Commas and Spiritual Gifts
You may have seen some of the social media memes that joke about the misuse of punctuation. Proper comma use, for example, makes a huge difference. Here are a few examples:
I like cooking my family and my pets, or,
I like cooking, my family, and my pets.
We’re going to learn to cut and paste kids, or,
We’re going to learn to cut and paste, kids.
My favorite one is:
Let’s eat Grandma, or,
Let’s eat, Grandma.
Those are good for a chuckle, but proper comma can also make a huge difference for understanding the correct meaning of a biblical text. For many years Bibles translated Ephesians 4:11-12 as, “And he gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Nearly all commentators today say that translation contained a mistake, a misplaced comma, that changed the original intent of the Apostle Paul.
Following the grammar of that sentence in the original translation, who does what? The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers do the work of (1) perfecting the saints, (2) the work of ministry, and (3) the edifying of the body of Christ. It is the officers or, who would be the paid staff in most churches today, who do the work, who do the ministry of the church.
Note how the meaning of the sentence changes if we take out one of the commas.
“And he gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Now, following the grammar, who does what? The officers or church staff perfect the saints so that the saints do the work of the church, who do the ministry. That one comma makes a huge difference to the meaning of the text.
James Montgomery Boice wrote that the correct punctuation, the correct translation of the passage, does three things:
1. It shows what is the ultimate purpose of the teaching gifts, which is equip the saints.
2. It also shows the purpose for which the saints are equipped, which is to build up the church.
3. And, and it preserves the idea of “every-member ministry.”
In the book Body Life, Pastor Ray Stedman, in commenting on this passage wrote that every believer has been gifted by the Holy Spirit and that others in the Christian community need those gifts. This was the pattern of the early church, said Stedman. “Whenever anyone, by faith in Jesus Christ, passed from the kingdom and power of Satan into the kingdom of God’s love, he was immediately taught that the Holy Spirit of God had not only imparted to him the life of Jesus Christ, but had also equipped him with a spiritual gift or gifts which he was then responsible to discover and exercise [for the good of others.]
Boice suggested four things that we can do to discover our spiritual gifts.
1. Study what the Bible says about spiritual gifts. Dig into passages like 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and others, that discuss gifts.
2. Pray. It is God who gifts us gifts to use for the benefit of his children. If we ask him, we can expect that he will show us what those gifts are.
3. Make a sober assessment of your spiritual strengths and abilities. You can ask: What do I like to do? Where do I see results when I try different types of ministries? This is not a sure guide, but the answers to these questions can be an indication of how God has gifted us.
4. Seek the wisdom of trusted counselors. Ask people who know you and who you trust, especially those who seem to have the gifts of wisdom or insight, what gifts they see in you.
As you move forward in seeking what the Lord has given you to use for others, then also seek him for his grace to use those gifts that others will be built up and the whole body with be strengthened. Now, let’s all get busy seeking and serving one another.
Much love, Barry