The Politics of All Believers
Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve Him forever.” 1 Chronicles 15:2 NASB
Except – If you grew up in any of the Protestant denominations, you’re probably familiar with the doctrinal statement about the “priesthood of all believers.” Encyclopedia Britannica states:
priesthood of all believers, cardinal doctrinal principle of the churches of the 16th-century Reformation, both Lutheran and Reformed, and the Protestant Free churches that arose from the Reformation churches. The doctrine asserts that all humans have access to God through Christ, the true high priest, and thus do not need a priestly mediator. This introduced a democratic element in the functioning of the church that meant all Christians were equal. The ordained clergy thus were representatives of the entire congregation, preaching and administering the sacraments.[1]
A little reflection on the history of the Protestant movement explains the origin of this idea. Protestants objected to the fixed hierarchy of the universal Catholic Church. They read the Scriptures, now finally available in common language, as an endorsement of a new political system, a system of democratic membership in the Kingdom. The official Catholic priesthood was replaced by an egalitarian view. Just as political Europe was throwing off the shackles of kings and royalty, so the Protestant church followed suit, throwing off the spiritual chains of the Pope and his authorized enforcers. Scripture was enlisted to justify religious political revolution.
But what are the real consequences? Is the Kingdom a democracy? Are all believers truly equal? Has God done away with religious hierarchies? And, perhaps most disconcerning of all, is every believer now his or her own authority about religious matters as the Spirit gives enlightenment?
Modern religious believers interpret Paul’s challenging exhortation as applicable only to the government. You remember the verse: “Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Romans 13:1). In fact, the translator’s subtitles to passages like this are “Be Subject to Government,” a very powerful endorsement of Christian compliance (and quite useful if you are the one in power). Mark Nanos has argued compellingly that Paul never intended this statement to be about government authority, but rather about the authorities in the synagogue. Protestants, of course, don’t read it like this because they have already excluded any Jewish background from the Christian named Paul. Duly elected officials are happy to have had Paul’s proleptic endorsement, but aside from the political misappropriation, there are other dire consequences.
If we assert the priesthood of all believers, we basically undermine all sense of spiritual communal authority. If God speaks directly to me, then I don’t need to listen to anyone else. If my salvation is based on the Spirit’s personalinvolvement, then my only guide to spiritual matters is the interaction of the Spirit and my conscience. In fact, I don’t need to study, investigate, debate, or examine any other point of view because I have a direct pipeline to God.
In addition, the roles of various groups or persons in the Tanakh clearly have no bearing on my spiritual life. I can confidently dismiss the differences between Levites and Judahites. The priests and their obligations found in the Tanakh don’t apply anymore. Neither do the laws set down by prior envoys of God. Those were for people who needed human help with divine instruction. Now I have a direct connection to the Almighty, no interpreter needed. I tolerate the local pastor because he plays his own role, but what he says about God’s word must still be compared to my inner, Holy Spirit initiated, correct standard. I am free of all tradition, ritual, and sacrament. On the spiritual plane, I have equality, guaranteed by Christ.
The priesthood of all believers may have begun as a political declaration against the Catholic hierarchy, but it ends up as a rejection of God’s design for spiritual authority. It is part and parcel of the Protestant revolution, and as such, we might wonder just how much of the baby was thrown out with the bathwater.
Topical Index: authority, priesthood of believers, Romans 13:1, 1 Chronicles 15:2
[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/priesthood-of-all-believers
You Skip, are part of my inclination “to study, investigate, debate, or examine any other point of view” which has resulted in my mis-trust of the ‘authority’ of pretty much all hierarchy (of any/all organizations). Even the Rabinnical influence is suspect.
How am I to feel confident in what ‘leadership’ may put forth as spiritual guidance when we are constantly increasing our understanding of the changes throughout history, man has imposed on our most treasured documents that supposedly guide our faith?
I am grateful to your work and others and the resources available to us now to understand that pretty much what we understand is malleable as we don’t have original documents if they ever existed. And what we do have is heavily influenced by time, culture, intent.
The lack of certainty, actually requires us to trust only what we (personally) conclude is infuential in our spiritual walk with God and perhaps that is what creates personal responsibilty in our representation of God’s image to those around us.
Extremely well put. Pretty much describes where I find myself. Taking in a degree of teaching and then deciding whether it fits with what I believe is true and accurate. We are told to judge all things and hold to what is true. Gone are my days of just believing whatever I was told because the person teaching supposedly understood or knew more than me. There has to be some kind of a happy balance somewhere in there but I’m not sure where it’s at. I seek to attend my local church because the Bible says that we are not to neglect our gathering together. Otherwise I would probably just not go which is actually happening to a lot of people that have been in church most of their lives. There must be a greater picture in this regarding the body of Christ and that’s what I’m seeking after.
Thank you for sharing Richard. A lot to digest…..
Thank you Skip for all that you share with us and for your own personal journey. You are causing me to think and once we start thinking it’s sort of pushes all the boundaries out. Instead of everything being black and white you end up with a lot of different hues of colors. Well, enough said for now!
Shortly after I was born my infant baptised soul was wrapped and weighted with the iron chains of Popish authority, but in adulthood I traded in those Catholic chains for the silver shackles of the Protestant Priesthood and soon succumbed to these spiritual shamans siren call of Sola Scriptora. Shortly after my baptism I bartered my shiney silver shackles for the golden manacles of charis-mania know as the “Spirit led” lifestyle. So through the many decades of spiritual decadence, authoritative oppression and moral malaise I have come to better understand my religious culure, myself and my false gods. I now realize that not only can I not trust any of the pious priests of any Pope or populist Protestant persuaion, but that I cannot trust my own inner spirit led priesthood. After many years (and tears) I began to suspect that my promised pipeline to the Divine was either clogged or leaky or both. But now I suspect my personal pipeline was nothing more than a line of hype and it was cut asunder long ago by a gracious God who replumped it so that it drains into the ditches of Gehenna where it originated (true to character, I did manage to salvage a small section of it, which sits idol-like on my mantel- one that I can show to my friends and family to prove my spiritual bona-fides). But because my salvation is no longer based on the authority of man or the witness of my indoctrinated conscience or the “Spirit’s personal involvement” I have come to the conclusion that I MUST study, investigate, debate, and examine EVERY other point of view (or at least as many as are plausible, feasible and germaine…and for that I depend on Skip and other religious iconclasts).
Skip, quite a conundrum you have left us with. I followed your presentation and agree with your conclusion. But if we are to emulate Breans and study to become more understanding, what do we do with that understanding in leadership hierarchy? The Rabbi was the spiritual leader of his community. And different communities with their different Rabbis may have had different spiritual or cultural understandings relevant to their community. So if your understanding is in conflict with your Rabbi, do you leave or submit? Or can you coexist with different views? I know that in Christianity and rigid doctrinal positions this is impossible. I have envisioned an environment where diversive understandings can coexist. But the foundation would have to be built upon your salvation and relationship to God not being restricted by your understanding and beliefs of theology. A hopefull premise I suppose.