Bill McNeal
03-28-2005, 03:19 AM
Here is some of the writings of John Zens...................
My letter to the sponsors of the recent "Clergy Conference" in Atlanta reflects my deep concern over the biblically unjustified practice of dividing God's people into two classes - pulpiteers and pew-sitters. It is a pattern that certainly reflects the hierarchical patterns of the world, but which does not square with New Testament teaching.
This baseless "clergy/laity" distinction has become such an assumed given that it permeates nearly all of our evangelical literature. The excerpts provided at the end of this article * have been gleaned from magazines, books, catalogues and advertisements and are typical of the extent to which the "clergy/laity" division has become a part of our evangelical language and environment.
The following material has been adapted from the article I submitted with my letter to the conference sponsors. I have no desire to stir up unnecessary dissension, but I believe that if the Church is to attain her full potential as the visible body of Christ, she must divest herself of such unscriptural hierarchical structures and return to her intended "one-another" relationships and ministries.
Before we examine the historical and biblical evidence, consider the following three examples of the kind of teaching that has influenced this "clergy/laity" thinking:
On this office [of Pastor] and the discharge of it He has laid the whole weight of the order, rule, and edification of His Church. 1
[The Pastor] is like the cerebellum, the center for communicating messages, coordinating functions, and conducting responses between the head and body . . .The pastor is not only the authoritative communicator of the truth from the Head to the body, but he is also the accurate communicator of the needs from the Body to the Head. 2
[Pastor Hamman] likened the total church to an army. The army has only one Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ. The local church is like a company with one company commander, the pastor, who gets his orders from the Commander -in-Chief. The company commander has lieutenants and sergeants under him for consultation and implementation, but the final responsibility for decisions is that of the company commander, and he must answer to the Commander-in-Chief . . . The Pastor has the power in a growing church . . . The pastor of a growing church may appear to outsiders as a dictator. But to the people of the church, his decisions are their decisions. 3
A recent ad in an evangelical magazine, had the heading, "Not Every Question Gets Answered On Sunday Morning". The truth is that probably no one's questions are answered because no inquiries are allowed. The pulpit monologue precludes dialogue. The pulpit can only be occupied by certain people - the "clergy". The rest - the "laity" - sit in pews. In this dichotomy you have the essence of our religion - Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise - in a nutshell: the "clergy" are paid to give and the "laymen" pay in order to receive. This distinction permeates our religious vocabulary, and unfortunately captures the heart of our practice: we pay the "clergy" to do the necessary religious activities. It is wearying to hear refrains like these repeated in so many evangelical advertisements: "Finally, a commentary that both pastors and laymen can understand" . . . "this video is equally profitable for clergy and laity".
While the "clergy/laity" distinction is embedded and assumed in religious circles, it cannot be found in the New Testament. It reared up its ugly head in the third century, long after Christ's apostles died. We should be pointedly reminded of the utter deceitfulness of sin when we realize how deeply such an unscriptural and damaging concept has taken root in visible Christianity.
The New Testament teaches leadership among the people of God, but not in a way that leads to the "clergy/laity" conclusion. The root words from which we derive the English words "clergy" and "laity" are found in the New Testament, but our usage of "clergy/laity" is far removed from the New Testament concepts.
Clergy . . .
The English word "clergy" is related to the Greek word "cleros". It means "a lot or inheritance". For example, in 1 Peter 5:3 the elders are exhorted not to lord it over "the lots" (Greek: ton cleron), which refers to the entire flock of God's people. Nowhere in the New Testament is any form of "cleros" used to designate a separate class of "ordained" leaders. Instead, it refers to the "inheritance" (Greek: clerou) laid up for all the saints (Col. 1:12; Acts 26:18). The saints as a collective whole are conceived of in the New Testament as God's "inheritance". We have utterly perverted and turned upside-down the New Testament teaching by using the term "clergy: to refer to a special elite group of church leaders.
Laity . . .
This English word is related to the Greek word "laos", which means "people". The Greek word "laikos", which means "laity", is not found in the New Testament. All in the body of Christ, whether "saints, bishops, or deacons" (Phil. 1:1), are the "people" ("laos") of God. "People of God" is a title of honor bestowed upon all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Pet. 2:9-10).
It was not until the third century that "clergy" was employed to designate a limited number of persons who functioned in the Christian assemblies. One of the worst outcomes of the "clergy" doctrine was that it communicated the notion that without the "clergy" present there simply was no church. Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and many other church practices, could not happen unless a "clergyman" was present. This idea persists to our day even in the workplace, as James D. G. Dunn notes, when "some of the early statements regarding industrial chaplaincies . . . seemed to imply that the church was not present in industry unless and until an ordained clergyman became involved on the factory floor". 4
Because the New Testament knows nothing of "clergy" the fact that a separate caste of the "ordained" permeated our vocabulary and practice illustrates rather forcefully that we do not yet take the New Testament very seriously. The "clergy" practice is a heresy that must be renounced. It strikes at the heart of the priesthood of all believers that Jesus purchased on the cross. It contradicts the shape Jesus' kingdom was to take when He said, "You are all brethren". Since it is a tradition of men, it nullifies the Word of God (Mark 7:13). Dunn sees the emergence of "clergy" as a very negative historical fact:
When Clement resorted once again to the distinction between "priest" and "laity" (1 Clem. 40:5), he was pointing down a road which would fundamentally compromise if not make a mere cipher of a very basic element in earliest Christianity's self-understanding . . . It is the apparent disregard for something quite so fundamental by subsequent Christian history that does more to undermine the canonical authority of the New Testament than most heresies . . . The major authority acknowledged by all Christians [the New Testament] has been effectively discounted and ignored. 5
Every Christian tradition has its insights and blind spots. But the "clergy" system is practiced across the board and is thus a universal blind spot. Seminaries and Bible Schools have multiplied to produce people for the "clergy" profession; ministerial conferences abound to supply support and encouragement that the "laity" cannot give; magazines are published to provide ministerial tips; pastoral search committees must be formed every time a minister moves on; clergy counseling must be provided for those who burnout and have nervous breakdowns; etc., etc. A whole intricate system is in place to perpetuate and preserve a role which the New Testament knows nothing about.
Like it or not, this "clergy" role ends up requiring a virtual omni-competence from those behind the pulpit. "Clergy" are paid to perform whatever is necessary to keep the religious machinery going, and the expectations are very high for those who wear the many hats this profession demands.
continued.............
My letter to the sponsors of the recent "Clergy Conference" in Atlanta reflects my deep concern over the biblically unjustified practice of dividing God's people into two classes - pulpiteers and pew-sitters. It is a pattern that certainly reflects the hierarchical patterns of the world, but which does not square with New Testament teaching.
This baseless "clergy/laity" distinction has become such an assumed given that it permeates nearly all of our evangelical literature. The excerpts provided at the end of this article * have been gleaned from magazines, books, catalogues and advertisements and are typical of the extent to which the "clergy/laity" division has become a part of our evangelical language and environment.
The following material has been adapted from the article I submitted with my letter to the conference sponsors. I have no desire to stir up unnecessary dissension, but I believe that if the Church is to attain her full potential as the visible body of Christ, she must divest herself of such unscriptural hierarchical structures and return to her intended "one-another" relationships and ministries.
Before we examine the historical and biblical evidence, consider the following three examples of the kind of teaching that has influenced this "clergy/laity" thinking:
On this office [of Pastor] and the discharge of it He has laid the whole weight of the order, rule, and edification of His Church. 1
[The Pastor] is like the cerebellum, the center for communicating messages, coordinating functions, and conducting responses between the head and body . . .The pastor is not only the authoritative communicator of the truth from the Head to the body, but he is also the accurate communicator of the needs from the Body to the Head. 2
[Pastor Hamman] likened the total church to an army. The army has only one Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ. The local church is like a company with one company commander, the pastor, who gets his orders from the Commander -in-Chief. The company commander has lieutenants and sergeants under him for consultation and implementation, but the final responsibility for decisions is that of the company commander, and he must answer to the Commander-in-Chief . . . The Pastor has the power in a growing church . . . The pastor of a growing church may appear to outsiders as a dictator. But to the people of the church, his decisions are their decisions. 3
A recent ad in an evangelical magazine, had the heading, "Not Every Question Gets Answered On Sunday Morning". The truth is that probably no one's questions are answered because no inquiries are allowed. The pulpit monologue precludes dialogue. The pulpit can only be occupied by certain people - the "clergy". The rest - the "laity" - sit in pews. In this dichotomy you have the essence of our religion - Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise - in a nutshell: the "clergy" are paid to give and the "laymen" pay in order to receive. This distinction permeates our religious vocabulary, and unfortunately captures the heart of our practice: we pay the "clergy" to do the necessary religious activities. It is wearying to hear refrains like these repeated in so many evangelical advertisements: "Finally, a commentary that both pastors and laymen can understand" . . . "this video is equally profitable for clergy and laity".
While the "clergy/laity" distinction is embedded and assumed in religious circles, it cannot be found in the New Testament. It reared up its ugly head in the third century, long after Christ's apostles died. We should be pointedly reminded of the utter deceitfulness of sin when we realize how deeply such an unscriptural and damaging concept has taken root in visible Christianity.
The New Testament teaches leadership among the people of God, but not in a way that leads to the "clergy/laity" conclusion. The root words from which we derive the English words "clergy" and "laity" are found in the New Testament, but our usage of "clergy/laity" is far removed from the New Testament concepts.
Clergy . . .
The English word "clergy" is related to the Greek word "cleros". It means "a lot or inheritance". For example, in 1 Peter 5:3 the elders are exhorted not to lord it over "the lots" (Greek: ton cleron), which refers to the entire flock of God's people. Nowhere in the New Testament is any form of "cleros" used to designate a separate class of "ordained" leaders. Instead, it refers to the "inheritance" (Greek: clerou) laid up for all the saints (Col. 1:12; Acts 26:18). The saints as a collective whole are conceived of in the New Testament as God's "inheritance". We have utterly perverted and turned upside-down the New Testament teaching by using the term "clergy: to refer to a special elite group of church leaders.
Laity . . .
This English word is related to the Greek word "laos", which means "people". The Greek word "laikos", which means "laity", is not found in the New Testament. All in the body of Christ, whether "saints, bishops, or deacons" (Phil. 1:1), are the "people" ("laos") of God. "People of God" is a title of honor bestowed upon all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:16; 1 Pet. 2:9-10).
It was not until the third century that "clergy" was employed to designate a limited number of persons who functioned in the Christian assemblies. One of the worst outcomes of the "clergy" doctrine was that it communicated the notion that without the "clergy" present there simply was no church. Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and many other church practices, could not happen unless a "clergyman" was present. This idea persists to our day even in the workplace, as James D. G. Dunn notes, when "some of the early statements regarding industrial chaplaincies . . . seemed to imply that the church was not present in industry unless and until an ordained clergyman became involved on the factory floor". 4
Because the New Testament knows nothing of "clergy" the fact that a separate caste of the "ordained" permeated our vocabulary and practice illustrates rather forcefully that we do not yet take the New Testament very seriously. The "clergy" practice is a heresy that must be renounced. It strikes at the heart of the priesthood of all believers that Jesus purchased on the cross. It contradicts the shape Jesus' kingdom was to take when He said, "You are all brethren". Since it is a tradition of men, it nullifies the Word of God (Mark 7:13). Dunn sees the emergence of "clergy" as a very negative historical fact:
When Clement resorted once again to the distinction between "priest" and "laity" (1 Clem. 40:5), he was pointing down a road which would fundamentally compromise if not make a mere cipher of a very basic element in earliest Christianity's self-understanding . . . It is the apparent disregard for something quite so fundamental by subsequent Christian history that does more to undermine the canonical authority of the New Testament than most heresies . . . The major authority acknowledged by all Christians [the New Testament] has been effectively discounted and ignored. 5
Every Christian tradition has its insights and blind spots. But the "clergy" system is practiced across the board and is thus a universal blind spot. Seminaries and Bible Schools have multiplied to produce people for the "clergy" profession; ministerial conferences abound to supply support and encouragement that the "laity" cannot give; magazines are published to provide ministerial tips; pastoral search committees must be formed every time a minister moves on; clergy counseling must be provided for those who burnout and have nervous breakdowns; etc., etc. A whole intricate system is in place to perpetuate and preserve a role which the New Testament knows nothing about.
Like it or not, this "clergy" role ends up requiring a virtual omni-competence from those behind the pulpit. "Clergy" are paid to perform whatever is necessary to keep the religious machinery going, and the expectations are very high for those who wear the many hats this profession demands.
continued.............