expanded their work and mission beyond what the Lord gave, they have expanded the "job description" of a preacher.  Preachers are to be pastors or"shepherds" and counselors busy visiting, overseeing and guiding "the flock.  Some want preachers to be caretakers and superintendents, managing and supervising the church building and facilities.  This man-made work has become so bloated that in recent years it has been divided up among several specialties: the 'Youth Minister', the "Singles Minister', the 'Outreach Minister, the 'Pulpit Minister' and more..  Brother Floyd Decker wrote an article delineating 13 points why he left the Christian Church.  This is what he says in point number 8.."The Christian Church elevates its preachers above the rest of the members by using such titles as Pastor, superintendent, President and Doctor, but the church of Christ does not .  Also the Christian Church has forced its ministers into the denominational "pastor system" by hinting, suugesting, complaining, and even demanding that its preachers run after the members, taxi the people here and there, etc. Brother Decker goes on to discuss how deacons serve in the congregation and there are elders who are entrusted with the"souls" of the members.  A preacher is free to study, meditate, pray and carry on an unhampered work of preaching the gospel to the lost (2 Timothy 2: 15; 4: 1-5) and if a church does not have elders it can no more scripturally introduce the "Pastor System" than it can introduce the piano because it has poor singing.
This certainly doesn't mean that someone who is a preacher has no responsibility when they can help as any Christian should.
Conclusion:  Simply put, the preacher is not to be called the Pastor.  But, it's interesting to note that someone who is a preacher can also be appointed as an elder, but that does not translate into a "title" of pastor.