Pastors/Teachers, Are They the Same?

I suspect the Body of Christ will continue to be divided about the authority of those who lead the Church. In my estimation, there’s a tone of ambivalence about what many see as a theological disconnect between what the Bible says and what we hear and see practised. However, in general, there's little recognition of a problem to begin with, so nothing will likely change. The maxim of continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result appears appropriate. Of genuine interest is whether the consequences of our denominational theology are undermining the authority of gifts to the Body of Christ.

Many times I've heard leaders state that the Pastor/Teacher ministries of Ephesians 4:11 are the same gift, embodied within the singular authority of the Pastor. I've always found this view a little thin, considering that it’s based on one verse alone. I read an article by Bill Mounce on this exact topic, and he asked the same question but also made this curious statement, "the American church as a whole chews up and spits out people. Especially their Pastors. Sometimes I think that Pastors are put on a pedestal so that in a few months the complainers in the church can get a clear shot at them." Whether this is true or not, I understand the sentiment, but it's more complicated than simply blaming the complainers because the real issue lies in why Pastors are placed on pedestals to begin with. However, nested in Mounce’s statement lies a conundrum between the demands of a man-made religious construct and the spiritual foundations on which the religion was built. We see this tension being played out in many forms, including the authority of leaders.  

The Pastor/Teacher view of Ephesians 4:11 and the authority that religion ascribes to the title is far beyond the description in the biblical narrative, and our proclivity for religious structures results in the same legalistic consequences suffered by the Israelites in the days of Jesus. While this view has become widely accepted in many Churches and claims to reflect New Testament phraseology, it's grammatically incorrect and demonstrably wrong. It's a sloppy interpretation of Greek word structure, and because it's been repeated so often, it's taken on a life of its own.

In Ephesians 4:11, Paul speaks about the five primary gifts given to “The Ecclesia” for the building, equipping, and maturing of the Ecclesia, so they might go forth and plant the seed (Christ) of the Gospel message. This maturing of the Body is arguably the sole purpose of any ascension gift, insofar as it's given for ministry to the Body of Christ, not to the world. The ministry of ascension gifts is distinct from the more general use of gifts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Many of the same characteristics found in the ascension gifts reside in all born-again believers; however, there remains a distinction in the calling, purpose, and intensity of these five.

Pastors and Teachers in the Greek construction of Eph 4:11 are NOT suggesting, or implying, that both gifts automatically reside in the same person. First and foremost, the Greek language does not allow it when combining nouns in this manner unless the verse is written in the singular. In this verse, pastors and teachers are stated in the plural, and therefore clearly refer to more than one person. In Eph 2:20, the same singular article (the) also joins “the apostles and prophets” and earlier in the Gospels, "the Pharisees and Sadducees", with the same Greek construction. We recognise them as separate gifts or people. This is not to say that a pastor cannot have a teaching gift, or that a teacher might have a pastoral gift, but being one does not imply the other. Likewise, a Prophet might have a teaching gift or vice versa, but we don't conflate the two because we recognise the difference. The Greek construction is abundantly clear and overwhelmingly states they are not synonymous with one person, who happens to lead a Church. The Granville Sharp rule is: "The+Noun+and+Noun" states that when describing a person and the two nouns are connected by the word “and”, and only the first noun has the article “the”, both nouns are referring to the same person, UNLESS the verse is written in the plural.

Eph 4:11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, “the pastors and teachers.”

In 2 Peter 1:1, we see the singular demonstration of the rule where it states that Jesus is both “God” and “Saviour”. Despite this and many other examples, it’s common for the pastor and teacher gifts to be seen as applying to the same person. Proponents resort to subjective and somewhat projective arguments, speaking about what it could or might mean, instead of letting the text interpret itself. The Greek construction is clear beyond question, and while I understand how this suits the purposes of those with pastoral aspirations to lead a Church, they conflate the ability to preach with the gift of teaching. Most Pastors can preach a message, but this does not make them teachers in the biblical sense.

Preaching and teaching “does not a Teacher make”. If it did, by what standard do we identify a Teacher as opposed to a general ability to teach under the gifts of the Spirit, that all Christians possess? This distinction is generally not discussed, and because the ministry gifts have been misrepresented and conflated beyond recognition, we have little idea about how to make the distinction. Preaching a message every week is not essential to the role of a Pastoral gift, since it's a shepherding ministry. The interpretation of the gift has been conflated with the authority of an Elder, Manager, a Leader, or a Teacher, and therefore taken on a life of its own by altering the original meaning. I'm also suggesting that preaching can be part of the pastoral outworking if the position requires it, but this is far removed from the level needed to imply a gift of Teaching. Teaching has far more gravitas than simply preaching; therefore, by whom, and by what standard, do we determine who has an ascension gift if the baseline is reduced to preaching an exhorting message?

Mounce acknowledges that the argument for both gifts applying to one person “is a poor exegesis and constrained by the verse conveyed in the plural”. The single article (the) that precedes the first three gifts, but precedes both Pastors and Teachers, doesn’t suggest two gifts united in the same person. Now, we might have a conversation about why these two gifts are sectioned off in this manner, but then we head towards subjective presumption. Mounce questions why the two gifts were segmented from the others, but I would suggest that if we want to find the underlying reason for the distinction between pastor and teacher, and the three other gifts, we might theorise Apostles, Prophets, and Evangelists as falling into an itinerant category, with Pastors and Teachers being more localised ministries. Though subjective, at least it conveys a coherent and reasonable explanation of the verse.