Foundations of Christian Leadership, Student Workbook, SW07

2 9 2 /

F O U N D A T I O N S O F C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

A Theological Overview of the Equipping Gifts Described in Ephesians 4.11 (continued)

B. Relevant Theological Quotes

1. “The words pastor and teacher are grouped as though this were one single office, and in many ways it is. However, there may be teachers who are not called to be pastors. The teacher is one who instructs, especially in doctrine” (Joe H. Cothen, Equipped for Good Work , Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1996, p. 301). 2. “The content of the teaching was wide-ranging: it included the teaching of Jesus with its implications for Christian belief and conduct. In Acts 2.42 it is called ‘the apostles’ teaching,’ to which the primitive church of Jerusalem is said to have devoted itself. . . . Paul assumes, in writing to Rome, that the ‘form of teaching’ which the Christians of that city had received was sufficiently clear and comprehensive to enable them to detect and reject propaganda which was incompatible with it (Rom. 6. 17; 16.17)” (F. F. Bruce, “Epistle to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians,” The New International Commentary on the New Testament , Vol. 10., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984, pp. 348-349). 3. “Let us remember that Jesus was not only the pastor or shepherd, but He was the teacher (even as He was the apostle, the prophet, and the evangelist). . . . His teaching was the life-giving word of God. Early in His ministry, in response to a temptation by Satan, Jesus declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4.4). . . . Thus the primary purpose of all Christian teaching is to feed people with the same life-giving word. . . .Recall that Peter was commanded by Jesus not only to tend His sheep–referring essentially to overseeing and guarding–but also to feed His lambs and feed His sheep. This feeding can occur only through “every word that proceed from the mouth of God”–and it is the teacher’s responsibility to enable people to understand and receive this word” (J. Rodman Williams, Renewal Theology: Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective, Vol. 3: The Church, the Kingdom and Last Things , Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, pp. 180-81). 4. “In 1 Cor. 12.28 didaskalos is mentioned as the third charismatic office of a triad (alongside apostles and prophets). Men holding this office had the task of explaining the Christian faith to others and of providing a Christian exposition of the OT. . . . Jas. 3.1, warning against too strong