Friday, October 14, 2005

Some Shallow Thoughts on The Priesthood of Every Believer


I wanted to write about the Priesthood of all Believers today, but I just don’t have the energy.  So, in short, let me tell you some things that this glorious doctrine teaches:

  1. You are do not need another person to come before God on your behalf, save the one Mediator, Jesus Christ.

  2. Every believer is free to go to God for forgiveness of sins and is free to study and trust that they may understand Scripture.

  3. Every Christian is responsible to minister to others and to intercede for others in prayer.

Now, let me tell you what it does not mean:

  1. Whatever you think about Scripture must be true because you think it is.

  2. You are not accountable to the local church.

  3. That you do not need the local church.

  4. That your voice is as authoritative in matters as appointed officers in the church.

  5. That you are automatically qualified for every office in the church.

  6. That you do not need God given teachers to help you understand Scripture.  (Not a contradiction with #2 above.)

  7. That being a priest means you can commune with God just as well watching TV or fishing as you can at church.  (Just a repeat of 2-6 so you’ll catch my pet peeve.)

That’s all I have to say about that for now.  I feel tired today.  It could be because both of my shoulders were used as pincushions yesterday, and today it feels like I took a beating on both arms.  Further, there are all sorts of dead diseases floating about my bloodstream today, and that sort of creeps me out.  So, I’m going to take it easy today and mow the yard.

2 comments:

Scott Hill said...

You have got my attention. I am interested to see where you are going with this.

Dr 4LOM said...

Hmm, can you explain what should be considered your "local church"? I mean, there are easily a hundred different churches that could be considered "local" to me. I guess I'm bringing up a deeper question... How can you find a church when there are so many choices and moreso, when travel doesn't permit you to have a "local community"?