Hebrews 5:3-6
This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”
today I have become your Father.”
6 And he says in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek"
in the order of Melchizedek"
Maybe this is where the Baptists get it from." What"?, you might ask. The whole "getting called into the ministry" thing. This passage says "no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was", so if you want to be a priest, you have to be called by God. There are certainly other examples you could use for this such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Saul/Paul, the disciples, Barnabas, Elisha, Moses, along with others. If you aren't familiar with this, what often happens, especially with the youth, after a spiritual retreat, some kids may feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to go deeper and be more committed and surrender their lives to the Lord. Since they are already saved they don't need to do that again, so what commitment do they make? Quite often it is being "called into the ministry" which means they get put on a path towards "full time Christian service".
Now, I don't want to diss this too much because I've seen a number of youth do this and flourish. I've seen kids from our church become head pastors, youth pastors, missionaries and are doing a phenomenal job and are impacting this world for Christ. I guess my issue is, aren't we all called to be "priests"? Aren't we all called into "full time Christian service"?
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1Pet. 2:9
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matt. 16:24
As we study the Tabernacle, which is a lot of what Hebrews is about, we see a guy named Bezalel filled with the Holy Spirit to impart skill, ability, and knowledge to make artistic designs with gold, bronze, and silver. Then He gave Oholiab the ability to teach others how to do the work of constructing the Tabernacle. In a time when the Holy Spirit would come and go on people such as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, etc. Bezalel and Oholiab stand out as just regular people - not "full time Christian service" people.Paul says in 1 Cor 7
"Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them."
Now, I don't want to take these out of context too much, but doesn't it seem that if God has gifted you as a carpenter that you could serve the kingdom a whole lot more with those abilities than orating? Don't you think you would reach the 80% unchurched population better outside of church? Maybe you have oratory abilities like a teacher or a lawyer. Once again, you could still reach people in those jobs that paid church staff couldn't. I'm not saying that no one should go into "the ministry". I'm just saying don't consider this the highest calling of Christ because being a professional that is a priest at their office is on par with that.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1Pet. 2:9
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matt. 16:24
As we study the Tabernacle, which is a lot of what Hebrews is about, we see a guy named Bezalel filled with the Holy Spirit to impart skill, ability, and knowledge to make artistic designs with gold, bronze, and silver. Then He gave Oholiab the ability to teach others how to do the work of constructing the Tabernacle. In a time when the Holy Spirit would come and go on people such as Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, etc. Bezalel and Oholiab stand out as just regular people - not "full time Christian service" people.Paul says in 1 Cor 7
"Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.
21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. 24 Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them."
Now, I don't want to take these out of context too much, but doesn't it seem that if God has gifted you as a carpenter that you could serve the kingdom a whole lot more with those abilities than orating? Don't you think you would reach the 80% unchurched population better outside of church? Maybe you have oratory abilities like a teacher or a lawyer. Once again, you could still reach people in those jobs that paid church staff couldn't. I'm not saying that no one should go into "the ministry". I'm just saying don't consider this the highest calling of Christ because being a professional that is a priest at their office is on par with that.
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