The entire problem devolves around the concept of "the pastor".
The Lord never intended one man to be "the pastor", nor be an "employee" of the church. Please note carefully: For this cause left I [Paul] thee [Titus] in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: (Titus 1:5).
A careful study of the New Testament shows:
1. That every local church was supposed to have a presbytery -- a plurality of elders -- not one man as "the pastor". These men would need to meet the qualifications of elders as spelled out, and women would be excluded. Elders would need to be mature married Christian men, who had the gift of teaching.
2. The elders were to be the pastor/elder/bishops within that church. There would be no one-man ministry, and that pattern had been established since the time of Moses. Each one would exercise the spiritual gifts he had received.
3. The office was that of elder-bishop and the spiritual gifts within the presbytery would be (1) evangelists, (2) pastors, (3) teachers (4) exhorters, (5) ministers, (6) rulers or governors, and (7) helpers. Perhaps seven would be the ideal number, just as seven deacons were appointed in the church at Jerusalem.
4. The elders would be the shepherds and would focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word, while the deacons would be the money-managers and general managers, making sure that the material needs of the flock were addressed.
5. Those elders who excelled and labored in the Word and doctrine would be well-compensated, but not all elders would need compensation if some were self-supporting. However those who preached the Gospel would live of the Gospel.
6. The shepherds would watch carefully over the flock, and minister to the individuals as well as the group. The pulpit ministry would be only one aspect of shepherding, which would include personal oversight of each sheep, as spelled out in Ezekiel 34.
7. Faithful men would teach other faithful men within the assembly, so that none would have to go outside the church to be "trained" for the ministry. The ministry would not be a career but a calling, and the money-motive would need to be secondary.
All of this was subverted early on within Christendom. The Orthodox and Catholic churches veered away from this, and created a division between clergy and laity, while appointing one bishop over several churches. This was further enhanced by a hierarchy within the Catholic church (leading up to the pope), and the introduction of Scholasticism and seminaries made academic qualifications more important than spiritual. Today churches want their pastors to be Masters of Divinity else they won't even bother to talk to them. Many have the title "doctor" when Christ expressly forbade the clerical titles of "doctor" or "rabbi" or "reverend", "right reverend" etc.
Chances are that there will never be a return to the NT pattern, thus the problems will remain.
The Lord never intended one man to be "the pastor", nor be an "employee" of the church. Please note carefully: For this cause left I [Paul] thee [Titus] in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: (Titus 1:5).
A careful study of the New Testament shows:
1. That every local church was supposed to have a presbytery -- a plurality of elders -- not one man as "the pastor". These men would need to meet the qualifications of elders as spelled out, and women would be excluded. Elders would need to be mature married Christian men, who had the gift of teaching.
2. The elders were to be the pastor/elder/bishops within that church. There would be no one-man ministry, and that pattern had been established since the time of Moses. Each one would exercise the spiritual gifts he had received.
3. The office was that of elder-bishop and the spiritual gifts within the presbytery would be (1) evangelists, (2) pastors, (3) teachers (4) exhorters, (5) ministers, (6) rulers or governors, and (7) helpers. Perhaps seven would be the ideal number, just as seven deacons were appointed in the church at Jerusalem.
4. The elders would be the shepherds and would focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word, while the deacons would be the money-managers and general managers, making sure that the material needs of the flock were addressed.
5. Those elders who excelled and labored in the Word and doctrine would be well-compensated, but not all elders would need compensation if some were self-supporting. However those who preached the Gospel would live of the Gospel.
6. The shepherds would watch carefully over the flock, and minister to the individuals as well as the group. The pulpit ministry would be only one aspect of shepherding, which would include personal oversight of each sheep, as spelled out in Ezekiel 34.
7. Faithful men would teach other faithful men within the assembly, so that none would have to go outside the church to be "trained" for the ministry. The ministry would not be a career but a calling, and the money-motive would need to be secondary.
All of this was subverted early on within Christendom. The Orthodox and Catholic churches veered away from this, and created a division between clergy and laity, while appointing one bishop over several churches. This was further enhanced by a hierarchy within the Catholic church (leading up to the pope), and the introduction of Scholasticism and seminaries made academic qualifications more important than spiritual. Today churches want their pastors to be Masters of Divinity else they won't even bother to talk to them. Many have the title "doctor" when Christ expressly forbade the clerical titles of "doctor" or "rabbi" or "reverend", "right reverend" etc.
Chances are that there will never be a return to the NT pattern, thus the problems will remain.