In part two of the Five Fold Ministry series, Jeremy Haroldson tackles the most confused and misapplied title in modern organizational leadership: Pastor. His opening thesis is direct and disruptive: the biblical Pastor (from the Greek word Poimen) is not a CEO, not an administrator, not a public speaker—but fundamentally a Shepherd.
This isn't semantic nitpicking. It's a diagnostic for why so many leaders burn out, why organizations feel cold despite having "pastors" on staff, and why people leave feeling unseen. When you force an apostle or evangelist into the "pastor box," you get misery and neglect. When you expect a true shepherd to run building programs and manage corporate strategy, you destroy their soul and abandon the flock.
Jeremy's tone is urgent as he dismantles the modern distortion: "The Pastor is the most misunderstood and confused title in the modern context, often incorrectly applied to any staff member." Organizations slap the "pastor" label on anyone in leadership, regardless of their actual gifting or function.
The biblical role is radically different. A Pastor isn't defined by platform presence (speaking ability), strategic vision (apostolic planning), or administrative skill (running systems). The defining characteristic? "Dirty work," "relational work," and "protective work."
This isn't aspirational leadership from a conference stage. It's messy. It's intimate. It's the kind of work that smells like the people you serve—hence Jeremy's unforgettable phrase: "A shepherd smells like sheep."
Jeremy anchors the pastoral role in Jeremiah 3:15: "And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." From this mandate, he extracts three critical functions:
Function 1: The Shepherd Protects
Sheep are defenseless creatures. Without a shepherd, they're wolf bait. Jeremy's description is visceral: "The Pastor's role is to stand between the wolf (false doctrine, abuse, or the enemy) and the people, getting the 'rod out' when danger is present."
This isn't passive care. It's combative. The shepherd is a fighter for the flock, willing to confront threats—whether doctrinal error, abusive systems, or spiritual attack. If you're unwilling to get the rod out, you're not shepherding. You're spectating.
Function 2: The Shepherd Feeds
The visual here is powerful: "The Pastor's job is to ensure the people are in 'green pastures'—meaning they are getting the Word in a way that nourishes them, not just entertains them."
Jeremy's diagnostic is blunt: "A failure to feed results in 'skinny and starving' sheep, indicating the Shepherd is failing in his duty." If your people are spiritually malnourished—consuming content but not growing—the problem isn't their appetite. It's the quality of the pasture you're providing.
Function 3: The Shepherd Guides (Relational Work)
This is where proximity becomes non-negotiable. Jeremy delivers the thesis statement of pastoral care: "You cannot shepherd from a distance. You cannot shepherd from an ivory tower."
The shepherd uses the staff to pull wandering sheep out of the ditch. This requires closeness—physical, emotional, relational. You can't guide someone back to the path if you don't know they've wandered. You can't pull them out of the ditch if you're managing from a conference room.
Jeremy's most provocative statement cuts to the heart of miscasting: "A genuine Pastor must be close to the people: 'A shepherd smells like sheep.'" Then he applies the litmus test:
"If a leader dislikes 'the mess of people's lives' and avoids 'trauma and drama,' they are not a true Shepherd."
This isn't condemnation—it's clarity. Some leaders are wired for vision (apostolic), others for frontier expansion (evangelistic), others for insight (prophetic). If you find yourself drained by relational complexity, frustrated by people's recurring struggles, or energized by strategy over souls—you're probably not a shepherd. And that's okay. The problem isn't your wiring; it's being forced into the wrong role.
Jeremy identifies the organizational disaster: "Leaders gifted as Apostles or Evangelists are forced into the 'Pastor box,' leading to their misery and the neglect of the people."
Picture an apostle—wired for visionary planning and structural innovation—stuck in an office doing relational counseling. They're miserable. The people sense it. No one wins.
Conversely: "True Pastors are burnt out because they are expected to be corporate executives running building programs when their true desire is to 'sit with the brokenhearted and mend their wounds.'"
The shepherd trapped in boardrooms, managing budgets and timelines, while their heart screams to be with the people—this is the silent epidemic in organizational leadership. And the collateral damage? People who feel unseen, uncared for, abandoned.
Jeremy's framework becomes beautifully clear here. Each role in the Five Fold serves a distinct function:
The pastoral role provides the heart of the organization. Without it, you might have brilliant strategy, prophetic clarity, explosive growth—but you've lost the soul. Jeremy's final warning is sobering:
"Without the Pastor, the organization becomes a business or an army, but it ceases to be a family."
The path forward is simple but requires organizational courage: "Release Pastors to be Pastors, allowing them to return to the people."
This means:
When you let shepherds shepherd, they thrive. When you force square pegs into round holes, everyone suffers—leaders burn out, people feel neglected, and organizations become cold machines masquerading as communities.
The pastoral role isn't about title, position, or organizational chart. It's about function: protecting, feeding, guiding. It's about proximity: you can't shepherd from a distance. It's about mess: if you hate the complexity of people's lives, this isn't your calling.
Jeremy's teaching offers both diagnostic and permission: If you're a shepherd trapped in a CEO role, you're not failing—you're miscast. If you're a visionary forced into pastoral care, the same applies. The solution isn't working harder at the wrong thing. It's finding alignment between wiring and role.
And for organizations? The question becomes urgent: Do you have a heart? Or have you become a business with excellent strategy but no one asking if the people are okay? The presence—or absence—of genuine shepherds will answer that question.
Perfect for:
It means genuine pastoral care requires proximity and mess. A shepherd can't stay clean or distant—they're in the dirt with the flock, dealing with trauma, drama, and the complexity of people's lives. If you avoid that mess, you're not functioning as a shepherd.
Absolutely. Jeremy emphasizes that pastoral gifting is about function, not title. You can shepherd in any role—as a team lead, mentor, or community member—by protecting, feeding, and guiding people relationally. Position and calling are separate.
Two disasters occur: (1) The leader becomes miserable doing work they hate, and (2) the people are neglected because they're not getting genuine shepherding. Apostles trapped in pastoral roles can't provide relational care; Pastors trapped in CEO roles burn out managing programs instead of people.
Because the Pastor provides the organizational heart—constantly asking "Are we okay? Is everyone safe? Is everyone fed?" Without this function, you get brilliant strategy (Apostle) and clear direction (Prophet) but lose the relational soul. The result: efficient systems with cold, impersonal cultures.
Key Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 3:15
"And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."