Yesterday, I started meditating on a theme of the Priesthood of the believer and due to the effects of my allergy medicine I wasn't able to finish. Ragweed is no fun!
Anyway, the verses that comes to mind first when I think about the Priesthood of the believer is found in 1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV:
[9] “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
This passage makes clear that this is not he call of just some people in the body of Christ, some 2% of the overall who are called to professional ministry, but rather speaks to all, to every believer. We have our citizenship in His Kingdom, we are members of His Body, we are all called out, and joined to Him. This Holy Nation, Royal Priesthood is all of our identity, from greatest to smallest, young to old, man or woman.
To often in our expression of Christianity, we find a model that does not represent these verses well. We have professional ministers and volunteers who have been called out or identified to aid in the ministry, while the majority of the congregants are merely participants, or observers. Some say its an 80/20 rule, whee 20 percent of the people are engaged, but I think the percentage of people actually engaged in active ministry is much smaller in the overall church.
I believe that all of our invitations are to active priestly ministry.
If we had that understanding and belief, I think we would encounter a very different church! Imagine if walking into a church for the first time, if you were met, and greeted, invited, ministered to, and impacted by the person sitting next to you, or the person who created you at the door! Oh that our greeters would be as effective ministers as our preachers and teachers! It is totally possible for God to use us, to call us to minister in whatever role or position we find ourselves.
I am reminded of a couple of unlikely “priests” who didn’t serve as priests, but rather in lowly positions. One is Brother Andre Bressette from Montreal Canada. He was not a professional minister he was the doorman at the college. A few quick notes about him - “after struggling academically, he was admitted to the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1870 and took the name Brother André. He was given the simple task of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College, where he answered the door, welcomed visitors, and performed other menial tasks. Over time, people began to confide in him and ask for prayers. He gained a reputation for having a gift of healing, and many people were cured of their ailments after he prayed with them.”
The other individual that came to mind was Brother Lawrence. After leaving his life of soldiering, he joined a monastery. “He spent the rest of his life with the Parisian community, where his primary assignments were working in the kitchen and, in his later years, repairing sandals. He carried out this office of cook until his leg became ulcerated, at which point his superiors assigned him an easier task, as sandal maker. Gradually, the influence of the humble sandal-maker grew, not only among the poor. Many learned people, religious and ecclesiastics had esteem for him as well. Despite his lowly position in life and the priory, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him.”
Both of these men had beautiful ministries that represented Christ to the people around them. They were never professional ministers in the normal sense, and yet they embraced the ministry that was available to them, affecting the lives of countless people from their roles of doorman, or sandal maker.
We all have this same opportunity both in church, as well as in our day to day life! We are called and invited to represent Christ Jesus in our daily lives, not just on Sunday. We can learn to love as He loved, to case for individuals as He did, and be present to people in their need and in their daily life. We can learn to hear from Jesus for them, see them as Jesus sees them and walk empowered lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, ministering to those we meet every day.
Paul writes a great encouragement to all of us in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV:
[17] “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! [18] All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: [19] that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. [20] We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
The “we” in verse points back to verse 17, the “anyone who is in Christ” which is all who believe. We are all ambassadors, or sent ones. We are all minister of reconciliation, bringing people back to God, revealing to them the Love of God. We don’t need to be ordained, licensed or given some other form of official recognition, this is the call and invitation to all believers.
My encouragement today is to keep my eyes and ears open for the opportunities that present themselves throughout the day! Lord help me to stay “in” You, to clothe myself with You (Rom 13:14) and Your Love, so that people might meet You, and see You when they encounter me! Help me to embrace my position, my role, my job, and recognize that You can use me right where I am, whether that is a doorman, a dish washer, a sandal maker or a salesman.
Thank You Lord for Your call and invitation to represent You through my life, through my words, and through my actions.
Amen!
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