<> Ask the Pastor Pastor Walter P. Snyder Q1: Is the word pastor specific to the Lutheran Church? How does its meaning differ from, say, minister? Q2: Matthew 23:9 reads, "Do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." How do you justify using the title "Father" and calling pastors "fathers" in light of Lutheran theology and Scripture? A1&2: "Pastor" comes from the Latin for shepherd. Pastors shepherd God's flock. In the Old and New Testaments, God calls men to tend His "sheep." Ministers are "under-shepherds of the Good Shepherd." A Biblical example is Christ's command to Peter: "Feed my sheep." "Minister" denotes one who acts as a ministering servant. Included in the term are the ideas of being an envoy or representative. The minister serves God and his congregation. He acts as God's envoy, clearly speaking the Word of Life and delivering the gifts of forgiveness and new life to the Church. Current American usage of "father" is almost exclusively Catholic, Episcopal, or Orthodox. It was used in early Lutheranism, but disappeared under the influence pietism in the 17th and 18th centuries, coupled with some Lutherans' almost rabid anti-Catholicism. However, Paul is not shy about claiming spiritual fatherhood. He says in 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 that he was writing "to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church." John assumes much the same as he uses the possessive in his first epistle: "My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin.... (1 John 2:1)" He continues throughout, calling his readers "children" and "little children." However, neither Paul nor John presumes to take away God's fatherhood for himself. Both clearly speak of their heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Lutheran Theology, our Large Catechism comments on "Honor your father and your mother" by speaking of a realm of fatherhood for all in authority, whether in society or the Church. The commandment's very wording shows that God recognizes earthly fathers. So as not to make Christ contradict other parts of Scripture, we usually take this section, which also condemns the titles "rabbi" (teacher) and "leader" to be hyperbolic. It counters the self-important, self-titled religious leaders amid the Scribes and Pharisees. Martin Luther writes, "In this commandment belongs a further statement regarding all kinds of obedience to persons in authority who have to command and to govern. For all authority flows and is propagated from the authority of parents. For where a father is unable alone to educate his rebellious and irritable child, he employs a schoolmaster to instruct him; if he be too weak, he enlists the aid of his friends and neighbors; if he departs this life, he delegates and confers his authority and government upon others who are appointed for the purpose." He continues, "The same also is to be said of obedience to civil government, which (as we have said) is all embraced in the estate of fatherhood and extends farthest of all relations. For here the father is not one of a single family, but of as many people as he has tenants, citizens, or subjects." Luther moves on to the church: "Thus we have two kinds of fathers presented in this commandment, fathers in blood and fathers in office, or those to whom belongs the care of the family, and those to whom belongs the care of the country. Besides these there are yet spiritual fathers... Those only are called spiritual fathers who govern and guide us by the Word of God; as St. Paul boasts his fatherhood 1 Cor. 4, 15, where he says: In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel. Now, since they are fathers they are entitled to their honor, even above all others. But here it is bestowed least; for the way which the world knows for honoring them is to drive them out of the country and to grudge them a piece of bread, and, in short, they must be (as says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 4, 13) as the filth of the world and everybody's refuse and footrag. "Yet there is need that this also be urged upon the populace, that those who would be Christians are under obligation in the sight of God to esteem them worthy of double honor who minister to their souls, that they deal well with them and provide for them." That's it for now. You can submit questions by mail to "Ask the Pastor," PO Box 1080, Jasper, Texas, 75951; E-mail xrysostom@aol.com; or just stop me on the street. Walter Snyder is the pastor of St. Paul and Faith Lutheran Churches in Jasper and Woodville and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe? A Study Guide in Christian Teachings for Adults." Copyright (c) 1998 by Walter P. Snyder Permission is granted by author to reproduce or retransmit this by any means, provided that its content is not altered, that this notice of copyright and permission is included, and that no financial gain is realized.