Prophet, Priest, King

One of my favorite ways to describe Jesus is through his three historical roles: Prophet, Priest, and King.[1]  I want to take a quick look at each three and then apply them to the life and leadership of Jesus’ church today.

 As a prophet, Jesus taught and embodied truth.  He perfectly filled both roles of a biblical prophet: foreteller (stating future events; Jn 2.19) and forth-telling (declaring present truth authoritatively; Jn 14.6; cf. Dt 18.15).  As priest, Jesus lovingly intercedes on our behalf to meet every one of our spiritual needs (Heb 9.11-12).  As king, Jesus demonstrated power over creation through miracles (Acts 2.22) and the building of His church; He will return to rule all of creation (Mt 21.5; Rev 19.11-16). Only Jesus perfectly embodied all three roles in one person. 

Being his creation (Col 1.16-17), we all tend to be stronger in one or two of the roles and must rely on others to complement.  This is true in our personal lives and in the leadership of Jesus’ church.  One of the reasons why a church must be governed by a plurality of elders is to ensure all three offices are staffed well.  Each Christian—and church leader—brings unique weakness to each role that must be compensated by a well-rounded team.

Prophets

Prophets are strong truth-tellers.  They teach, preach, proclaim with passion, pursue and permeate our lives with doctrinal truth, refute errors, and call people to repent of their sin.  Without priestly accountability, they can become cold, legalistic, impersonal, and harsh.  Without kingly support, they can gather a crowd with excitement but never mobilize them to go anywhere or do anything.

Priests

Priest understand the human condition, spiritual and emotional needs of others, and connect with people through compassion and mercy.  They lead in conflict resolution.  Without prophetic guidance, they can love people to the point of enablement—never naming the sin in their lives and calling them to urgent repentance.  Without a king’s organization, they run from crisis to crisis, forever working in the church without ever working on the church.

Kings

Kings show prophets and priests the importance of working on the church rather than simply in the church.  Kings excel at building a church with best practices, policies, plans, and professional procedures.  This is crucial because it creates a church where more people can get to know Jesus.  Kings without prophetic support can lead people toward mere pragmatism or even heresy.  If they aren’t working with priestly leaders, they can burn their people out and simply use them for work without seeking to care and nurture them as well.

Putting it All Together

This is why Paul tells us everyone is important![2]  Priests like caring for hurting people.  Prophets work to teach proper beliefs while correcting doctrinal errors.  Kings hold it all together with efficiency and best practices.  Churches governed by all three offices will be biblically solid (prophet), grace-centered (priest), and effective Kingdom builders (king).

Often, only priests are viewed as being “pastoral.”  This is because their nice and gentle nature wins them more friends than prophets or kings enjoy.  However, a priest serving as first-among-equals can stunt a church’s growth because they sometimes view kingly work as unholy or their policies as unnecessary.  Prophets can criticize priests for being too nice, and kings can critique both for never being practical enough.

Fight Fair

This criticism is not always fair, but it is very healthy.  Leaders (everybody is leading somebody) who care enough about their particular passions to voice concern are vital to a healthy, balanced church.  The key is simply fighting fair.  Disagree like a loving family is called to disagree, and then combine the contributions of prophets, priests, and kings so that you can build a church that grows deeper and wider at the same time. 

Until Jesus returns to perfectly govern as one Man fulfilling all three roles, we’ll have to rely on each other for help. Paul gets the last word:

1 Corinthians 12:6 (NLT) ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

   

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[1] This concept is not original with me.  Orthodox church teaching has relied on this breakdown for millennia.  For a deeper understanding of these concepts, start with this website or this little book.

[2] 1 Cor 12.14, ff

Come on people now

I don’t like it when Christians treat each other as the enemy.  Most will say they don’t do that.  But—if we’re honest—we often expend more emotional energy thinking about a disagreement with a fellow believer than we do thinking about how to reach one more person for Jesus.  I really don’t like that.[1]  Actually, it makes me sad.  Here’s why: We’re on the same team.  Followers of Jesus want the same thing: more Jesus.  We want more Jesus for ourselves.  More Jesus for our marriage.  More Jesus for our church.  More Jesus for our neighbors and our neighbors’ neighbors, for the mailman, the President, the President’s mailman, etc.  We all want more Jesus.  You know what?  There’s plenty of Jesus to go around.  I know.  He told me[2]. My prescription: decaf and the seventeenth chapter of John’s gospel.

Decaf

Calm down!  It’s ok.  Jesus isn’t going anywhere.  There’s been a war on Jesus since Herod tried to kill him and all the other Jewish baby boys 2000 years ago.  Herod lost then, and he continues to lose today.  But, we suffer personal defeats when we get excited and start arguing about the wrong things.  The right things are laid out for us in the Bible.[3]  What do you do when you think your take on the Bible is more right than another Christian’s take on the Bible?  Drink decaf and then apply John 17.

John 17

In this chapter John writes about one of Jesus’ most passionate prayers.  Later, please read the whole chapter.  For now, just read this verse:

John 17:23 (NLT) ²³ I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Wow!  Jesus (so by definition, God) is in us—all of us.  He’s even in that other Christian whom you always disagree with.  Jesus is praying that we would get along with each other.  Why?  So that the rest of the world would want more Jesus.  When you disagree with a brother or sister in the faith, resolution is really this easy[4]:

• Christian 1: “Hey Sister!  Isn’t our pastor great?  I think he’s just swell.  By the way, I don’t agree with [insert your beef[5]] that thing you said.”
• Christian 2: “Oh really?  Well, I think I’m right and you’re wrong.  At least we agree that our pastor is awesome.”
• Christian 1: “Yeah, but he only has one eyebrow.  So, we really need to resolve this [reference your beef again] before my conscience can go back to normal.  Do you mind reading [Bible verses about your beef] with me?  Maybe we can figure out together what the right answer is.”
• Christian 2: “OK, but what if we read it and you still won’t admit that I’m right?”
• Christian 1: “Then we’ll agree that we both love Jesus, equally apologize if we said or did anything harmful to each other, then thank God for making us uniquely shaped with passion for different things.”
• Christian 2: “Sounds good.  Let’s use my translation though.  It’s better than yours.”

And, there you go!  No need for malicious statements, resentment, or secret plots to “fix” the brakes in the other person’s car.  The beauty of it all: you just disagreed AND maintained unity.  To the rest of the world, that’s a pretty attractive thing. Trying to be better, -bill

 

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[1] Hold the phones.  I am not (ever!) claiming perfection in this—or any—area.  I get mad when others do this.  I get mad when I do this.  I get really, really mad when we’re not honest enough to admit that we do this.

[2] 2 Peter 3.9

[3] I’m thinking about writing my own book of “right things,” but nobody would read it.  Except maybe my mom.

[4] See also: Matt 18.15-22

[5] Vegetarian Christians may repent, or use tofu instead.

Real Marriage

A new 8-wk teaching series on marriage based on Pastor Mark and Grace Driscoll's new book, Real Marriage.

Most church marriage series dance around the hard issues people really need to know about--the importance of friendship in marriage, the effects of pornography, what constitutes sexual abuse, and "Can we do that in bed?" questions.

You're invited to join us as we talk candidly about what the Bible says on these issues and more in a way that's practical, fun, and helpful. Starting after Easter, Pastor Bill will use Wednesday nights (6:30 - 7:30) to discuss "Real Marriage."  Invite your friends and make plans now to be there for all 8 weeks.  Your marriage will never be the same again!

4/11	New Marriage, Same Spouse
4/18	Friends With Benefits
4/25	When Times Get Tough
5/2	Men and Marriage
5/9	The Respectful Wife
5/16	Taking Out the Trash
5/23	Sex: God, Gross, or Gift?
5/30	Can We _________?

Registration is not necessary, but it does help us prepare.  You can sign up here: http://dccrealmarriage1201.eventbrite.com/

The Miracle Question

Family Friday

In working with couples, I often ask them two simple questions:

#1 The Magic Wand

“If I could wave a magic wand while you’re sleeping tonight, and you woke up with a miraculously wonderful marriage, what would that look like?”  In other words: what would your marriage—done really right—look like?

That’s an important question that deserves your time and attention.  You’re going to be with that person forever, so be with them on purpose.  Rather than float “accidental-like, on the breeze,” get out a piece of paper and design an ideal marriage. Be specific with details like:

• What would you talk about?
• How would you talk with each other?
• How much money would you need?
• What would you do in your free time?
• How would your spouse support your deepest needs?

#2 The Real World

In reality, we all know magic wands don’t exist.  But, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a really great marriage.  If you answered the first question honestly, you now know what that marriage would look like.  Now, just replace the magic wand with its big-boy counterpart: hard work.  And that brings you to the next question:

What is the first step you need to take in order to get there?  Be tangible and specific.  “Be an awesome couple” is not an action step.  “Schedule two hours of uninterrupted time together” is something concrete you can work with.

Conclusion

This isn’t a new idea, earth-shattering, or complex.  It’s just good common sense.  The problem is, common sense is not all that common.

In 5 years, you’re going to be 5 years older.  You can spend the next 5 years reacting, being acted upon—ending up with whatever the world gives you.  Or, you can live those years on purpose and choose to act/do/work your way into a great marriage.  If you’re a Christian, you already believe God has the power to create the entire world.  Well, don’t you think that same God also has the power to work through you and create an awesome marriage?

Chime In

What is the first step you could take toward building a better marriage?  Why not do it today?