For millennia,
prophets and priests have had their respective places in both the Church and
society. Priests and pastors walk alongside their parishioners, love them,
serve them; teach them the whole counsel of God. Prophets see sin and
unrighteousness in people and society, and call it out in no uncertain terms. One
point of contrast would be when evangelical churches hold revivals regularly, where
pastors (priests) call evangelists (prophets) to preach to their people. However,
we are ministering in a context where, the very nature of complex culture (see the
posts of July, 2012, for a definition of this term) tends to create a climate
in which the prophetic black and white can be blurred. When prophets have
spoken out in such conditions, they have most often been reviled by the status
quo. Maybe that is one reason why revivals are being held less frequently.
Priests tend
to nurture and want to preserve the status quo. The truth is that almost
everyone in the ministry is a combination of both. I have attached a chart that
contrasts the differences between prophets and priests. It will help you better
to understand yourself.
In the light
of complex culture and its impact on the Church, several questions then arise. These
are only a few of them.
How would you
characterize yourself? Are you predominantly a prophet or a priest?
Is the Church
trying to play the role of prophet and priest simultaneously?
Could this be
why the society is reacting negatively to the Church?
What is the
role of the Church in a culture with such heterogeneity most of which is not its
traditional clientele?
1 comment:
Hallo Tim, danke für die Gegenüberstellung von Prophets and priests. Das ist eine gute Arbeit! Wie du aber auch schreibst, haben wir Pastoren etwas von beiden Seiten, so dass es keine so strenge Trennung gibt. Und du liegst richtig: es fehlen propheten die in unsere Tage hinein Sünder rufen! Auch ich frage mich: warum so wenig
Evangelisationen!!?? Gott mit dir und Esther.
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