At the time of the Reformation, church had devolved to a place where ministry was the work of the professional clergy class. Clergy preached, ruled, sang, visited, etc. The ordinary person was expected to show up, watch, give and obey the clergy class. One of the most striking developments of the protestant reformation was the rediscovery of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. Every believer was a priest before God, not just the professional class. Every believer had the indwelling Holy Spirit and was called to the work of the ministry, not just the paid professional. Every believer could be led by the Spirit into truth, not just the clergy.
This rediscovery had a radical effect upon the post-reformation denominations. Over the next number of centuries, churches gradually became ever more congregational in their governance. Whole denominations arose because of the belief that every person was a priest before God. I would argue that the mobilization of the church in the modern missions movement can be directly traced to the rediscovery of this Biblical truth.
However, after centuries of progress, we are now falling back towards the practice of the medieval Roman Church. Significant numbers of our churches are abandoning congregational governance for rule by a specialized clergy class. The founder of one contemporary denomination has written in his blog that congregational government is of the Devil. We only allow the professionals to sing in our churches, to stand in our pulpits and to run our churches. Once more, people are just told to attend, be entertained, give, and do what their leaders tell them to do. Sadly, too many people are satisfied with a Christian faith that equates to just going along and watching the show.
We need a new reformation. We need to rediscover that God wants each and every child to be in vibrant ministry, offering up sacrifices of praise for the glory of God. God never intended His Church to be a one man show. We are a temple, a holy priesthood offering acceptable offerings to God through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).
1 Peter 2:9 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
This rediscovery had a radical effect upon the post-reformation denominations. Over the next number of centuries, churches gradually became ever more congregational in their governance. Whole denominations arose because of the belief that every person was a priest before God. I would argue that the mobilization of the church in the modern missions movement can be directly traced to the rediscovery of this Biblical truth.
However, after centuries of progress, we are now falling back towards the practice of the medieval Roman Church. Significant numbers of our churches are abandoning congregational governance for rule by a specialized clergy class. The founder of one contemporary denomination has written in his blog that congregational government is of the Devil. We only allow the professionals to sing in our churches, to stand in our pulpits and to run our churches. Once more, people are just told to attend, be entertained, give, and do what their leaders tell them to do. Sadly, too many people are satisfied with a Christian faith that equates to just going along and watching the show.
We need a new reformation. We need to rediscover that God wants each and every child to be in vibrant ministry, offering up sacrifices of praise for the glory of God. God never intended His Church to be a one man show. We are a temple, a holy priesthood offering acceptable offerings to God through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).
1 Peter 2:9 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
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