When I go to see a doctor, while I hope they have a genuine heart to see people healed, I also hope they have a medical degree and have been trained according to approved professional standards. Same when I go to a dentist. It’s nice if they have a passion to see everyone with good dental health, but it’s preferrable they have been to dentistry school and are fully trained in their field. It’s not the same in theology though, anyone can call themselves a “pastor” and set up a church without any theological education. Part of the reason we had a Reformation of the church in the 16th century was to have a “genuinely educated priesthood” as it was critical people were being taught about God accurately. Maybe it’s just the Presbyterian in me, but I think this is important. Is our spiritual health so much less important than our physical health or dental hygeine?
Our reading today highlights the issue with poor teaching. Paul has arrived in Ephesus and has met with a group of believers. It appears obvious that there is some defect in their knowledge which is due to their being taught by someone with a less than complete understanding of Jesus, a man called Apollos. Fortunately, Apollos is open to being taught and receives further teaching from two women, Priscilla and Aquila, and goes on to have a very successful teaching ministry in Greece. Also fortunately, the Ephesian believers are open to new teachings and have the gaps in their knowledge fleshed out. It is possibly for this reason that James warns that teachers will be judged more harshly given their responsibility towards those they teach!
I’m not saying that people who feel called into leadership shouldn’t lead. If they have a call to leadership that is tested by the whole church and found to be present, that’s fine. But where the leadership role involves teaching, I’m saying that theological education must be part of their leadership formation. It’s possibly symptomatic of religion in the west that we want to be entertained by church rather than educated by it? It could be that the gospel gets in the way of the desire to hear what we want to hear rather than what Jesus came to teach us? Maybe people just want to feel comfortable about their already comfortable lives? I think the church needs humble teachers who know they don’t know everything and are committed to lifelong learning. I think the church also needs humble congregants who are open to being taught. Feminist theology, liberation theology, and Green theology have all grown our understanding of who God is, yet all contradicted perceived wisdom when they first emerged. The Lord has yet more light and truth to bring forth from God’s word. We just need to be open to receiving it.