Is Your Church's Pastor Doing All the Work?
Okay, I admit it. I can't stand the terms.
When you even speak of clergy and laity, you are implying that Christianity has a social caste system. There are the professional Christians and the ordinary Christians.
Ugh.
There are points in Scripture where some differentiation is made. For example, in Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul said God gave us "pastors and teachers for the training of the saints in the work of ministry to build up the body of Christ."
Contrary to most of the indicators today, the Bible says the laity (saints) are to do the work of ministry. Most of the ministry should not be in the hands of pastors, but in the hands of the church members.
Unfortunately, we often reverse the biblical truth. We expect ministry to be done by the pastors and staff. Here are eight indicators of that reality.