Call to Ministry
I teach the Freshmen introduction to Pastoral Ministry course. My
students can not even remember the "Challenger disaster." For them
"history" starts from 1992 and back. For instance they cannot image a
time when the church did not have "youth pastors." When it comes to
the Ministry they sometimes cannot grasp how long God has had priests and
ministers in His service. To help them capture that heritage--the "lineage
of the Ministry" I'm putting together a short article outlining this
heritage. To help me finish, edit or adapt, please respond to Tuesday@indwes.edu
Here is the first draft of that article.
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A
Minister's Family Tree
We
stand at the end of a long line of priests and Ministers
Just about anywhere in the world where you find a religion you will also find a class of people serving as priests or ministers. These priests and ministers serve the masses in bringing the people and god together. Put most simply the priest or minister "represents God to the people and the people to God."
Christianity is not different in this than most other religions. There is a long line of ministers and priests in our family tree. While present ministry is certainly more important than rooting around up our ministerial family tree, it is nevertheless worthwhile to know our ministerial lineage. We do not take up the calling of Ministry lightly--we join an impressive line of folk before us who represented God to the people, and the people to God.
The Patriarchs
Of course the Patriarchs did not have a minister--they were the
ministers. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dealt direct with God. They had no
synagogue, no temple, no priests, not even the Ten Commandments. As the head of
the household/tribe the patriarch served as the clan's priest. Sometimes they
also represented God to the people outside their clan. Noah, represents God to
a corrupt world, providing an "escape" for the people who might have
repented. Abraham intercedes on behalf of the city of Sodom, representing the
people to God. However, the patriarchs were not completely on their own with no
other priests around. While Abraham felt competent to officiate at his own
sacrifices, he still pays a tithe to Melchizedek(Genesis 14:17-20). Melchizedek
was a priest of Salem (later to become Jeru(Salem). Presumably
Melchizedek was a local priest representing God to the people and the people to
God. So while the Patriarchs were do-it-yourself priests, at least Abraham
related to yet another priest--Melchizedek. When you sense a call into ministry
today, you can trace your ministerial lineage back to these patriarchs-- the
line includes the Patriarchs and Melchizedek. When you are ordained you pick
up the mantle of the Patriarchs in listening to God for what he is saying to
you and your congregation and you take up the calling of interceding for your
people to God.
Moses
Moses provides a transition between the Patriarchs and the priests. Jacob's son Joseph had been sold by his brothers into slavery and was shipped off to Egypt. His entire clan eventually joined Joseph--at first as honored guests but eventually they became slaves. Hundreds of years passed before Moses becomes the leader of the combined clans--"the Israelites" or "children of Israel/Jacob." When the call came to Moses he had been living with a "Priest of Midian." Moses returned to Egypt to serve as a sort of Super-Patriarch--a spiritual leader for an entire people. God called him to lead the people--not only militarily and politically, but also spiritually. Moses represents God to the people as He receives and presents the Ten Commandments as their rules for living. The first five books of the Bible--the Pentateuch--are seen as the "Books of Moses." These books present God's detailed instructions to the people. This was not just God's instructions to a single person like Abraham got ("Take your son up to the mountain and sacrifice him"), but was God speaking to the entire people. Moses thus represented God to the people. But he also represented the people to God in his prayers and intercession for them. When you are ordained you will take up the mantle of Moses--speaking for God to the people and representing the needs of the people to God.
Priests and Levites
But Moses was not a solo priest for long. Aaron emerges early in the story
as a kind of father of the priesthood. A portable church was constructed and
"the Tabernacle" emerged where collective worship and sacrifice
occurred, not just for families, but for an entire people. An entire tribe is
called to serve--the Levites. These Priests and Levites of old became ministers
not by being "called" personally but by being born--it was an
inherited calling--you were a priest or Levite by being born the child of a priest
or Levite. When Israel worshipped and sacrificed the Priests and Levites
guarded the Tabernacle and officiated at these sacrifices. When you are
ordained you will take up the mantle of the Priests and Levites as you lead
worship and officiate at sacraments and rites like baptism, communion,
marriages and funerals.
Judges & Kings
When Israel finally entered the Promised Land they lost Moses and were ruled
to some degree by Judges then later Saul became the single national King
starting the line of Kings of Israel. These Judges and Kings were often
military and political leaders, but some had a spiritual leadership function as
well, especially David the second king of Israel, and Solomon who constructed
the permanent Temple in Jerusalem. Other later kings like Hezakiah were
Priest-Kings. The Priests and Levites still officiated at the Tabernacle and
later the Temple, but the Judges and later Kings also sometimes provided
spiritual leadership. When you are ordained you will take up some of the
administration mantle from the judges and kings, but it is mostly focused on
administration in the church, though sometimes a Minister gets involved in
local or national leadership.
The Prophets
Wouldn't you think that a King looking out for both temporal and spiritual things, along with host of Priests and Levites officiating at the Temple would be enough? Yet another class of God's representative arose. In fact they came before the kings, Samuel being the first. Samuel was called of God to represent God to the people, a kind of priest-prophet. He anointed Saul and later David as king. In this act he was representing God's selection and approval. Samuel is at the back end of a long line of prophets. Who need prophets? Why did this new class of representative of God arise--weren't the Kings and Priests enough? Apparently not. Perhaps as leadership of the nation of Israel increasingly specialized, the existing leaders focused mostly on what was at hand. That is, the kings focused on political and military leadership more than spiritual leadership. The Priests and Levites focused especially on "representing the people to God" primarily by officiating at Temple worship and sacrifices. Who would represent God to the people? Who would speak for God--not jus lead worship? God raised up prophets to do this. They wandered about speaking for God, predicting, scolding, correcting, and chastising the people. Today's worship service often includes two parts: the upward focused praise and prayer from the people to God and the downward focused Scripture and sermon from God to the people. The prophets specialized in this second part: representing God's word to the people. Thus we have a long series of books in the Old Testament produced by these prophet-preachers representing God to the people: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Maham, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. When you are ordained you will take up the mantle of the prophets--accepting the call to preach God's word to the people, even when it is not popular to the hearers.
Scribe
The Scribes studied and copied the Word of God--the Torah. They were
students of the Scripture and carefully transmitted and multiplied it for the
people. While the Scribes may not be in our direct family tree, they do
represent the careful study of Scripture and urgency that it would multiply. When
you are ordained you will take up the mantle of the Scribes in a commitment to
study and multiple the Scriptures in your own heart and mind as well as in the
lives of your people.
Rabbi
A Rabbi is simply a teacher. Rabbis drew around them people interested in
study--these were called disciples. Jesus was a rabbi and gathered around him
disciples to teach. When you are ordained you will take up the mantle of the
Rabbis for you are not called just to administer and preach, but the teach your
people.
Synagogue Elder
While the priests officiated at the one national Temple in Jerusalem, there
were also a multitude of "local churches" by the time of Jesus--the
synagogue. Probably born in the Babylonian captivity as a means of preserving
and passing on the faith, the Synagogue was brought back to Israel on their
return. Here a "congregation" of local people came to pray then read
and study the Scriptures. The Synagogue was a local place of prayer and Bible
study. Depending on the size of the town there was a varied organization. If
there was but one rabbi, he would be the Synagogue Ruler. In a large synagogue
there may have been a college of elders presided over by a "chief of the
synagogue" -- a President or Presiding elder. When you are ordained you
will take up the mantle of the Synagogue ruler as you either solo-lead a
congregation or become a staff elder/leader of a local congregation.
Apostle
Jesus had lots of disciples. From that larger group of followers he called
out twelve to serve as Apostles--to "be with Him." These were His
inner circle--His designated successors--to whom He gave authority to multiply
the church and make decisions in His name. He even promised them they would do
greater things than He did! After Christ ascended they took up the job of
leading and ruling the church. They seemed to have the delegated authority from
Christ Himself, and thus were respected and obeyed in the early church. They
also received His Commission to propagate disciples and thus they took the
gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and eventually to the uttermost parts of
the world. When you are ordained you will take up the mantle of the Apostles
in authority over Christ's church as well as their commission to make disciples
of all nations.
Deacon
At first the Apostles did everything—including the daily distribution of
food for the widows in Jerusalem. Like
Moses they eventually realized that they were “spread too thin” and their focus
was too broad. God prompted them to develop
a new class of church workers—deacons, (simply called ‘the Seven” at first). These workers took on the management work of
food distribution so that the Apostles could give themselves more whole-heartedly
to prayer and ministry of the Word. While
some churches still ordain deacons, many evangelical churches have trustees or
deacon boards handle the building, management, and construction matters,
freeing up the pastor to deal with preaching and teaching. When you are ordained you will take up
the mantle of the deacons too—for much of the modern pastor’s work in
evangelical churches is “deacon’s work.”
Prophets and Teachers
In the church at Antioch there was “prophets and teachers.” These were a group of leaders God had given
the church. They preached and taught
the people producing strong Christians with a strong faith. Paul and Barnabas were in that group. The prophets presented the gospel with
authority and sometimes warned, foretold future events and even chastised and scolded the people alike Old Testament
prophets. They were in a sense “preachers.” The teachers trained and built up the people
so they would be strong and solid in the faith. Together they made a great tag team approach to presenting forth-telling
and training. When you are ordained
you will take up the mantle of both the preacher-prophet and the
teacher-trainer as you answer God’s call to both preach and teach the people.
Bishop/Overseer
Originally the work of Bishop” was probably simply the chief pastor of a
local church. Eventually the bishop became
a regional church leader supervising other ministers—sometimes today still
called a bishop or “district
superintendent” When you are
ordained you will take up the mantle of bishop even if you never become a
district superintendent or general superintendent of your church—for in the
modern world every single minister has a great affect on other ministers and
thus serves as a trainer and improver of fellow ministers.
Elder
The local spiritual leaders of a church were elders. Some denominations still call their
ministers “ordained elders.” Elders
presided over a congregation and were looked to for wisdom and guidance—for often
(at first) they were older and wiser than others. When you are ordained you will take up the mantle of the
elder for even though you may still be young, you will be looked to for wise
answers and a perspective that includes all of history.
Widows
The early church had a special category for widows—sort of the first century
“nuns” in a way. Specific instructions
were given for these women to have a house-to-house ministry. When you are ordained you will take up
the mantle of the widows, for you will not be able to “go to work” at the
church building—but your ministry is with the people—from house to house as
well.
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastor-Teachers
Paul listed four categories of the equipping ministry… repeating much of the
above list but adding two not mentioned above, the evangelist and
Pastor-teacher. The evangelist may have
been one called to wander from church to church in order to reach the lost and
spread the good news of the gospel, and the pastor-teacher was most likely the
local elder given care of the flock as a shepherd and teaching and training them
in obedience. When you are ordained
you will take up the mantle of the evangelist in your task of winning the lost;
and you will take up the mantle of the pastor-teacher in becoming fixed to one
group of people committed to helping train them in godliness.
When you are ordained you stand at the front of a long line of people God has set apart to build a people of God. Your heritage is great and there are thousands who have gone before you serving God and His people… what a great family tree!
So, what do you think?
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So what do you think?
To contribute to the thinking on this issue
e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu
Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday
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