men, and all laymen are clergy, in the Biblical sense of these words" (Alan Cole, The Body of Christ, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1964, p. 40). In dismissing the sharp demarca tion between ministers and people which entered the church when the Eucharist began to be viewed as a sasacrifice and thus a priestly func tion in the Old Testament sense, we are not excluding a recognized leadership within the church. Among the gifts that the Lord has bestowed upon His church are those that pertain to leadership. He has placed in His church pastor- teachers. These must be recognized and the Word has much to say about the responsibility of the con gregation to them as well as their duties to the body. But these or dered ministries are gifts as all members have gifts. Their ministry is needed as the ministry of all is needed. They are not the minis ters; all are ministers. Moreover, the ministry of the church is a mutual ministry, not simply from the ministers to the people. All the people are exhorted
to encourage one another, He brews 10:25; I Thessalonian 5:11). Even the worship of song is a "teaching and admonishing" of eachother(Colossians3:16; Ephes ians 5:19). Testimony is given that the early church knew what it was to minister in this way. According to Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, the believers in his prov ince had the habit of "reciting a hymn antiphonally to Christ as God." Tertullian, at the end of the second century, tells of the Chris tian love-feast at which "each is invited to sing to God in the pres ence of the others what he knows of the Holy Scripture or from his own heart." In the search for a more effec tive life and ministry, the church must always look backward to the New Testament pattern as well as forward to contemporary methods. In viewing the Word, the concept of the universal mutuality of the ministry should not be overlooked. Moody Press has recently published Dr. Saucy's book, THE CHURCH IN GOD 'S PROGRAM. It Is currently available in the Biola Bookstore.
Page 56
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker