One of the most important lessons we can learn from Acts
is that Christianity is a lay movement, and that the work of
witnessing was not committed to a special class, such as priests
or clergymen, but to all believers.
Harnack claimed that:
when the church won its greatest victories in
the early days in the Roman Empire, it did so not by teachers or
preachers or apostles, but by informal missionaries.
Dean Inge wrote:
Christianity began as a lay prophetic
religion. . . . It is on the laity the future of Christianity
depends. . . .
Bryan Green says:
The future of Christianity and the evangelization of the world
rest in the hands of ordinary men and women and not primarily in
those of professional Christian ministers.
Leighton Ford says:
A church which bottlenecks its specialists
. . . to do its witnessing is living in violation
of both the intention of its Head
and the consistent pattern of the early
Christians. . . .Evangelism was the task
of the whole church, not just the "name
characters."
And finally, J. A. Stewart writes:
Each member of the local assembly went
out to win souls for Christ by personal
contact and then brought these newborn
babes back into these local churches
where they were indoctrinated and
strengthened in the faith of the Redeemer.
They, in turn, went out to do
likewise.
The simple fact is that in the apostolic
church there was no such person as a
clergyman or minister who presided
over a local congregation. The normal
local church consisted of saints, bishops,
and deacons (Phil. 1:1). The saints were all
ministers, in the NT sense. The bishops
were the elders, overseers, or spiritual
guides. The deacons were servants who
carried on duties in connection with the
finances of the local church, etc.
No one bishop or elder occupied a
place as clergyman. There was a body of
elders working together as shepherds of
the assembly.
But someone may ask, "What about
the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
and teachers? Weren't they the clergymen
of the early churches?" This is
answered in Ephesians 4:12. These gifts
were given to build up the saints in
order that they (the saints) might carry
on the ministry and, thus, build up the
body of Christ. Their goal was not to settle
themselves as permanent officials
over a locai' congregation, but to work toward
the day when the local church
could carryon by itself. Then they could
move on to establish and strengthen
other assemblies.
According to church historians, the
clerical system arose in the second century.
It was not known in the Acts period.
It has served as a hindrance to
world evangelization and the expansion
of the church, because it makes too much
depend on too few.
Believers in the NT are not only ministers;
they are priests as well. As holy
priests, they have constant access by
faith into the presence of God to worship
Him (1 Pet. 2:5). As royal priests, they
are privileged to tell about the One who
called them out of darkness into His
marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). The priesthood
of all believers does not mean that
everyone is qualified to preach or teach
publicly; it deals primarily with worship
and witness. But it does mean that in the
church there is no longer a special class
of priests who have control of worship
and service.
