How Does the Priesthood Function In Christianity?

When we think about how the element of the Priesthood / Experts / Masters relate to the other elements of Worldview, this group serves as a bridge between the “higher” (transcendent) categories of the Ultimate Truth Source and The Master Story and “lower” categories (personal, experiential) of the In Group, Values, Worship.

In order to discuss the functionality of a priesthood, we are going to begin by looking at the model given in the New Testament. Within Christianity, these truths have been connected under the general title, “The Priesthood of All Believers.” What does that mean?

Jesus’ Multifaceted Priesthood

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
– 1 Peter 2:9 –

As we just said, the New Testament Scriptures envisions ever member of the In Group – those who trust Christ – as part of the Priesthood. In the passage above, Peter tells his audience, made up of mainly Jewish followers of Christ, that they are now a “royal priesthood.” The purpose of this priesthood is to proclaim the praises of the One True God who has saved them.

This new priesthood is royal because those who are In Christ serve under Christ who is The Messiah – The King and Savior of all Creation.

If you think back to our brief history of the priesthood in the Bible, you will remember that in the Old Testament era there was a division between the priesthood and the common people. Jesus changed all of this. Now, In Christ, people from every nation and family are called together and are each gifted to serve a significant role in the Church, which is the Body of Christ.

Peter sums it up this way:

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God;
whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies
—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

– 1 Peter 4:10–11 –

Peter highlights several key truths. First, each and every follower of Jesus has received a “gift.” Secondly, these gifts have been given in order for us to serve one another. These gifts are also used to serve others, but the primary purpose of this gifts is to build up the Body of Christ. We will say more about this in just a bit. Thirdly, these gifts are given by God as expressions of His “varied grace.”

Some translations say “multifaceted grace” here, and that communicates the idea a little more clearly. First, we need to be clear about what Father God’s grace is.

GRACE
Father God’s unearned and undeserved LOVE
given to us in Christ that gives us access to
His unlimited power in the Holy Spirit.

Notice that Peter calls us “stewards” of God’s grace. A steward is someone who manages or watches over something that belongs to someone else. Father God attaches to us tenaciously through His grace. His grace is made evident in the way He gifts us to be part of His Royal Priesthood in Christ.

No one person can reflect and exhibit the full magnificence of God’s grace. It takes each and every person that has been touched by Father God’s love to be a facet of His multifacted grace. The only way to see the full glory of the Father’s love is to see it in the many diverse ways He works in each of our lives.

Jesus’ Diversely Gifted Priesthood

In Ephesians 4, Paul gives another passage which helps us understand the work of Jesus’ priesthood. Although he does not use the terminology of “priest” or “priesthood,” in this passage, he has been developing the concept of the Body of Christ (the Church) as the NEW Temple in which God dwells with and within His people (see Ephesians 2:17-21).

Paul begins this section by calling the Church to walk (live) in a way that worthy of Jesus: in humility, patience, bearing with one another. He then says,

“3 …. eager to maintain the unity [Oneness] of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

– Ephesians 4:3–7 –

The Biblical Christian Worldview is unified by our common beliefs and values. The fundamentals are touched on here with all the “ones.” We are united in One Body – the body of Christ, by One Spirit – the Holy Spirit, in One Hope – the hope of complete salvation in Christ, under One Lord – Jesus Himself, in One Faith – Faith in Christ, through One Baptism – the baptism of the Spirit, in One God – Father God. We are united together a “one people” through these realities.

BUT, Paul says, “grace was given to each of us.” This sounds very similar to Peter’s statement we just discussed. Although we are united in common trust and affirmation, we are diverse in gifting through Father God’s grace. Notice carefully that Paul does not say, “grace was given to all of us….” although that is true, that is not the significance of what Paul is saying. He says “grace was given to each of us,” which emphasizes the individual, unique gifting of God’s grace. This becomes clear in the following passage:

“And He [Christ] gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as shepherds and teachers,…”

– Ephesians 4:11 –

Notice the repetition of the phrase “some as…” Here, we are to understand that God’s grace has been gifted to us in different ways for different purposes. Through His gifts, Christ creates a diverse service with a common goal in mind. Let’s talk about that goal first and then come back to the gifted people He has given to achieve this goal:

“12 …. to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the Oneness of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,…”

– Ephesians 4:12–13 –

The purpose that the gifts listed here in Ephesians 4 have been given by Christ is to “equip all the saints for the work of ministry/service.” The goal of this gifting is 1) to help us attain the Oneness of the Faith (to be tenaciously attached together in love as Christ’s people), and 2) to help us attain Spiritual Maturity, which is to be like Christ in character.

At the end of this section Paul concludes with:

“15 …., speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

– Ephesians 4:15–16 –

In Christ, we are being “built” together into people who have the good and glorious character of Christ. This character is best expressed as “truth spoken in love.” Each and every member has a role to play in this work which will have significance not only for this World but also for the Kingdom to come.

Now, going back just a bit…. Paul says that these purposes and goals are worked out through 5 types of gifted people: 1) The Apostles, 2) The Prophets, 3) The Evangelists, 4) The Shepherds, and 5) The Teachers. (Based on the grammar of this passage, the Shepherds and Teachers may be linked as a group).

It is beyond the scope and purposes of this study to go into great detail about the nature of each of these “gifted people.” For now, we will just give the conclusions to a much longer discussion so we can see how the diversity of these gifted people works together toward a common goal.

The Apostles. The term “Apostle” means an emissary -someone who is sent to represent and give a message from someone else. This is the group of people that were tasked with taking the “Good News” (The Gospel) of Jesus and The Kingdom to those who had not yet heard and trains others to do the same. The Vision and Mission of the Apostolic Ministry provides the foundation upon which all other work and service takes place.

The Prophets. In the Old Testament, this group served as the “mouth” of the Lord, proclaiming the Lord’s message to his people. In 1 Peter 4:11 that we looked at above, he instructs those who speak, to do so as if they are “speaking the oracles of God….” The Prophetic ministry guides Father God’s people by keeping them in line with His truth and goodness. It challenges Idolatry (worship of anything other than the One True God) which leads to Ignorance and ultimately to Injustice. The Prophetic ministry keeps us “Christ and Kingdom Minded” and trains others to do the same.

The Evangelists. As the Apostles take the Good News to new areas and peoples, the Evangelists work to see that the Message of Truth gets deeply rooted among the people who have accepted it. The Evangelical ministry seeks to see people deeply transformed by the Gospel and trains others to do the same.

The Shepherds. This term is often translated “pastors” and although the term fits, the word is literally “shepherds” and connotes something a little different from the modern concept and image of “pastor.” Just like Shepherds tend a flock to provide for it and protect it, so the Shepherding ministry feeds, protects, and watches over Christ’s people and trains others to do the same.

Teachers. As we said, it may be that the Shepherds and Teachers are united as a group, working together. The Teaching ministry gives true and faithful instruction in the Written Word and in the Way of Jesus and trains others to do the same.

As you can hopefully see by now, these diverse ministries all work together to achieve the purpose of “equipping the saints for the work of ministry/service.” That is why we have included the phrase “and trains others to do the same” in each of the descriptions. The ministries also work together to achieve the goal of growing Christ’s people up to take on His “image and likeness” – the glorious goodness of His character.

All of these gifted types of people are necessary for the spread and growth of the Biblical Christian Worldview. Even though they may go by different names, every worldview has a “priesthood” that functions in a similar manner.