Are You A Full-Time Minister Or A Part-Time One?

*The denomination that I am a part of seems wedded to the idea that full-time ministers of Christ only exist within the congregational structure. Therefore, it clearly implies that all the work done by the 'laity' (an abominable term btw) is outside the ambit of the Body of Christ.

Just to make myself clear: I am NOT talking about involving the non-ordained 'laity' in congregational work such as song-leading, worship-leading, taking up the collection or dispensing the elements for Holy Communion. All of these tasks need to be done but the 'laity' spends most of its time outside the confines of the congregation.


The Body of Christ (the capital 'C' Church Universal) is not identical with the variously named institutional-congregations that provide corporate celebration of the Word and Sacrament within the Body of Christ. That's the distinction I am aiming for you to consider.

If you are a husband/wife, father/mother, family member, and have any other vocation of any legitimate sort then each of these callings is 'holy' work because the LORD is Lord of every sphere of life: marriage, family, vocation, schooling, politics, etc. and the Christian congregation too.

The latter is no more 'holy' or 'spiritual' than any of the other spheres. However, it is different because it is a central hub of the Church Universal.

What the congregation and its ministry chiefly do is to equip the 'laity' for its 'ministry' (Eph 4.12) outside the congregation in its daily callings. And I don't just mean only devotions and testifying either, although these are part of it obviously. 

Their work of ministry embraces any edifying sphere of human life for which each member (or members) has the calling and gifts. Christians are called to present their bodies (whole selves) as 'living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is their spiritual worship or service' (Rom 12.1).

In Romans 12.4-8, we have a list of functions or gifts that members of the Body of Christ might have. We are told to exercise these gifts for the common good (1 Cor 12.7) which can be interpreted in the first instance towards other believers that we meet in the congregation but it doesn't stop there. We have a particular responsibility towards any Christian believer we meet who is in need. Moreover, our responsibility is also towards those who are not yet believers.

Do we not know that the Father sends the rain on the just and the unjust (Matt 5.45)? Do we know remember that God is also declared by the apostle Paul to be, 'the saviour of all** mankind, especially of those who believe' (1 Tim 4.10)? If so, how much more shouldn't we be prepared to serve our neighbour in daily life with any gifts we have been given by God.

Martin Luther puts the above issue graphically in the following: 'God is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid'.

*I've delayed my projected post on the topic of the 'implications of the Reformation's discovery' by expounding more fully on what the discovery was.
**I don't believe in universal salvation -- in fact this verse suggests a decided difference between believers and nonbelievers -- but that God's 'saving' expressed in this verse points to God grace showered on all indiscriminately in blessings that sustain life.

A Troublesome German Monk

Most of us know how God used the German monk, Dr Martin Luther (1483-1546), to shake to the core the medieval western (Roman) church in the early decades of the 16th century which led to the Protestant Reformation.

We know that his views can summarised by: justification by faith alone in Christ alone. Of course, Luther did believe that the sinner is justified by faith in Christ alone without good works. (Nevertheless, faith in Christ, he said, is never without good works [Eph 2.8-10].)

Luther's battle with the Roman church was also evidenced in Rome's doctrines surrounding the virgin Mary, its dead 'saints', clergy, bishops and Pope who could be said to be intercede between the Roman church believer and Christ. 

Hence, the Roman church was in a powerful, politico-faith position because to be under its curse -an anathema- was to be dammed to eternal torment. Few kings, emperors or any others of the time were prepared to oppose Rome knowing their eternal destiny was apparently at risk.

The Priesthood of All Believers

The 'priesthood of all believers' is an important teaching of the 16th century Reformation in its three branches (Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist).

Luther used this doctrine to savage the Roman Church's clericalism. Imagine the situation in England before the English Reformation began to take hold in 1548. You would come to your parish church to hear Mass said but would understand nothing of the service because it was in Latin. Before Mass, you might have gone to Confession so that your sins could be absolved by your local priest because without a priest's absolution you were not forgiven.

Luther punctured the arrogance of the Roman Church 'priesthood' by declaring that all Christians without exception form a priesthood (1 Peter 2.5-9; Rev 1.6); that the division of the Church into 'priests' and 'laity' is without biblical warrant.

He says this in his famous attack on Roman Church's claim to be above 'temporal powers' because it is a 'spiritual power':

 We see, then, that just as those that we call spiritual, or priests, bishops, or popes, do not differ from other Christians in any other or higher degree but in that they are to be concerned with the word of God and the sacraments—that being their work and office—in the same way the temporal authorities hold the sword and the rod in their hands to punish the wicked and to protect the good. A cobbler, a smith, a peasant, every man, has the office and function of his calling, and yet all alike are consecrated priests and bishops, and every man should by his office or function be useful and beneficial to the rest, so that various kinds of work may all be united for the furtherance of body and soul, just as the members of the body all serve one another (Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Respecting the Reformation of the Christian Estate).

Although this sword has a sharp edge that Luther wielded so effectively against the corruption of the Medieval Church of his time, do we not see that it can also be used to attack much of the present church (Roman, Protestant and Eastern) because it has lost contact with Reformation view? 

Truth to tell, Vatican II has taken more notice of Luther's views that have many of his Protestant descendants!!

The Fatal Spiritual/Secular Divide

Some Christian groups have endeavoured not to encourage a

professional ministry in the congregation at all. 

However, Luther was not arguing for such a thing. Luther was keen to maintain distinctive offices in the congregation; but Luther looked at Christians everywhere, whether cobbler, smith, peasant and declared them all 'consecrated priests and bishops'!! That is, all these vocations are ways of fulfilling, if you like, the second commandment. They are avenues of serving humanity as priests.

Most Christian churches are stuck in the thinking that their clergy minister (serve!) in the spiritual realm while those, in the congregation, are destined to live out their days in the secular realm.

That's not what the Reformation re-discovered through Luther and Calvin. But, it's dearly what the Church at large needs to re-discover today.

Next Time: The implications of such a discovery 

'The Church Beyond The Congregation'

I was confronted 30 years ago with a different form of the message contained in this book by James Thwaites (a Pentecostal), and it still faces me today.

Some book titles are arresting and The Church Beyond The Congregation is one of these. However, it is more than just arresting because it is very easy to misunderstand what the book is proposing by simply interpreting its title within our normal categories. It's a creational given that we do this and it's dashed difficult to modify or abandon our settled categories.

I could start by asking, what is the Church? Such a simple question but it is easy to get the answer wrong according to New Testament (NT) terms.

The normal understanding of the Church is that it is only the institutional structure, the congregation that Sunday-by-Sunday meets to hear the scriptures read, to break bread, to pray and fellowship (Act 2.42).

If you would like a snapshot of this regular view, Google 'the Body of Christ', then click 'images' and peruse. For example, the image to the left gives this mistaken view in a nutshell.


However, we misunderstand the riches of the meaning of the Church as the Body of Christ if we believe that Church is fully expressed in its congregational activity, the 'religious' gathering on Sunday (or whenever), personal evangelism and individual 'good works'.

This grievous error of equating the Church with the congregation James Thwaites attempts to dispel in the above book.

In this introductory post, I can't present all the evidence for Thwaites' uncommon, though completely orthodox view (although Thwaites' speculations are at times unorthodox bordering on a form of panentheism). So I will outline one scriptural area that could be explored by those wanting to have their own understanding of the Church<--->congregational relationship enriched.

Ephesians

Arguably Ephesians is the great NT letter focussing on The Church as the Body of Christ (and Colossians is a companion letter focussing on Christ as the Head of the Church). 

The picture given in Ephesians is of Christ seated at the right hand of the 'God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory' (Eph 1.17) who 'made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all' (Eph 1.22-23, emphases mine).

Amazing statements are made in Paul's prayer (Eph 1.15-23). These verses should urge us to look beyond the Christian congregation (not forsaking it because it is a necessary part* of the Church) to what God is doing through his whole Church in all areas of life: marriage, family, and every work life (see Eph 5.21-33; 6.1-4, 5-9).

An Important Implication

Many important implications flow from the above understanding of the Church and its servant, the congregations of the various denominations. 

One that I want to emphasise at this point is that every Christ-believer is a 'minister' and is part of the general ministry of Christ's Body (Eph 4.11-13).

That being so, the term 'full-time Christian worker or minister' used to imply that only 'ordained, full-time pastors or workers' are full-time Christian workers is incorrect. 

However, I hear this expressed all the time and I'm sure readers of this blog do too. This view means that most of the people of God are outside the exalted group of Christian ministers and have to be content with doing 'secular' work which of course is inferior to the 'sacred' work of the church's ministry.  

This view falls short of the NT view of 'ministry' which essentially means service.

Next time, I will outline a brief history of how the churches of today got themselves into this unbiblical position and some steps we need to take to break our way out of it.  

* Perhaps as a hub is to a wheel depending on how important one sees the institutional church to be and I do see it to be important.