I often enjoy the way Victor Choudhrie tells it like it is. In this one paragraph he addresses the importance of fully embracing the priesthood of all believers along with all of the ramifications of this key New Testament truth:
Change of Priesthood: He disenfranchised the monopoly of Levitical priesthood and franchised “Priesthood of all believers” to be a light to the Gentiles. Every follower of Christ is now a Royal priest to the nations. In the Old animal blood Covenant, God spoke only to the priests and prophets who acted as “go betweens” but now with Yeshua’s blood Covenant, He speaks to us directly and so do we. Both Jews and Gentiles need priests to mediate but not Christians. In the New Covenant we do not need a human priest (pastor) to mediate or pray for us as we now have a High Priest as our mediator with whom we can directly communicate boldly. Having a pastor as our priest violates our own priesthood as it leads to hierachization, compartmentalization and fragmentation and makes us lazy laity. Incredibly in the NT model there is no human person who is In-charge, just like the headless (Head office) and brainless (CEO) starfish, where the neural system is so decentralized that every severed member can replicate not only itself but a completely new starfish. Priests do not lead worship but the Body of Brethren (Body of men, women and even youth) minister to each other. Here every member of the Body functions as equal (Ephesians 4:16; 1 Corinthian 14:26- 31). This makes it chaotic but it is a fruitful creative chaos unlike the organized unfruitful controlling hierarchy in the traditional church. (1 Corinthians 12:25,27; Romans 12:4; Ephesians 4:7; 1Peter 4:10,11). This is a non-negotiable principle of the New Covenant. Priesthood is not an office or a title but a function. Yeshua forever changed the rules of the game. 1Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:9,10; Exodus 19:5,6; Hebrew 4:6;14; 7:22-28
From Global Trends, Concerns, Challenges: From the Cathedral Back to the House Church
