By: Zach Collins When most religious people use the term “pastor”, they have in mind the primary leader of a congregation or a man-made system which exists in the denominational world, known as the pastoral system. Imagine posing this question to a random person on the street: What is a pastor? What answers would you receive? Perhaps, the “senior pastor” would come to mind, or the one who does the preaching, teaching, and visiting in the local congregation. Or, perhaps, the “pastor system” would come to mind, a man-made and unscriptural system of church organization where one man is given the authority over a group of people. With the misunderstanding of biblical terminology comes the misuse of biblical terminology. However, as the students of the word, it is prudent for us to ensure that our usage and view of the word “pastor” coincides with the biblical definition of the word “pastor.” Is the Bible’s definition of the term pastor the same as my understanding of the term pastor? Let’s explore these thoughts.             The term pastor is derived from the Greek word poimen, meaning to shepherd. In fact, while the Greek word poimen is employed 18 times in the New Testament, it is only rendered as the term pastor once. In defining the miraculously endowed roles of the first-century church, Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11 (NKJV), “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers…” It’s important to note that the role …