Priesthood of all believers (2)

CHRISTIANS ESPECIALLY those of Ghana should grow in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. A deeper knowledge of Christ would help every Christian believer to understand who he or she is in Christ. As Christians grew in the knowledge of Christ, they would cease to see Christian leaders dressed in priestly garments as the only priests, but they would also see every believer as a priest of God.

In the words of Professor Emmanuel Asante, all members of the Christian Church are understood as priests. He clarified that as priests, members of the Christian community offer God the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in his name (Hebrews 13:15). They also proclaim God’s great works of salvation to the world.

This means that each individual member of the Christian community shares the priesthood of all believers, hence the concept of the priesthood of all believers. However, it is also important to stress that believers fulfill their ministerial duties through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, who also dispenses gifts to the church.

Papesh is therefore right when he declares that the Christian assembly is a community of diakonia endowed with the Holy Spirit of Jesus through baptism. These gracious gifts, or charisms, of the Spirit are intended for the service of the entire Christian community. Ministry in the old church is about action, not worship.

Outward evangelism, preaching, teaching, and assembly leadership are the basic ministries that make up the Christian way of life. These actions, according to Papesh, fundamentally the way in which a Christian lives his life, include the sacrifice, the liturgy and the common priestly office of all the people.

Thus, the New Testament teaches that every baptized Christian believer has been called to be a minister. Each believer is expected to serve God, the church, and the world through the gifts God has graciously endowed them with. This means that a believer who is gifted with the ability to sing and the other who is blessed with the grace of teaching are both servants who participate in the ministry of God.

It is written in 1 Peter 4:10 that, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of the varied grace of God: whoever speaks, such as he who speaks oracles of God ; he who serves, like he who serves with the same strength that God provides … ”

Further, in Romans 12: 4-8, the apostle Paul writes that “… having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophesy, in proportion to your faith; if service, in your service; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; one who leads with zeal; one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 12: 1 and following, a list of various spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit is presented as available to believers in Christ for the common good. The gifts are listed as “the expression of knowledge”, “faith”, “healing”, “working miracles”, “prophecy”, “the ability to distinguish between spirits”, the different types of languages ​​”and“ interpretation of languages ​​”.

All these, and many others that were not listed in 1 Corinthians 12: 1 and following, according to the words of Paul, are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each what he wants ”(1 Corinthians 12:11).

But do modern Christian believers fulfill their priestly functions as is expected of them today? Certainly not! Evidence abounds that they have shirked their priestly responsibilities. Thus, Rick Warren emphasizes: “… the church is a sleeping giant. Every Sunday the pews of the church are filled with members who do nothing with their faith except “keep” it. The designation of “active” member in most churches means those who regularly attend and financially support the church.

Asante adds to Warren’s point of view and asserts that “the harvest is indeed plentiful and the laborers few because there is great neglect on the part of theologians regarding the distinctive roles of baptized believers – which means, in Christian ministry, baptized believers have relegated their vocation ministry and responsibility to the ordained, the clergy.

But why do baptized believers in the New Testament relegate their ministerial vocation to ordained ministers? How did the church come to this present situation? Should we reproach believers for shirking their ministerial responsibilities? Certainly not! The Christian leadership of the first four centuries may be partly responsible for this ministerial failure resulting from the clericalization of the church.

Forbes argues that, “If the Scriptures envision a church full of priests, clergy, and laity, then how did we get here today? How do we explain this remote departure from a biblical doctrine so vital to the ministry and mission of the church?

Carruthers attempts to answer this question when he writes: “At the end of the first century, questions surrounding the priesthood of all believers began to emerge. Perhaps one of the very first questions came in AD 98, when Clement of Rome became the first person to describe believers as “laity,” distinguishing them from rulers.

Clement 1 writes: “For unto the high priest the proper services were rendered, and to the priests the proper office was assigned, and to the Levites the proper ministries were imposed. The layman (laikos anthropos) is bound by the rules of the layman (laikos). May each of you, brothers, give thanks to God with your own group / rank (tagmati), keeping a good conscience, without going beyond the designated rules of your ministry… ”

By James Quansah

[email protected]