Poor Theology Gone Bad

Eph 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

This post is an example of what happens when we interpret scripture with little or no education, a total lack of appreciation for the original languages, and even poor English grammar.

What if we were to read the above scripture to say that it was the pastor and teacher’s responsibility to perfect the saints in order for the saints to do the work of ministry? We could build a theology that would guilt uncalled people into trying to minister to others and have them feel even guiltier when it’s evident that they’re not called. We could build a theology that has the clergy rest on their laurels and point fingers at the saints when the church isn’t growing as it should. We could create an even greater schism between clergy and laity even while we profess that there really is no difference.

What does the passage say? Virtually every substantial English translation is written grammatically (as the KJV above is) to say that God gives some…for the perfecting of the saints and for the work of ministry (or “to serve” in the Greek) and to edify the body of Christ. That’s why the translators put commas in the text. It would be something all together different if the text read:

Eph 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (12) For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ: