PRIESTS, ELDERS, AND MINISTERS |
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Much has been said, taught, and practiced regarding the role of the "ministry" in the Church of God. Many teach and practice an approach that, for all intents and purposes, incorporates a "class" system with a defined gulf between the "elders" and their congregations. Some of the larger organizations will import "ministers" to local areas, usually transferring them to other areas after a period of time and importing a different "minister" to "serve" a local congregation. These "ordained ministers" are classed as "spiritual Levites" and considered the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Levitical priesthood. Their congregations are subject to his decisions and directions and nothing may be done, changed, or dropped without his approval. Is this the way God intends His Church to be led? Is this in keeping with the scriptures of both the Old Testament and the New Testament? Prior to the Exodus from the land of Egypt, the Israelites had no priesthood as such. Priests existed, of course, not only serving the true God but also other gods. The first person identified as a priest encountered in the Bible is Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18). Some contend that this person was the being that became Jesus Christ presenting Himself in human form. The primary foundations for this belief are:
Those who believe that Melchizedek was merely a human being counter with:
The Lighthouse Congregation of God prefers the latter arguments. While a person's salvation does not rest upon which approach one adopts, a scriptural understanding of Melchizedec does assist in understanding the New Testament priesthood. The Hebrew word translated "priest" is kohen and occurs many times in the Old Testament both in reference to men representing the people to the true God as well as men representing the people to false gods. They were ones who served at the altar, presented sacrifices, and performed other "priestly" duties (such as discerning the existence of leprosy and sometimes acting as a judge to settle disputes and pronounce sentences of punishment). They came before the deity which they served on behalf of the people who worshiped that particular deity. The priests of the true God never acted as authoritative dictators over the people. They wielded no rulership authority, they merely prepared (or helped prepare) sacrifices and led congregational worship. They also read the law to the people and, as necessary, explained it to them. Historical references exist, however, which indicate that the priests of other deities did tend to rule over the people, often very oppressively. In situations where they did not have direct rule over the people, they exerted strong influence upon the king. Other priests existed as well, including Joseph's father-in-law, Poti-Pherah (Gen. 41), who was a priest of On (an Egyptian god), and Moses' father-in-law, Jethro (Ex. 3, 18), who was a priest of Midian. No mention exists of the qualifications or "ordinations" of Jethro or Melchizedec to be priests, merely that they were priests. Prior to the Levitical priesthood people did not need to deal with priests to make offerings to God. Abel did not go to a priest, neither did Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. Abraham did make a thank offering to Melchizedec for the success of his mission and the recovery of the stolen goods. But Abraham did not talk to God or make offerings to God through a priest. He did them directly. No priest was present when Abraham went to make a burnt sacrifice of his son Isaac. The institution of the Levitical priesthood occurred following the Exodus. God provided very extensive and detailed descriptions of their vestments, duties, and responsibilities. He also made it very plain as to who qualified to be a Levitical priest and who did not. Not only did a priest need to be a descendent of Aaron, to perform his duties he also had to be ceremonially clean (Lev. 21:1-9) and free of physical impairments and imperfections (Lev. 21:17-23). Additionally, there was a high priest with further restrictions (Lev. 21:10-15) who was considered the primary priest (see Jer. 52:24). In the Tabernacle/Temple years, this man was the only one allowed to approach the symbol of God's throne, the Ark of the Covenant, which was hidden behind the veil of the temple in a section called the Holy of Holies, and only one time per year - the day of Atonement. This separation of priests (and Levites) from the rest of the Israelites was ordained by God for the purposes of recognizing God's rulership over them, but not a priestly rulership over them. Moses, while not a priest, served as a prophet. Prophets act as mediators between God and men. They do not offer sacrifices for the people, at least not as a general rule. There is the example of Elijah in his confrontation with the priests of Baal where offerings were made and Elijah's was burned up by fire from heaven, but this was a demonstration of His position, not an offering on behalf of the people to their God. We also have the example of Samuel presenting offerings to God and his instructions to Saul to wait for his arrival before making a specific offering (which, by the way, Saul violated). During the period of the Levitical priesthood people brought their offerings to the priests (with one exception) for sacrifice and acceptance. The one exception was the Passover lamb which was killed, prepared, and eaten at one's home. At the death of Jesus Christ the veil of the Temple was torn in two. This pictured the removal of the separation between God and His people. No longer did they need to come to Him through a priest. With the sacrifice and acceptance of Jesus Christ, the death and blood of animals was no longer needed. In fact, it had not been wanted by God from the beginning (1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 50:8-14, 51:16-17; Jer. 7:21-22; Mt 9:13). While the Levitical priesthood continued to function until the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., their activities were no longer ordained by God. There was now a new High Priest, one fashioned after the order of Melchizedec, which supplanted - superseded - the old priesthood which was after the order of the Levites (Heb. 7:11-12). As far as God's called-out ones are concerned, the Levitical priesthood no longer exists, neither physical nor spiritual. The current priesthood (of the Melchizedec order) is not run by or headed up by "spiritual Levites." In fact, the words "spiritual" and "Levite/s" do not occur in any verse of the New Testament, much less the phrase "spiritual Levite/s." A NEW PRIESTHOOD With the culmination of the Levitical priesthood's purpose came the beginning (or reinstatement) of the Melchizedec priesthood. This priesthood's ordination is eternal (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:17, 24) and its eternal High Priest is Jesus Christ. Who comprises this new priesthood? Those who are called, chosen, and ordained by this High Priest (Rev. 1:4-6, 5:9-10, 20:6). "But," some will argue, "the verses in Revelation say that Christians are not priests (and kings) yet. They will become priests when Christ returns, but that hasn't happened yet." To this argument comes the scriptural reply, "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 2:4-5). Peter did not say we are built up a spiritual house, containing a holy priesthood;" nor did he say we are "built up a spiritual house, which will become a holy priesthood." No, he said we are a holy priesthood. He went on to say a few verses later, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Pet 2:9-10). Again, Peter did not say we will become a royal priesthood; he did not say we have among us a royal priesthood. He said we are a royal priesthood. Those who argue that Christians are not already priests of God deny the plain word of God expressed through Peter. In Rom. 12:1 Paul instructs Christians to "Present yourselves a living sacrifice." What Paul did not say was, "Present yourselves to an elder as a living sacrifice." Under the Levitical priesthood offerings and sacrifices were presented to the priests to be prepared (in some instances the offerer performed certain aspects of the preparation) and offered. In two examples, the burnt offerings and the meal ("meat") offerings, Lev. 1:5-17 specifies that burnt offerings were to be brought to the priests who divided it and burnt it and Lev. 2:2-3 specifies that meal offerings were to be brought to the priests who burnt it and kept the remnants. If New Testament elders are "spiritual Levites" and other believers are not now priests, then they may not offer themselves directly to God but must go through the elders. Paul never instructed anything like that. And again, it denies what Peter plainly stated. As Heb. 7:12 explains, the priesthood changed. The Levitical priesthood no longer stands between the believers and God, either physically or spiritually. All true followers of Christ are priests of the Melchizedec order. Jeremiah penned a very interesting prophecy which sometimes gets used to point to a "spiritual Levitical" priesthood. An analysis of these verses reveals some interesting insights. First, however, the scripture: 17 "For thus says the LORD: 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'" 19 And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, 20 "Thus says the LORD: 'If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, 21 then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers.'" When this scripture passage gets used, the points are made that:
Just because we don't know who he/they may be or where he/they may be, that does not disprove the existence of a functioning Levitical priesthood. In the "Transfiguration," the epitome of the prophets was shown to be Elijah (Mt. 17:1-3). Yet Elijah, the foremost prophet of his time at least, thought that he was the only true believer left (1 Kings 18:22, 19:10, 14) and had to be told that there were 7,000 others (v. 18). Just because Elijah did not know about them did not mean they did not exist. Along the same lines, Christ told His disciples that He had sheep they did not know about (Jn. 10:16). Suffice it to say, God promised that there would not only be a Davidic king on the throne but that there would be at least one Levitical priest functioning. Both fulfillments are physical. And if no Levitical priest presently functions somewhere in the world in the capacity described in this prophecy, then God's covenant has indeed failed. ELDERS AND MINISTERS In the New Testament Church we find the appointment of men within congregations. These are variously termed as elders, deacons, and bishops. Some argue that these men were given rule over their congregations, pointing to scriptures such as Heb 13:7 which states, "Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct." Also Heb 13:17 which says, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." The Greek word translated "rule over" in these two verses is hegeomai which can indeed be rendered "command" or "govern" but it also has other meanings. It is used in Acts 26:2 when Paul said, "I think [hegeomai] myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews." Another occurrence is in Phil 2:3 where Paul said, "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem [hegeomai] others better than himself." In fact, in very few examples of the usage of the word in the New Testament is it applied in a context of rulership or governance. A more proper (and consistent) rendering would be "those who guide you." This would be in keeping with Christ's instruction, "But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs [hegeomai] as he who serves" (Lk. 22:26). Christ told His apostles, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant" (Matt 20:25-26). Peter seconded this approach for Church leaders when he said, "The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away" (1 Pet 5:1-4). An elder wielding controlling authority over a congregation violates these clear commands of Christ and Peter. "However," some will say, "look at what Peter said in the next verse: ‘Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders' (v. 5a). See, congregations are supposed to submit to their elders." It is not quite such a one-sided command because Peter continued that sentence with, "Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'" (v. 5b). The rest of the verse shows that all are to be submissive one to another, including the elders. It underscores the reality of equality, brotherhood, and cooperation. Some, usually ones who were "ordained" as elders by a large church organization, will claim an unbroken line of elders from themselves back to the original apostles. A prime example are those who were ordained by the Worldwide Church of God (formerly Radio Church of God). They also tend to recognize only elders who were ordained by Herbert W. Armstrong or men who were ordained by men who were ordained by Mr. Armstrong (or men who were ordained by men who were ordained by men who were ordained ... by Mr. Armstrong). To the best of our knowledge, however, none of them are able to provide a spiritual "ordination" genealogy; none of them can document that they were ordained by Mr. So-and-so, who was ordained by Mr. Somebody, who was ordained by Mr. What's-his-name, who was ordained by Mr. Armstrong, who was ordained by a man in the Church of God Seventh Day, who was ordained by . . ., who was ordained by the Apostle [one of the twelve], who was ordained by Christ Himself. In fact, this approach is merely a warmed-over Levitical priesthood. (They often refer to themselves as "spiritual Levites" as a justification for their need to have a lineage and to keep closed their numbers. And as has already been pointed out, such a designation is foreign to the New Testament.) An interesting aspect about men who stake claim to being "spiritual Levites" and needing an ordination genealogy is their disregard toward their own "brethren" of sorts. Again using the example of the Worldwide Church of God, few, if any, of the ministers will state that everyone ordained by Mr. Armstrong are true ministers of Jesus Christ. In fact, most will state that some if not most others are not. (They personally are, of course, as are those who believe as they do, but all the rest are not.) Very few will contend that the others who were ordained by the man who ordained Mr. Armstrong would qualify, or the man who ordained him, etc. They tend to have great faith in themselves and put great value in their supposed lineage, but disdain the vast majority of those who share that lineage. Most Worldwide "ministers" were taught to rule over their congregations and protect them from any and all ideas which differ from those taught by themselves (and the organization). As they separated themselves from the WCG, many continued the same attitude. Letters and phone calls come from "headquarters" (if they are associated with a larger entity) to the "ministers" who then pass along "appropriate" portions to their congregations. They carefully restrict those who are permitted to speak to the congregation and often carefully screen the things which are to be said. Most allow few others to speak during worship services, many disapprove of group discussions and Bible studies unless they are in complete charge of them. Is the Church organized as a "top down" structure? An interesting observation regarding this approach is that the letters of Paul to the congregations in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica contain no directives to an "in charge" elder. In fact, they do not even contain a reference to an "in charge" elder. These letters were addressed to the congregations giving them advice, encouragement, correction, and directions. Where problems were pointed out, Paul did not tell an elder to take steps to correct the situation. No, he told the congregation to handle the problem(s). Many warn their congregations to avoid the literature, tapes, and broadcasts of others. Is this scriptural? Paul also directed the Thessalonian congregation to "Prove [test] all things; and hold fast to that which is good" (1 Thes. 5:21). People need to be taught to study, to test, to prove, to understand errors, how to identify them, how to prove things to be good or bad. Christians should not be merely spoon-fed by their leaders, shielded from all "outside" influences, and protected from all ideas other than those espoused by the organization. People brought up in this sort of environment tend to be very weak, vulnerable, and defenseless when they are confronted by something away from their "elder." Peter instructed Christians to "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet 3:15). He did not say to be ready with an 800 number, a booklet, a magazine, or an elder's phone number to provide an answer to those with questions. All need to be nourished and prepared to hold their own, to defend their faith, and to preach the gospel as the need and opportunity arises. WHAT IS A "MINISTER"? The best way to properly understand the scriptural use of this term, is to investigate the way it is used in the Bible. A number of Greek words are translated as "minister" (either in a noun form or a verb form) in the New Testament. They include:
The overwhelming number of uses of the various Greek words involve service and giving. Few include anything approaching governance or rulership of any sort. A "minister" is a servant, one who serves. The greatest Christians, according to our Messiah Himself, are those who serve the most. They are not the ones who rule the most, who give the most directives, who lead the greatest number of people, or who have the largest congregations. They are not the ones who give the most inspiring sermons, who write the strongest letters, or who work the greatest miracles. They are the ones who display the greatest love to their brethren, the ones who lead by example rather than by force, and the ones who are respected by others for their faith and love. An "elder" by definition is one who is older than the majority of others. In physical terms, the "elders" are the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. In spiritual terms, they are the ones who have been "in the faith" longer and have grown in the knowledge and understanding of God's Word. Just as mere length of life does not necessarily make person wise, trustworthy, and/or respectable, length of time "in the Church" does not necessarily make a person strong in the Spirit and wise with the Word. Physical elders who are wise and respected are the ones who have learned and practiced right ways of living and have provided a good example to be followed by the younger ones. Spiritual elders who are wise and respected are the ones who have learned and practiced the Word of God and have provided a good example to be followed by the younger (spiritually) believers. In the early Church, some men were appointed to various "offices" of "eldership" in recognition of the level of conversion they demonstrated and their special abilities to serve the Church. Acts 6 provides an example of this. The apostles found themselves spending too much time handling the business matters of the Church and were incapable of dealing with it. The term "serve tables" does not refer to the job of preparing and serving food. The "tables" here are the same "tables" that were used in Mt. 21:12 and Mk. 11:13 where the moneychangers worked and the "bank" of Lk. 19:23 where one's money was to earn interest. Yes, the Greek word also gets used to refer to a dinner table, but the context of Acts 6 reveals the proper meaning. Verse 3 states that the need was to deal with "business" and the men needed to take care of it must be "men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom." These are not necessary attributes for people serving food, but absolute requirements for people administering money, goods, and services. ASSEMBLING TOGETHER Some will point to the command to not refrain from assembling together (Heb. 10:25) and claim that organizations are necessary for this purpose. Further, for an organization to function properly, a hierarchy of authority must be in place to have it work correctly, keep control, and protect the members from heresies. The fruits of this argument appear less than what many consider desirable. Authoritative and even oppressive systems of church government have caused (and even commanded) their adherents to depend on the organization for study, doctrine, and direction. They have also been taught that the organization bears the responsibility to "preach the gospel" (usually done in the form of radio and/or TV broadcasts, magazines, booklets, Bible correspondence courses, etc.) while the members' responsibility is to support (mostly financially) that effort with little if any activities in preaching the gospel on their own. Few receive encouragement and training in leadership and teaching activities. A strong, top-down pyramid organizational structure prevails in this type of group. Is it possible to "assemble together" without a large organizational structure? Is it possible to "preach the gospel" without slick magazines, professionally produced broadcasts, and highly organized and structured worship services? Absolutely! The prevalent assembly in the early church met in homes. Numerous examples occur of this, including Acts 2:1-2, 5:42, 12:12, Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15, and Phm 1-2. They had no printing presses, no radios, and no televisions. All teaching and preaching occurred by word of mouth. In fact, when a congregation grows as a result of local efforts and work, all are strengthened. The "Great Commission" of Mt. 28:19-20 Christ says that His disciples were to: 1) go, 2) preach, 3) baptize, and 4) teach all to do everything that He had commanded them to do. A look at Mt. 10 shows that these included commands to: 1) go, 2) preach, 3) heal the sick, 4) cleanse lepers, 5) raise the dead, 6) cast out demons, and 7) freely give. Give what? What were they freely given? Money? No. In fact, in v. 9 He specifically told them not to carry any money with them. What they had been freely given was the power to perform these assignments (v. 1). "But," some will argue, "that commission was given to the twelve apostles, so it only applies to them." Luke provided an abbreviated account of the Mt. 10 commission in Lk. 9. Then, after some other activities, in Lk. 10 Christ gave the same commands to seventy others. Besides, in Mt. 28:19-20 Christ did not say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to sit down, shut up, and send you their money so you can go, make more disciples, and baptize them." His command included all things which He had commanded them to do, including going, teaching, and baptizing. Nowhere in the New Testament can one find any indication that only "elders" were given the authority and responsibility to carry out these orders. The New Testament church does not have a two-tiered structure: "spiritual Levites" and everybody else. The entire number already holds the office of priest and has a calling to act in that capacity. Those with more experience, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom have the responsibility to lead, encourage, counsel, and teach others but without acting as bosses, lords, or dictators. All Christians are commanded to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (Php. 2:12) and all will stand before their Creator on their own. One cannot let some other individual or organization of individuals work out their salvation and let them take the heat in areas where they were in error. Each individual must check ideas and teachings out, testing them, and accepting only those things which stand up to the scriptures as good (1 Thes. 5:21). Elders are merely that, those who have grown in the faith, the Holy Spirit, and their appointment to that "office" serves merely as "official" recognition for what they have been doing and are expected to continue doing: providing a good example, good counsel and advice, and spiritual leadership. They assist younger ones to grow and develop, learn, and even become stronger and better servants of the Church than they.
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