One of the great errors that has crossed over from the old covenant into the new is the idea of a clergy-laity divide that limits ministry to the ordained clergy. The Protestant Reformation addressed many of the doctrinal errors and abuses of Roman Catholicism, among which was the establishment of an ordained priesthood, whose were privileged to offer the “unbloody” sacrifice of the Mass, forgive sins on behalf of Christ, transform bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ, and otherwise act in mediatorial ways between God and the people. I have written more about the heresies connected to Roman Catholicism in another series of articles. For now, we will focus on the priesthood.
The Reformation reestablished the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer, which teaches that, after Christ fulfilled the priestly duties of Aaron’s line, all believers share in the priestly ministry of the new covenant.
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Revelation 5:9–10 (NASB95)
Jesus is the one and only mediator between God and humans (1 Timothy 25). No longer is there a need for old covenant like priests to act in this regard. After Jesus died on the cross to secure forgiveness for us, the massive curtain in the temple, which prevented God’s Holy of Holies from being accessed, was supernaturally torn in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:38), signifying that all believers all can now approach God directly.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19–22 (NKJV)
Before, only the high priest had such access only once a year on the Day of Atonement.
In the New Covenant God has given us priestly duties to offer specific sacrifices and to go before God in prayer for others. These New Covenant sacrifices include the sacrifice of praise, doing good, and sharing. (Hebrews 13:15-16) We can also offer our own bodies in service to God as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1) The bloody sacrifice of animals is forever finished because their purpose was to point to Christ’s perfect once-for-all-time sacrifice. Once our Lord accomplished that, the need for the shadow came to an end. This is one reason God saw to it that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
Grace and forgiveness come directly to us from Christ via the Holy Spirit. We have no need for human mediators any longer.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV) Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 2 Peter 1:2–3 (NKJV)
In Old Covenant times, those called to the “ministry,” priests and Levites, were born into their roles and held their position or status exclusively. Commoners or laity were not allowed to participate by law. In the New Covenant, all believers are born into the priesthood of the believer.
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God... 1 John 5:1a (NKJV)
Those who are uniquely called to the “five-fold ministry” – apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher, are responsible to equip the rest of the church to do the work of ministry.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11–12 (NLT)
God wants New Covenant ministers to have the attitude of John the Baptist, who was willing for his own ministry to recede in order for Christ’s to expand.
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30 (NLT)
God wants us to have the point of view expressed by Paul in his letter to the church in Philippi when he exhorted them to consider others more important than themselves.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3–4 (NLT)
Jesus described ministry in the New Covenant as humble service to others.
Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Matthew 23:10–12 (NASB95)
It is true that God calls some to function in leadership and ministry roles, but it is never for self-aggrandizement or to secure an enduring position. Rather, we are to invest ourselves in others so they can become all that God desires. Then we are to release them and move on to discipling others.
Paul made this clear in his description of the five-fold ministry.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Ephesians 4:11–16 (NLT)
Each of these ministries is to impart to the church what God has given to them. Success is when the church becomes apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, and competent to teach God’s Word.
Whatever God has given to us, we are to reproduce in others.
Disciples are the basic building blocks of the kingdom of God, “living stones” that the Holy Spirit builds into a fitting “house” or temple for God. Jesus called us to make disciples. When disciples are made, churches are sure to follow.
When churches are planted without disciple-making being the top priority, we miss the mark.
The church is not a building. It is a living, moving “body,” which has the capability to reproduce itself at the discipleship level. Disciples are living beings, who have the ability, through the Spirit, to multiply themselves. In fact, that is our primary responsibility. Just as God commanded Adam and Eve, and afterwards Noah and his descendants, to multiply and fill the earth, so Christ mandated the church to “go and make disciples.”
Making disciples is our mission given by God, which supersedes every other sub-mission that the local church may adopt along the way.
The question facing every missional church, then, is how are we to teach, train, and equip disciples who will go and make other disciples? What vision, information, understanding, wisdom, and ministry skills need to be imparted to them that will enable them to become effective disciple makers?
It is part of the human condition for those in leadership to carve out a secure niche for themselves, and it is convenient for the rest of us to consign ministry responsibilities to the clergy instead of accepting our own role as ministers.
The best way a church can effectively multiply disciples is by acknowledging and promoting every disciple’s duty to be a representative or minister of Christ in his or her own right.
This does not mean that everyone is part of the five-fold ministry. Rather, the job of the five-fold ministry is to equip the rest of the church to do the work of the ministry. Just as parents train their children to be responsible adults with their own families; so, we are to prepare disciples who will take responsibility to serve others.
In other words, those in five-fold ministry are increasingly successful as they move more to a coaching role, allowing their disciples to take on more and more responsibility.
In my experience, a small percentage of senior ministers make the commitment to do this. We convince ourselves that without extensive formal Bible training, people are not to be trusted with the Scriptures. We set the bar higher than did our Lord, who turned over the church to men with whom he had spent three years training, but who still did not understand many basic things. The “seminary trained” Pharisees criticized these disciples, as well as Jesus himself, for being “unlearned” men. Jesus knew that the Holy Spirit is a more than adequate on the job instructor.
Disciple-making churches are willing to give “average” people ministry and leadership responsibilities and make the commitment to stand with them as they get “on the job” training from God.
Any gospel movement that rapidly expands must think this way.
The genius of the Great Awakening in the Carolinas, where I live, was the willingness of church leaders, such as Shubal Stearns with Sandy Creek Separate Baptist Church, to equip and commission average people to be preachers, ministers, and leaders, trusting the Holy Spirit to develop them along the way. This is no small thing. It takes a radical commitment to the priesthood of all believers to properly develop and launch disciples and to be an effective disciple-making church.
The other side of the coin is that “average” people must be willing to accept the responsibility to lead and minister.
It is far easier for us to accept the clergy-laity divide because it divests the rest of the church from stepping up their responsibility to serve the church. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit still calls people to ministry and leadership. Perhaps many are simply waiting for someone to invite them to be discipled. Jesus took the initiative to call the ones he chose for development. We who are already in leadership and ministry roles should ask the Holy Spirit to show us who to invite.
Many people do not consider themselves to be adequate to be in ministry, which is why they need encouragement from someone who sees their potential.
This gift of encouragement was found in Barnabas, who was responsible for seeking out Paul and inviting him to take on greater ministry responsibilities. Just as in the case of John the Baptist, Barnabas was willing for Paul to become the main leader in their joint ministry. He eventually moved on to developing another young man named John Mark, who would eventually write his Gospel. Paul learned from Barnabas how to develop people. He called young men to join him, such as Timothy, whom he discipled and launched into ministry. This chain of disciple making has never been broken. Let’s do our part to keep it going.
