There are several Scriptures that are often resorted to in order to demonstrate that church members are to be accountable to pastors. One of these is 1 Timothy 5:17: "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine." It is the word "rule" that I want to concentrate on. It is translated from the Greek word proestōtes. It literally means "stand in front," such as to stand in front to preside or to stand in front to lead. It does not at all mean "rule." So, this verse should simply start by saying, "Let the elders who lead well…." To be a leader does not automatically imply authority over the people one leads.

Hebrews 13:7 states: "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." The Greek word translated "rule" in this verse is hēgoumenōn. It means to "lead" or "go before." The tenses in this sentence show that it is speaking about former leaders. The Weymouth New Testament translates the verse as, "Remember your former leaders—it was they who brought you God's Message. Bear in mind how they ended their lives, and imitate their faith." That hēgoumenōn should never have been translated "rule" when referring to church leaders is determined by the fact that it is found in Luke 22:25-26: "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief [hēgoumenos], as he that doth serve." This is Luke's account of Matthew 20:25-28 that we saw above. "He that is chief" would be better translated "he who is leading," but my point is that Jesus is specifically ordering the leaders to be servants, not rulers.

In Hebrews 13:17, we read, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." "Rule" is translated from hēgoumenois, the same word meaning "lead" that we saw above. "Obey" is from the Greek word peithesthe." It means to be persuaded or to be persuadable. I think the best way to understand this word is to see that forms of this word with the negative suffix "a" attached are used in the Bible of people who are perversely and willfully disbelieving. Notice the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible's translation of 1 Peter 2:7-8: "Then to you who believe belongs the preciousness. But to disobeying ones [apeithousin], He is the 'Stone which those building rejected; this One became the Head of the Corner, and a Stone-of-stumbling, and a Rock-of-offense' to the ones stumbling, being disobedient [apeithountes] to the Word, to which they were also appointed." The first part of Hebrews 13:17 is better rendered, "Be persuadable to those leading you, and do not resist…." We must remember that Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians, and the admonition is based on an allusion to the Old Testament Jews who were willfully disbelieving and rebellious. The writer of Hebrews is telling the Jewish Christians to not be like this.

We should also bear in mind that at this time, Christians did not have Bibles in front of them as someone spoke. Outside of the Old Testament Scriptures and perhaps copies of some epistles and maybe a Gospel account, they did not have a canon of Scripture to which they could readily compare what a speaker said. Thus, the writer of Hebrews is giving the recipients of his letter his personal stamp of approval on their leaders, who were apparently men he knew. It was as if he were saying, listen to what they say, I know they are sound in the faith.

In verse 24 of Hebrews 13 we again see hēgoumenous mistranslated in many English Bibles as referring to rulers, when it should be referring to leaders.

But what about Titus 2:15? Isn't Paul's advice to Titus here an admonition to exercise authority? "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." "Authority" in this verse comes from epitagēs. It means either "injunction" or "urgent admonition." Since this is what Titus is to speak, exhort, and rebuke with, I would say that here it is best translated "urgent admonition." Titus is no more to lord it over others than any other Christian.

http://www.wordofhisgrace.org/accountable.htm