Sacerdotalism

Copyright 1998:
William A. Simpson

Sacerdotalism is the establishment of a rigid hierarchy that separates man from God, the interjection of a "priestly" class between man and God, through whom the "layman" must go to reach God.  The Aaronic priesthood was a divinely ordained sacerdotalism established under the Mosaic Law.   The Jews were not allowed direct contact with God, but went to Him through priests.   Roman Catholicism is one sacerdotal system among several that lacks the authority of the Bible, as do almost every other of the denominational systems and bureaucracies today.  They have carried certain principles of the Aaronic system forward and incorporated them into their own priesthood, denying the priesthood of the believer.   While there is a sort of hierarchical system in the true Church, it is spiritual in nature, and is not concerned with the things of the flesh.

Let us begin by recognizing that, while some distinctions must be drawn between those with full time ministries and those who are considered "laity," the distinctions are not nearly so deep as most denominations would have a person believe. 

Many religions hold that the clergy are somehow superior in virtue and in their standing before God to their less educated and less involved congregations. And within those denominations that do not hold such a doctrine, many -- indeed most -- pastors so consider themselves, expecting also that their patrons hold them in such esteem. Preachers are "supposed" to be better than other folks. They are held to a higher standard of conduct. If they fail in their personal lives, they are ostracized from the churches they lead. We now see this same principle being applied to the U.S. President. A significant consideration in this matter is that those held to a higher standard are forced into an insidious hypocrisy.  That is, they are forced to portray themselves as something other than what they are.   Church-goers expect them to be virtuous, moral, trustworthy, and they must act like it if they are to be successful.

Paul said that there are none good, no not one.   When a person is saved, it is not on the basis of his goodness, but on the basis of his faith in the sufficiency of the Blood that was shed for his sins on the cross to pay the penalty for those sins.  A person is neither saved nor kept by any reformation of his nature or character.  Once saved, a person does not become sinless.  His old human nature remains with him.  While there is an increasing degree of sanctification over the course of a Christian's life, he does not ever become a moral creature while still wrapped in this tent of corruption.  While his habits and priorities change over time, he remains the same person that he was prior to his salvation, with the same vices, diverted by the same temptations.  Sanctification, after all, does not mean "an increase in morality."  Rather, it is a process whereby one becomes less and less attached to worldly things and more and more drawn to heavenly things.  In that sense only is there a decrease in sin, but there is still enough sin left in all of us to make us wholly unworthy of salvation no matter the good works we also do.  But the one who is drawn toward holiness is drawn by God, though he remains a sinner as long as he is in the flesh.  We are all sinners, but some of us sinners are called, by the grace of God, saints; not because of our morality, but by His grace.   His mercy.

To expect a member of the clergy to become a paragon of virtue is to set yourself up for disappointment.   The most exalted pastor has secret sins that would destroy him if they became public information, even if they were only sins of the mind and heart.  By the grace of God, many pastors go through their entire lives with those shortcomings withheld from public disclosure, but there is not one who does not understand in his own heart that he is no better than the worst of his congregation.  Many, however, do not admit this to anyone, least of all to themselves. Still, even the Apostle Paul admitted (Rom 7:15-25) that he remained a wretched sinner, even as he worked so assiduously in the spreading of the gospel of God's grace.  Indeed, though he hated his sins passionately, he was himself a wonderful example of grace insofar as God chose him, a persecutor of the church, as its most fruitful evangelist. Pastors are not in any way better than their congregations.  When the "laity" (there is really no such thing) holds its ministers to a higher standard, they are inevitably going to be disillusioned, at least to some degree, and very likely to a large degree.  For he is as prone to sin as the least worthy Christian.   For none of us are worthy of anything but condemnation. We should be more thankful for the grace of God and less judgmental of our ministers.

While many denominations have exaggerated sacerdotal systems, and while the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament was sacerdotal in structure, the Bible knows no such system in the Church Age. One religion, the Roman Catholic, starts with acolytes (altar boys), who stand beneath the lowly brothers and nuns.  Above the brothers and nuns, the chain of command then moves up to priests, monsignors, bishops, cardinals, and reaching even unto the Pope.  Somewhere in the dim depths beneath the lowly brother lies the unsuspecting, trusting layperson, looking upward toward heaven but seeing only the great hierarchy of the church (so-called) standing between himself and God. And somewhere beyond the unreachable distance between the Pope and heaven stands a stern and unforgiving God who will exact a precise payment for every offense, a penance equal to the offense. This is what a priestly hierarchy imposes upon its lay congregation. God does indeed exact a precise penalty for every sin, but that penalty was executed upon Christ, not upon the believing sinner.

The poor layperson has no hope whatsoever of pleasing God, let alone knowing, serving and loving Him, or of being so loved by Him. They are deathly afraid of their God.

Because the members of the hierarchy are intent upon preserving ignorance of the grace of God among those to whom they minister, it has become acceptable in professing Christendom for the so-called laity to be wholly ignorant of doctrine, and completely dependent upon the so-called clergy for whatever understanding they may gain, for whatever relationship they may be granted with a God whom they do not know, and by whom they are made fearful. Drawing a distinction between clergy and laity such as those drawn in every sacerdotal system, even among the Protestants, not only fails to serve God by drawing their members closer to Him, but also destroys the hope of their most devoted adherents and drives people to flee from God in terror of hell.

Such a system promises only eternal suffering and condemnation to those ordinary faithful who can only hope that they die in a moment when they are repentant.  But the faithful also know that the chances of their dying at such a moment are slim, for they are but rarely in such a state.  Dividing the faithful from God by the interjection of a supposedly holier order between them and God effectively ensures that the poor layperson will never have a right understanding of his relationship to a God who seeks not to judge but to embrace.  It teaches that anyone may reform his character, becoming moral.  Not only that, it teaches that a person must so reform himself if he is to have any real hope.  After all, if the members of the priesthood can become holy, then every Christian must also. Since this is impossible, the layperson is left to hope that he will be so lucky as to die in one of those rare moments when he is communing with God. Small hope there!

Drawing distinctions between laity and clergy, then, serves to elevate the clergy above what they ought to appear and what they truly are, and to demote the ordinary faithful far, far beneath what they ought to understand themselves to be. As stated earlier, the Bible knows no distinction between clergy and laity except insofar as their jobs are different. Indeed, the Bible teaches that we are all priests. Writing to the Gentiles in Asia and elsewhere, Peter said,

"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Pet 2:1-5)

John says in the first chapter of the revelation of Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come...and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever. Amen. (Rev 1:4-6)

There are others references as well which indicate a general priesthood of believers.  Furthermore, the duties of the priest in this Age are also clearly drawn.  What is little understood is the fact that every Christian is a minister of the Word of reconciliation, and has a ministry that is peculiar to him alone.  We are all priests, responsible, not to "be good," but to be fruitful.  Those who draw too much distinction between the laity and the clergy deny the priesthood of the believer, making him unfruitful in his own ministry.  While different Christians serve in different ministries, we are each responsible to fulfill our own.  Sacerdotal systems serve much more to cast the ministry of the layman into deep shadow, elevating the hierarchy and diminishing the masses.  Less gets done, fewer people know God, fewer still serve Him.  It is an institution imposed by man for his own glory, wherein he may be glorified while God is made to seem less capable of dealing with the "mere" layman. That must be left to the wisdom of the clergy. 

That is how it looks from the top down. From the bottom up, it appears that God is unapproachable and severe, mean-spirited and vindictive. Only the favored few have any access to God, and they must be very brave indeed, and, oh, so holy, to be able to intercede on the poor sinner's behalf. It is an ugly system.

All the above having now been said, let us be careful to note that, of the great diversity of ministries found among Christians, some involve more hours than others.  Some are full time.  Those called to full time ministries ought to enjoy rewards of their labors here commensurate with those to whom they minister.  Theirs is not only a position of labor, but also of authority.   But their authority does not give them sovereignty over the lives of their congregations.  It is a very limited authority, more akin to servitude than to mastery.  They are gifted with the tools they need to perform their ministries, and they are guided in their service by the One who has also provided the tools.  Of themselves, full time ministers are mere men, subject to all the weaknesses and failings of everyman.  Susceptible to every foible and peculiarity.  They are mere men, placed in positions of authority over others, and gifted with understanding and the ability to impart that understanding to others.

In so many churches today, the tendency of the pastor is to tell his flock how to be good.   But his real responsibility is to instruct his flock in sound doctrine, making them able to go out into the world and preach and teach the gospel of grace.  While he may have the authority to offer advice on social concerns, he has no authority to enforce the acceptance of that advice, for every man has free will.  The pastor cannot impose penances for sins that have already been paid for at Calvary.  Neither can he absolve those who have sinned, for they look to him and not to God who alone saves.

It is not proper to have a priest, though it is entirely proper to have a pastor.  While it is improper, however, to have a priest, it is not improper to be a priest. A priest is an intercessor between man and God and between God and man. A pastor is one who is charged with educating, exhorting, comforting, edifying and counseling others. There is a difference.   Every Christian is to intercede on behalf of others in his prayers to God, but our Intercessor is Christ, who died for us.  Every Christian is a priest.  But not every Christian is a pastor.  Those who are entrusted with such an office ought to consider the seriousness of their calling so that they seek diligently to teach sound doctrine, to preparate their congregations to become active and fruitful ministers. Their churches would grow much more quickly and be founded upon a Rock.

Rather than a church having a pastor, most ought really to have several, and some should have many. One man cannot possibly pastor a large group of people.  There aren't enough hours in a day sufficient to the troubles of more than a few.  Yet, because those few are not all troubled at the same time, more may be served by one man.  A pastor ought not be viewed as the man in charge (though he may be, at least in people's minds -- God ought to be in charge) but as a servant to man from God.  He should not be judged by men for his sins more than the next man, nor should he be elevated above anyone to a level of conduct that he cannot achieve.  A pastor is just another Christian, but one who is called to a more full time service.  He is to be respected, not because of his superiority, but because of his humility.  There are many pastors whose congregations are more fruitful than the pastors themselves.  It is not the pastor's job to be perfect; it is to teach others to be fruitful in their own ministries. For verification of this, see Ephesians 4:11-16.

Every local church has a certain order which it enforces.  Generally, the pastor is involved in that process somewhere.  But the great hierarchies that men have built are not built by God, but by men.  Give me a religion that bears the name of God, not of some man.  There is a certain order in a church, but the pastor's job is to teach himself out of a job.  But he'll never do that, for his members will become so fruitful that he will never lack new Christians to whom to teach sound doctrines.  Every member of a church might be saved, and might grow to know twice as much as his pastor.  But the pastor would continue to be the pastor, and the laymen would continue to be fruitful, filling the pews with new converts who also need to be taught.  The pastor would teach them and they would also begin bearing fruit.

I suppose that one might say that there is a sacerdotal system in the local church. There does seem to be. And, indeed, there is. After all, we have pastors and elders, teachers and deacons. Some of the duties overlap, but almost every Christian would place those people on a somewhat higher plane of Christendom.  In some cases it might even be fitting, on account of their greater learning and their spiritual maturity.  The full time ministers will have more time to study and meditate than the "lay" ministers whose work is only occasional, who are not called to longer hours.  If the pastor is wise, he will use that study time wisely, and God will use him as a wise instructor of His children.  In the sense that the teacher has authority over his student does the pastor have authority over his own.   But he remembers that they are God's children and not his own.  His authority is very limited, though God may work in very dramatic ways in him from time to time in His ministry to others through him.

There is no Christian who is not called to ministry, but not all are called to every ministry. Churches do not need a huge bureaucracy to tell them how to live.  They need a few godly men (though they are not at all godly) who will adhere to teaching doctrine, who will attend to the preparation of their listeners for their own ministries.  More than anything else, they need the Holy Spirit, who alone has the power to enlighten and refresh.

There is a distinction to be drawn between clergy and laity.  However, it is only the distinction that separates full time employees from part time employees.  Both have their place; both have access to God; both seek the same fruit.  Bureaucratic religions tend to begin turning their focus inward, casting their eyes upon themselves, seeking to glorify themselves rather than God.  They build up many layers between the mere Christian and the leadership of the organization.  They persuade themselves that, because they are at the top in their field, they must be superior to those beneath them.

Where there is a pastor without all the bureaucracy, and provided that he is a spiritually mature man called to full time service, there will be growth.  The individuals to whom he ministers will receive the instruction they need to make them fruitful.  No organization can read the hearts of any local church, but God can. He will give that church precisely what it needs in terms of instruction or counsel in the person whom He chooses to teach them.  That man is called by God to that job, but ought not consider it a fitting honor, for he is not worthy of such an honor.  He is called to do a job that someone else prepared him for (God), and over which he will find that he has surprisingly little control, which will make him servant to all and master of none, yet somehow responsible for the fruit that God's children are expected to bear.  Every church has its officers, but none of them should be considered in any way superior to the most lowly Christian.  There is a difference in the jobs that individual Christians are called to perform, but not in the people who do those jobs.  None is worthy, but God uses whom He will as he sees fit.

Much more could be written.  We ought to consider the roles of the various offices of the local church.   It would be wise to expand upon the theme of pastoral authority vs. institutions invented by men.  To be sure, we ought not end this article with the sense that those who hold offices in the local church should not be honored, and that the pastors should not be held in high esteem.

It would be well to consider the sacrifices that full time ministers often are called upon to make for the sake of their ministries.  Yet they are richly blessed, and ought seek neither reward nor praise from men.  Cared for with the resources of the church, they are specifically called gifts from God to the Church, and ought to be esteemed as such.  At the same time, the danger must be avoided of believing these men to be somehow better than other Christians, or more deserving of the office.  They are clay pots, like everyone.  But as full time ministers, their clay pots carry much gold, silver and precious stones in the form of treasures they lay up in heaven.

Much more time might have been given to discussion of the role of the "layperson."  While there is no such thing, many people today so consider themselves.  Precious few Christians think of themselves as ministers of the gospel.  In fact, if you asked most Christians if they were ministers, their initial reaction would be to say they were not.  But they are.  If you are a Christian, you are a minister, and have a particular ministry.   Several paragraphs at least ought to be written on what the role of the non-office-holding Christian actually is.  Indeed, several volumes.

Let us note that, while the local church does have full time ministers and part time ministers, and while the part time ministers generally pay the living costs of the full time ministers, the full time ministers carry no greater weight with God than the weakest of the part time ministers.   He is simply called to oversee the small portion of the flock that God has entrusted to his care, but he is just a man with a job assignment.  His reward would be no greater than his congregation's if the part time ministers would see themselves as such and seek to each fulfill his or her own ministry.

Christian friend, if you will serve God in your present circumstance, you will begin immediately to lay up treasure in heaven.  You are not necessarily called to a full time ministry, but you are certainly called to a ministry of some sort.  If you seek to fulfill it in service to God, you will receive the full measure of your own reward.  The one who worked one hour received the same wage as those who worked all day.  But both worked, doing what was required of them.  You do not need someone else to fulfill your ministry.   No one else can do that but you.  Neither can you fulfill someone else's ministry.  But God will strengthen and supply you to fulfill your own ministry if you will study your Bible and ask your heavenly Father to use you and to make you fruitful.

The ministry of the full time pastor is no greater than the ministry of the little old lady in the back row.   Not in God's eyes.  And He expects that little old lady to be fulfilling her ministry just as strongly as He expects the pastor to fulfill his.  There are different jobs in the local church, but there is little difference between "laity" and "clergy" when it comes to personal responsibility for one's own ministry.  In essence, the clergy teach the laity, qualifying the laity for their ministries, preparing them to go into the world having their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, able to shut up the arguments of our adversary with the wisdom of God.

From the moment a person is saved he is expected to minister.  Most do this without even realizing it, when they tell their friends what has happened to them.  They become fruitful when they begin to tell their friends what Jesus did for their friends.  When, that is, their friends hear the gospel from them and are saved.  Sadly, for many, it never gets that far.  Placed under the "supervision" of a sacerdotalist, they learn their appropriate "rules" and are quickly forgotten.  Instruction never happens.  Or if it does, it is so diluted as to become wholly irrelevant.  Too few learn today to fulfill their ministries.  Too few are familiar now with sound doctrine.  Too many sit complacently back on their pews waiting for the "special people," the "men of the cloth," the "men of God" to minister to them, never once considering that they have ministries as well.  Nobody learns anything, nobody ministers; sacerdotalism is a trap that the professing church has fallen into, and which will drag her bragging into the tribulation period.  There ought to be local control over the local church without a cumbersome bureaucracy weighing it down and making vigor impossible.  We do not need a pope to understand God's Word.  Rather, we need the Spirit of God dwelling in us, to whom we ought to look.