Re: Clergy and laity -- ExUBF's Parlor_Free wheel as far as u can from UBF

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Date Posted: 03:27:23 03/08/05 Tue
Author: Mike K.
Subject: Re: Clergy and laity
In reply to: Anonymous 's message, "Clergy and laity" on 07:01:55 03/07/05 Mon

The clergy are just the people who happen to feel that God is calling them to get special education so they can minister in a specific way. I don't feel called to go to seminary or become a pastor, but that doesn't make me less of a Christian.

While not wanting to belittle theological education, I'd want to ask the serious question: where in the Bible does it say that certain people with a special calling need to attend a seminary?

Well, my point in asking this is: as soon as you have "special people" who attend a form of seminary which the rest of the church do not attend, the remaining members of said congregation may easily be willing to say "I didn't attend seminary, so I didn't know and my pastor, who attended seminary, never told me."

Thing is, as soon as "special people" with "special education" are being used as an excuse for being sloppy in theology or biblical practice, we're quickly drifting into a chasm which puts men in control of others, willingly or unwillingly.
Usually, the process is creeping and passive, but maybe after 20-30 years, the "laity" find themselves absolved of studying the mysteries of the Bible on a daily basis, of interceding to God for the burdens of others etc - because they have a Pastor who can do that for them.

This is the real and maybe only reason why I dislike the clergy-laity system (and maybe that's also the reason why the Bible says the Lord hates it): people using their "uneducated" status as a privilege for spiritual laziness and for delegating responsibility away from themselves.

Christ called each man to stand before God - and clergy/laity can cause people to put someone else between them and God, either in mediatorship (because they believe they need mediation) or as a simple excuse for their own laziness in seeking God.
In some cases, it may even go so far that saints "bury their talent" because they feel that their biblical knowledge is so insignificant compared to that of the clergy.

This is now totally offtopic in this thread, but that's the danger I always caution about when mentioning clergy-laity.

In Christ,
Mike K.

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