Christ-centered Community Part 3: Empowerment in our Shared Priesthood
How being priests was always God's plan for each of us, why we should be really grumpy when that dignity is so widely denied, and a bit about how the SBC is missing it on more than just women pastors.
What to expect in this post…
I’m continuing talking about Christ-cenetered community and some of the implications this ecclesiology could have for the church today. Keep reading for more on that, but also some of my reflections on how this relates to the recent Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting and their stance on female pastors, and also some other grumpy ramblings about what needs to change in the church so we can empower the priestly calling we all have.
Many of our church structures have revolved around the gifts of an individual, and we have prioritized certain functions (leadership, preaching/teaching) over others. As a result, many churches are left with a vast majority of Spirit-gifted saints who passively observe while one or a few others actively serve. This is tragic and needs to change, but I am idealistic and hopeful it can.
A Quick Recap
I started this series by introducing what Christ-centered community is in part 1. Then, we explored in part 2 a bit about why relating to one another as siblings in a family is critical to being the church. Here is a reminder of what I mean by Christ-centered community and what that entails:
A Christ-centered community is a group of diverse but equal individuals, interdependent on one another and united in love by the pursuit of the shared, transcendent purpose of living out the gospel of Jesus.
Where Christ-centered community exists, these things should be true of its members:
Belonging in family
Empowerment in our shared priesthood
Competency in scriptural interpretation and application
Engagement in spiritual gifting
Growth in maturity
In this post, part 3, we are going to explore empowerment in our shared priesthood.
Corporate priesthood was always God’s plan
The priesthood of all believers may have been a rallying cry for Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, but this idea harkens back to the early days of the Bible. Not just the New Testament and the early church, either. It goes back much further, and we can find it at the heart of God’s work in the Pentateuch.
Foundationally, we need to remember God’s covenant with Abram in Genesis 12:
1 “Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;2 And I will make you into a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”(Gen 12:2-3 NASB, emphasis added)
The call to be a blessing situates the ensuing covenants and the pervasive purpose of the people of God throughout their history. And while it’s easy to focus on the land and descendants in the covenant, the point is more about who Abraham’s offspring are to become and what that means for all people.1 They are to be a blessing, and that blessing will extend to all the families (tribes, peoples, clans) of the earth.
The promise is repeated multiple times to Abraham (Gen 17, 22), then to Isaac (Gen 26), and then Jacob (Gen 28) years later, further emphasising the blessing to all peoples, not an individual like Abraham, and not exclusively his offspring. They will belong to Yahweh for the purpose of showing the world what it means to love and be loved by the Creator. And, in so doing, all families on earth will eventually see and experience the love of Yahweh. The promise is for everyone, and it’s the reason we can all call God, “ours.”
Fast-forward a millennium or so, and the Hebrew people have become numerous (the “great nation” bit of the Abrahamic Covenant), and they are brought out of slavery in Egypt through signs and wonders to live in the land promised earlier to Abraham. In the wilderness, God shows the people what it looks like to belong to Yahweh through the giving of the Law. And before the Law is given, God sheds light on what the people are meant to be through it:
3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
(Ex 19:3-6, emphasis added)
At the risk of minimizing hundreds of years of Old Testament history, I’m going to simply say that Israel pretty much just failed at carrying out this task. We see the faithfulness of Yahweh contrasted with the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel throughout the rest of the OT scriptures. God is faithful, and the people very rarely are. Priests for Israel represented the people to Yahweh, making sacrifices on their behalf, and interceding for them. The entire assembly was called to this task, but instead of being an example and representing the nations to Yahweh, the Israelites assimilated with surrounding peoples who did not live according to the Law, adopted abhorrent practices, and rejected their calling. Exiles ensue, and the prophets have a consistent need to call the people back to the covenants.
Yahweh does highlight and reward faithfulness where it is found (and notably even many among the Gentile nations who observed and became faithful to the God of Israel), and we are given the hope of the coming Messiah, who will be faithful to the covenants, satisfying their requirements as the great high priest.
Jesus, the great hight priest from whom our priesthood flows
The promises of God build on each other over time, and they culminate with the long-promised New Covenant, which Jesus inagurates by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Hebrews explains to us that Jesus is the great high priest who supercedes the earthly high priests because he is the only one able to offer sufficient sacrifices for sin, as he was without sin (Heb 4:14-16). He also preceded the earthly priesthood (Heb 7:14-19), entered a tabernacle not made by human hands (Heb 9:11), and gave us full assurance to enter the most holy place ourselves (Heb 10:19).
And coming full circle, Peter explains that Jesus calls us into participation as priests of the New Covenant, under him: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9). Our priesthood flows from that of Christ, and directly fulfills the promise made to the people of God thousands of years prior in Exodus 19. We are, therefore, priests in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:17-20), with great dignity and purpose, both individually and collectively through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit as our means for priestly service
We see the fulfillment of the covenant with the people of Israel through Moses in 1 Peter 2, and the collective priesthood now being realized in us today. And, as the people of Israel were meant to carry out God’s blessing to the nations by being like priests among them, so we are similarly called to be priests of the New Covenant because of the blessing that is accessible to all peoples. And what is that blessing? Paul makes that clear in Galatians 3:
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith…14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Gal 3:7-9, 14, emphasis added)
The Holy Spirit is the blessing. And that blessing is not restricted by ethnic lineage, nor is it bound to a certain class, nor is it entrusted only to men (Gal 3:28). This blessing belongs to the church, and it brings beautiful unity amongst diverse people who would otherwise have no reason to associate with one another. Instead, they’d have every reason NOT to identify with one another, let alone live as family, devoting themselves to one another in sibling love.
It is on the basis of this unrestricted and corporate call to be priests under Jesus and alongside one another that any Christ-centered community today should be collectively defined by broad empowerment in priesthood.2
Idealism is not a fallacy
Contrary to the title of my Substack, Grumpy Ramblings, I want to say I am idealistically optimistic about one thing in this world: the church. And it’s because of the topic of this post I have such optimism—that the Holy Spirit is accessible to us all, that we are all made worthy by Jesus, that we are meant to flourish in our priesthood in Christ-centered community, and that absolutely no one is to be excluded from that inherent dignity. I believe that is possible, and I will die on that hill if need be. Christians should be the most idealistic of all people, because the God of the universe lives within us, and it disgusts me that we settle for things that limit the supernatural potential that lives within each of us. And though we will never perfectly walk in the fullness of that calling on this side of the eschaton, we should do everything we can to thrive in the life God has called us to as though we can walk fully in it.
As a result, I will unapologetically be opposed to anything that stands in the way of the church of Jesus living into the calling which God has placed on it. So, I do get grumpy when the dignity of the saints is at stake. If Jesus bled, died, and sent his Spirit so we could attain life that is truly life, then getting grumpy when that is denied is the least I can do. These days, there seems to be quite a bit set against the dignity of the holy ones of God walking in the reality of who we are.
A cause for grumpiness: the SBC and women
I’ve mentioned previously that I grew up in Southern Baptist churches in the US. I still consider them to be “my people,” and many of my family and friends are still in those spaces. This past week’s convention in New Orleans featured the doubling down of the SBC’s stance against female pastors and the continued denial of full dignity to our sisters (and by extension, the entire body).3 As it relates to empowerment in our priesthood, I feel the SBC decision is incredibly unfortunate, though not surprising at all. Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and not-so-insignificant SBC influencer, said at the convention, “[the issue of women as pastors] is an issue of fundamental biblical authority.”4 “Biblical authority” is a hallmark phrase of the SBC and Evangelicals more broadly, and it has been for some time.
I sat in pews growing up hearing that phrase, and I went to a seminary that, while not Southern Baptist, is extremely friendly and cooperative with their worldview, and also champions the authority language rather dogmatically. I know how those conversations go, and I know what sort of sentiments are often implicit with “Well, the Bible says so.” I know what it’s like to be dismissed in those spaces because I view women as equal in essence and function. I’m married to someone who has endured that scorn more personally because of her embodiment while having those convictions.
But if, as Mohler says, this were really an issue about scriptural authority, the SBC would have a lot more disfellowships to make based on their understanding of scripture. More importantly, though, if “fundamental biblical authority” was the pressing issue, I think their churches would look a lot different and actually be safer for women in particular. What the SBC has done is elevate their own scriptural interpretation with scriptural authority, and they have been doing so for a long time.
So let’s not kid ourselves, the SBC has an issue with women. They view only men qualified to preach/teach/oversee, and these men don’t seem to view our Spirit-filled-and-gifted sisters with equal dignity. This stance certainly does not send the message that women are welcomed to thrive in any and all callings, and is outrageously insensitive given the hundreds of victims of abuse certain leaders in the SBC tried to hide.
More grumpiness: broad denial of priesthood to the saints
In all this, I am far less concerned about who pastors churches than I am about how the saints in those churches function.5 I think it’s safe to say that most churches fail to effectively leverage the potential in the sisters and brothers in our Christ-centered communities who are empowered and called by the Spirit. I also think that most pastors genuinely want the task of ministry to be shared by others. But maybe they don’t realize that the structures they uphold take that very possibility out of the hands of the brothers and sisters who make up the church. Just about everything about the way pastors are expected (and expect) to function screams, “I don’t need you!” They are trained, paid, called, and empowered to lead, preach, cast vision, oversee, pray, discern, and perform nearly every spiritual task that matters in the church. It wasn’t meant to all fall on the shoulders of pastors.
No wonder burnout among pastoral leaders is so common, as is the exasperation in getting people to volunteer. So I won’t completely blame pastors, as they are sisters and brothers in Christ too. But I’m convinced the way we generally do church and the way many leaders lead contribute to this problem. And it’s not just mega churches, or major denominations, or Americans who have this problem. I see it in Aotearoa New Zealand too.
Empowerment in our priesthood for the whole body does not happen in ninety minutes once a week. Family doesn’t happen if Sunday morning is all we are. Maturity in Christ can’t be attained apart from active participation in and with a dedicated Christ-centered community. But because “church” is for so many a once-a-week occurrence, we limit the potential to become a kingdom of priests if we leave the priestly duties to a single person. And because we regularly abdicate our priestly ministry to individual (or small groups of), paid “experts,” we fail to envision and take hold of our own call to participate in the ministry of reconciliation. Structures need changing, but people need to boldly live into the life that Jesus gives each of us.
Some questions to consider
Here are some things I find myself asking. Maybe one or two of them can be of benefit to you…
Do our structures in our local churches bring dignity to the entire body of Christ gathered there?
Are we consistently seeking out ways to equip each Spirit-gifted saint?
How many people participate in curating and facilitating our gatherings?
Is being excellent a barrier to people discovering and growing in their gifting?
Do we consider in our decision-making how our decisions and processes include the rest of the body? Which of these are transparent or hidden from the church?
What language do we use to describe one another? Do our words elevate some over others (Senior Pastor, clergy, called, staff, etc.)?
Are we emphasizing priestly work that does not happen on a Sunday? What about priestly work that is not preaching or teaching?
Do we have permeable leadership structures, and are we actively aiding a diverse portion of our body in being qualified for those functions?
Do we measure success by comparison to the church down the street, or our own church a year ago, or do we measure success by the ideal of broad empowerment in priesthood, as Jesus calls us to?
Do we relate as family, and is value equally attributed and shared by sisters and brothers across our community?
Whom do we pay (or not pay? or pay less?), and why? What does this say of how we value certain ministries and people?
Who are we as a community if our building goes away or if our pastor resigns?
Thanks for reading Grumpy Ramblings!
Land and descendants are important elements of the Abrahamic Covenant (and ensuing covenants) that still have a place today, but the emphasis is on the role God’s people were to always play in Yahweh’s inclusive nature.
For more on this, see Greggs, Tom. Dogmatic Ecclesiology: The Priestly Catholicity of the Church, Volume 1. Baker Academic, 2019.
Beth Allison Barr critiques the irony of Rick Warren leading the fight, as the public debate over women serving as pastors lacked actual women’s voices.
Quotation according to NPR, and you can view this video that shows his and Rick Warren’s comments at the SBC convention if you’re interested.
Allow me to say that, given the structure of most of our churches around the world (especially Baptist), it is tragic that some don’t allow women to pastor. In that sense, who pastors (or is not allowed to) matters greatly, and it communicates value to those who hold that title and lack thereof to those who are not permitted to. By implication, women not being allowed to pastor means female perspectives and experiences are under-represented, more easily dismissed, and women in general are less valued and vulnerable to abuse. But my argument here is that focussing on pastors, leaders, etc., misses the point that ALL are called to serve in the church and be priests, not just leaders/pastors.
As always, appreciate your thoughts, Matt. This especially caught my attention and any discerning reader will stop to consider how to make the necessary structural changes to address these concerns. I wonder, are there any biblical examples (perhaps in Acts) that actually show the better way you speak to? Maybe a subsequent post will provide some? "I think it’s safe to say that most churches fail to effectively leverage the potential in the sisters and brothers in our Christ-centered communities who are empowered and called by the Spirit. I also think that most pastors genuinely want the task of ministry to be shared by others. But maybe they don’t realize that the structures they uphold take that very possibility out of the hands of the brothers and sisters who make up the church. Just about everything about the way pastors are expected (and expect) to function screams, “I don’t need you!” They are trained, paid, called, and empowered to lead, preach, cast vision, oversee, pray, discern, and perform nearly every spiritual task that matters in the church. It wasn’t meant to all fall on the shoulders of pastors."