Kings and priests: 'we need each other'
There seems to be a great confusion within the body of Christ regarding the term ‘calling’.
When hearing the word ‘calling’, many people simply assume that the term is limited to the ‘five-fold’ ministries (pastor, teacher, prophet, evangelist and apostle) and to a worship-singing task (to a certain extent).
In Ephesians 2:10 the Bible states: ‘ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’
The Bible says that we were created to do good works. It doesn’t limit those works solely to the pulpit. One of the top mistakes that ‘five-fold’ ministers do is to narrow down the word ‘calling’ to a pulpit task. For many Christians, it is inconceivable that God would call someone to a task different from a ‘five-fold’ ministry task.
Imagine if we were all called to a pulpit task? That would not make sense.
In James 3:1, the Bible even goes deeper by saying: ‘ Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.’
We were all called to share the Gospel to win souls. Such tasks differ in depth with the offices established.
Abraham was not a priest nor a pastor. He was a business man.Yet, he is called our father (ref. Galatians 3:6-9).
David was not a pastor nor a preacher, he was a king and a politician. Yet, in the book of Revelation 3:7, there is a key named after David. That key is a special key that , when used on a door, nobody can implement a reverse action on that door. A very special key was named after him, yet he was not a ‘five-fold’ minister.
Joseph, son of Jacob, was a politician. Joshua was a political leader. Esther was a queen.
Many heroes of the Bible were called by God to operate within segments of societies without being part of the ‘five-fold’ ministries..
Not everybody was called into the five-fold ministry. As much as King David needed priests in the Levitic order, the priests also needed a King that would influence a societal environment that would allow them to serve God.
There are also numerous cases where a person could serve in a ministerial office while also holding a secular position. Such was the case of Daniel who was a prophet and politician. His prophecies are some of the most important prophecies for the Body of Christ. Even Jesus refers to Daniel’s prophecy in Matthew 24.
I would like to address my fellow ‘five-fold’ ministers: ‘do not be frightened or shaken when a fellow Christian says that God has called them to pursue a specific activity in society. All obedient Christians always benefit to the Body of Christ in some form or another. Furthermore, do not be shaken if God calls you to add a secular activity along with the ministerial calling that you have. Paul was a tent maker, yet he worked more than all the founding apostles who walked with Jesus and his letters form the core doctrine of the Church.’
Obedient Christians always benefit to the Body of Christ. Therefore, as five-fold ministers, we should not work at stopping or discouraging fellow Christians that God calls into various secular sectors.
Esther was able to save her people because she was a Queen (ref. Book of Esther).Joseph could save his people because of his political position. During times of conquest and war, when the Israelites went to conquer the Promised Land, the priests assisted with prayers and spiritual activities but the swords were carried by soldiers. The soldiers needed the blessing of the priests to win and the priests needed the fierceness of the soldiers to access a land where they would serve God. Can you see how they needed each other?
The more ministers understand this simple truth, the easier it will be to gather resources that will finance the interests of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
The fact that some fellow Christians have received a call to operate in secular activities , does not exempt them to serve in some capacity in the Church building (e.g: as ushers, Sunday school teachers, ect..). And we should be at peace and okay with the fact that they are thriving and they can still benefit the body of Christ.
On the other, as the Body of Christ, we cannot have Christians who are busy thriving in secular activities while forgetting to bring some of their resources to finance the interests of the Kingdom. In my years of being a Christian, I have seen fellow brethren thriving as millionaires while their churches were languishing in dirt and lacking lights.
I have seen stingy (some of the stingiest) Christian coming to the Church regularly, and many years later, we would only find out about their millionaire or billionaire status through a scandal publicised in the media. Those stingy Christians would come to Church and they would give so little in comparison to what they were truly able to do. We need to do better than this.
In Deuteronomy 16:17, the Bible says: ‘ Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.’
A Christian, who works and/or thrives in secular activities should be reasonable enough to bring resources that will finance the interests of the Kingdom. Those resources should be a fair proportion of what he/she earned.
In summary, we need each other. Kings and Priests have to work together for a Body of Christ that
When hearing the word ‘calling’, many people simply assume that the term is limited to the ‘five-fold’ ministries (pastor, teacher, prophet, evangelist and apostle) and to a worship-singing task (to a certain extent).
In Ephesians 2:10 the Bible states: ‘ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’
The Bible says that we were created to do good works. It doesn’t limit those works solely to the pulpit. One of the top mistakes that ‘five-fold’ ministers do is to narrow down the word ‘calling’ to a pulpit task. For many Christians, it is inconceivable that God would call someone to a task different from a ‘five-fold’ ministry task.
Imagine if we were all called to a pulpit task? That would not make sense.
In James 3:1, the Bible even goes deeper by saying: ‘ Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.’
We were all called to share the Gospel to win souls. Such tasks differ in depth with the offices established.
Abraham was not a priest nor a pastor. He was a business man.Yet, he is called our father (ref. Galatians 3:6-9).
David was not a pastor nor a preacher, he was a king and a politician. Yet, in the book of Revelation 3:7, there is a key named after David. That key is a special key that , when used on a door, nobody can implement a reverse action on that door. A very special key was named after him, yet he was not a ‘five-fold’ minister.
Joseph, son of Jacob, was a politician. Joshua was a political leader. Esther was a queen.
Many heroes of the Bible were called by God to operate within segments of societies without being part of the ‘five-fold’ ministries..
Not everybody was called into the five-fold ministry. As much as King David needed priests in the Levitic order, the priests also needed a King that would influence a societal environment that would allow them to serve God.
There are also numerous cases where a person could serve in a ministerial office while also holding a secular position. Such was the case of Daniel who was a prophet and politician. His prophecies are some of the most important prophecies for the Body of Christ. Even Jesus refers to Daniel’s prophecy in Matthew 24.
I would like to address my fellow ‘five-fold’ ministers: ‘do not be frightened or shaken when a fellow Christian says that God has called them to pursue a specific activity in society. All obedient Christians always benefit to the Body of Christ in some form or another. Furthermore, do not be shaken if God calls you to add a secular activity along with the ministerial calling that you have. Paul was a tent maker, yet he worked more than all the founding apostles who walked with Jesus and his letters form the core doctrine of the Church.’
Obedient Christians always benefit to the Body of Christ. Therefore, as five-fold ministers, we should not work at stopping or discouraging fellow Christians that God calls into various secular sectors.
Esther was able to save her people because she was a Queen (ref. Book of Esther).Joseph could save his people because of his political position. During times of conquest and war, when the Israelites went to conquer the Promised Land, the priests assisted with prayers and spiritual activities but the swords were carried by soldiers. The soldiers needed the blessing of the priests to win and the priests needed the fierceness of the soldiers to access a land where they would serve God. Can you see how they needed each other?
The more ministers understand this simple truth, the easier it will be to gather resources that will finance the interests of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
The fact that some fellow Christians have received a call to operate in secular activities , does not exempt them to serve in some capacity in the Church building (e.g: as ushers, Sunday school teachers, ect..). And we should be at peace and okay with the fact that they are thriving and they can still benefit the body of Christ.
On the other, as the Body of Christ, we cannot have Christians who are busy thriving in secular activities while forgetting to bring some of their resources to finance the interests of the Kingdom. In my years of being a Christian, I have seen fellow brethren thriving as millionaires while their churches were languishing in dirt and lacking lights.
I have seen stingy (some of the stingiest) Christian coming to the Church regularly, and many years later, we would only find out about their millionaire or billionaire status through a scandal publicised in the media. Those stingy Christians would come to Church and they would give so little in comparison to what they were truly able to do. We need to do better than this.
In Deuteronomy 16:17, the Bible says: ‘ Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.’
A Christian, who works and/or thrives in secular activities should be reasonable enough to bring resources that will finance the interests of the Kingdom. Those resources should be a fair proportion of what he/she earned.
In summary, we need each other. Kings and Priests have to work together for a Body of Christ that
thrives.