Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Not So Simple A Question
Kruse points to a Scot McKnight post:
Whenever we read of the church's functioning, we read of distinctions based on function, not professionalism. Paul eschewed the very idea of professionalism, despite admitting "he had earned it" for the sake of the preserving body function.
That said, it takes a very special person to seek professional ministry. The bottom line qualification is a very special form of humility. One that that os enormously self-sacrificing, as the example set by Paul
I wonder how many in the job meet that criteria?
The foundational insight of Ray Stedman’s Body Life dealt with the questions “Who does the ministry?” Is “ministry” done by the pastor or is it done by the “laity”? (For the moment we can dispense with the whole clergy/laity discussion because in one way or another Stedman deconstructed the distinction.)This is not a simple question becasue, as here admitted, there is no distinction. Our necessary institutional distinctions are not distinctions within the Body of Christ!
Whenever we read of the church's functioning, we read of distinctions based on function, not professionalism. Paul eschewed the very idea of professionalism, despite admitting "he had earned it" for the sake of the preserving body function.
That said, it takes a very special person to seek professional ministry. The bottom line qualification is a very special form of humility. One that that os enormously self-sacrificing, as the example set by Paul
I wonder how many in the job meet that criteria?
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