This is another great book by Wayne Jacobsen. Previously involved in the institutional church, Wayne writes honestly and powerfully about his transition and why true Biblical relationships are the most healthy for Christ followers. The following is the second of two excerpts from his book. This excerpt talks about the clergy/laity divide. This book is available for purchase or can be downloaded free by clicking here.
The power of a clergy class over the so called laity has always been a focal point of church reformers. Church leadership easily falls into the trap of validating their usefulness by placing themselves as an essential link to personal spirituality. Reformers have instead championed the priesthood of all believers—which simply means that every believer can have a personal relationship with God and be used by him to touch others. Leaders may have distinct functions in the body, but they do not have a relationship with God substantially different from that of other believers.
Never before in the history of the church has the theology of priesthood received so much lip service and so little actual practice as in this century. Though it is preached with conviction from our pulpits, only a small percentage of believers are involved in significant ministry opportunities on a daily basis. They may be doing busywork for someone else’s program, but they are neither thriving in their spiritual experience nor confident to intervene in crisis situations.
I would say that fully 90 percent of those who were already Christians when they came to a fellowship I pastored did not at that time have a daily time of worship and bible reading which was effectively nurturing their lives. They had been accustomed to being fed by pastors and TV preachers. When opportunity arose to lead someone to Christ or to liberate them from oppressive bondage, they were told to see the pastor or come to church for their answers. We are breeding a generation of believers who perceive themselves as incompetent to live out the Word in their own experience.
How are we doing this? Church leaders have historically used two tactics to keep people dependent. Regrettably we have our twentieth century versions of these today, subtle or unintentional though they be.
The first revolves around interpretation of the Word. Are the Scriptures clear enough for the average person to read and understand, or must they be interpreted by a professional? In the days of John Wycliffe this issue was obvious. The Bible was available only in Latin, which the priests alone could read and interpret. The church killed anyone who translated it into common languages or who possessed translated copies. This they did in spite of the fact that the Holy Spirit used mostly unlearned men to pen his Word. The New Testament itself was written in the style of Greek used on the street, not the classical style used by scholars.
Today misapplied scholasticism serves the same purpose of making people feel as though they can’t understand the Word on their own. I’m not against the knowledge which the church has gained over the centuries nor using the original languages to help us understand the Word more fully. If, however, we use those tools week after week to say that though the text seems to say one thing it really says something else, we effectively destroy people’s confidence in feeding from the Word themselves. Good preaching doesn’t dazzle people with interpretations of the Word that defy the imagination; but instead equips people with a fuller appreciation for the inherent simplicity of the Word and increases their ability to understand it. At the end of a good sermon people should respond, “yes, I see that!”
The second tactic to keep the masses dependent on leadership is to make them a mediator in the salvation process. In the Middle Ages the church viewed the communion elements as the means of salvation—which only a priest could consecrate. The priest could withhold communion from whomever he chose; convincing them that they had been denied salvation.
We have long recognized that the whim of a man cannot determine salvation. Many people, however, surrender the quality of their spiritual life to ministry professionals and become willingly dependent upon them. We’ll take a closer look at this phenomenon in Chapter 11, but for now I want only to point out the adverse effect which ministry professionals often have on spiritual intimacy.
Instead of people sitting at the feet of Jesus themselves, hearing his voice and obeying his will, they sit at the feet of their favorite teacher. Public relations techniques have produced a generation of leaders today who aspire to lead by their own personal popularity. We have our celebrities just like the world does, and many Christians are more awed by them than by the Lord himself.
Media use today has only heightened this problem. Instead of multiplying ministry through transformed people, we seek to do it through satellite dishes and direct mail. How ineffective these have proven to demonstrate God’s love or to help people grow up in Christ! Some people can’t make it through the day without a fix from their pastor’s cassette ministry or a word from the TV evangelist they champion. In an age of capitalistic Christianity, leaders only encourage such dependence: “You must hear what I’m going to talk about next week.” “This series on growth will change your life like nothing else you’ve ever heard.” Dependent people ensure the future of the ministry.
Even church growth experts suggest that this kind of promotion and visibility is essential for church growth. We’ve entered dangerous waters indeed when the promotion of a man’s image is the means by which we extend the gospel. The reformation did us little good if we only exchanged one pope for thousands of little popes through whom to live out our Christian experience.
No wonder people perceive themselves as incompetent to handle the situations in their life through personal knowledge of the Word, sensitivity to the spirit, and support of the body! While our books on childrearing were intended to help parents, they often do the opposite. I constantly remind discouraged parents that they do not need a degree in child psychology to raise their children. Any parent who takes a personal interest in his or her child is in a far better place to disciple and discipline that child than any outsider, no matter what the outsider’s knowledge or experience. Though we can benefit from the insights of other people, we must be sure that they do not intimidate us.
In the same way, daily Christian living has become far too complex. Jesus chose the weak things to confound the wise. With all the principles and precepts that have been outlined in recent years, we need to ask ourselves whether we’ve kept things simple enough for the person on the street to walk with God in confidence. Jesus channeled a powerful gospel through the lives of fishermen, farmers, and former harlots. Walking with Jesus is within the reach of every individual, for he makes us competent to walk out the gospel in our own lives (2 Corinthians 3:4,5).
Wayne Jacobsen, the Naked Church
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