Should all Christians Speak about Jesus?
A preacher at a church service began his sermon by asking a question,
“How many people here are ministers of the gospel?”
A couple of visiting clergymen put up their hands. The minister continued,
“My sermon this morning is on the priesthood of all believers!”
The priesthood of all believers is a strong Biblical teaching yet today there is a tradition in most denominations that the role of the laity is to come to church, sing, give money and provide money, cakes and sandwiches whilst the priests and religious leaders to do the real church work. This professionalising of the church is so short sighted.
The priesthood of all believers
In her historical novel about the life of Martin Luther, Elizabeth Rundle Charles described an event in the Great Reformer's life that would have occurred around the year 1498:
“At Magdeburg, also, Martin saw the picture of which he has often told us. ‘A great ship was painted, meant to signify the church, wherein there was no layman, not even a king or prince. There were none but the pope with his cardinals and bishops in the prow, with the Holy Ghost hovering over them, the priests and monks with their oars at the side; and thus they were sailing on heavenward. The laymen were swimming along in the water around the ship. Some of them were drowning. Some were drawing themselves up to the ship by means of ropes, which the monks, moved with pity, and making over their own good works, did cast out to them to keep them from drowning and to enable them to cleave to the vessel and to go with the others to heaven. There was no pope, nor cardinal, nor bishop, nor priest, nor monk in the water, but laymen only.”1
This description portrays medieval thinking about what was believed and taught concerning the difference between clergy and laymen. Luther took the monastic vows with the hope of being one of the oarsmen of this ship by striving to live a more holy existence. However he came to realise that this concept of how to be righteous did not come from the Bible.
The danger of being a ‘religious’ leader
In order to dismantle the medieval view that Christians are divided into two groups: ‘the spiritual’ or ‘religious’ and ‘the secular’ or ‘laity’, Martin Luther emphasised that all Christians are ‘priests’ and ‘spiritual’ in God’s eyes.
The word ‘laity’ is used in the Bible for all the people of God. It comes from the Greek word λαός, laos, meaning ‘people’ in general. The Bible teaches that the work of God is done by all the people of God. The fact that some men and women have been through a religious training, then a ritual service and subsequently dress in religious clothes does not mean that they are in a different category in God’s eyes. There have been many poor unknown people who clearly love their Lord and are honoured by him for this. There have been popes and other religious leaders in all denominations whose manner of life suggests that they might not even be Christians.
In 1513 Pope Julius II died. He had achieved much, in material terms, for Rome. It was he who had the old St. Peter’s pulled down so he could build a much more impressive edifice. He was a powerful, arrogant, promiscuous and deceitful man constantly embroiled in warfare. Shortly after his death a pamphlet, ‘Julius Excluded from Heaven’, probably written by the great scholar Erasmus, was widely circulated and became very popular. It satirically describes what happens when a drunken Julius arrived at the gates of heaven and tries to open the gate with the key of his secret money chest. He is surrounded by the soldiers who have died in his military campaigns who had been promised admission to heaven, whatever they had done on earth. Peter refused him admission. Julius responds by threatening Peter with Bulls of Excommunication! Julius is described as the enemy of Christ, as a Julius Caesar returned from hell, and is accused of many vices which included drunkenness, pederasty, adultery and an obsession with money. He is contrasted with Jesus who, it claimed, is the true head of the church. The story finishes with Julius threatening to muster an army to capture heaven.
The Bible clearly teaches,
“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no-one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” Ephesians 5:5-6
In recent years there have been innumerable stories of senior clergymen being actively involved in promiscuous relations with men, women and children. Their ordination will not save them when God judges their hearts.
Being a church leader does not set people apart in God’s eyes from ordinary Christians, the only thing that matters is our personal trust in and obedience to the Lord Jesus. A whole chapter in Matthew’s gospel is devoted to Jesus’ criticism of the religious leaders of his day:
“Everything they do is for men to see . . . “ Matthew 23:5
“You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter in, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” Matthew 23:13
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and indulgence.” Matthew 23:25
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Matthew 23:27-28
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell.” Matthew 23:33
Clearly being religious is no protection if our hearts are not right with God. It is our faith, our submission to Christ’s rule in our lives that matters, not our status in the world or in the church.
There are no elite Christians. The great apostle Peter addressed his readers in his final letter with these words,
“To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith that is as precious as ours.” 2 Peter 1:1
Peter wrote the following in his first letter to all Christians,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
John wrote similarly,
“. . . with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10
Martin Luther criticised the way the church had changed the meaning of the word ‘priest’ and had moved away from apostolic teaching:
“There is no true, basic difference between laymen and priests . . . between religious and secular, except for the sake of office and work, but not for the sake of status. They are all of the spiritual estate, all are truly priests, bishops, and popes. But they do not all have the same work to do.”2
Clearly different Christians have different roles even though all have the same standing in god’s eyes.. Some will be gifted to preach the Word of God and make its meaning clear, others will be gifted at evangelism, explaining the gospel to non -Christians, others give practical help and others will be committed to raising a Christian family. We may serve their Lord in different ways but all Christians belong to him, have been chosen to serve him but all should have the desire to point others to him as ‘the light of the world’.
I had a young lady come to my surgical clinic. She was wearing a beautiful silver cross round her neck. After sorting the medical problem I asked her if the cross meant she was a Christian?
“Yes,’ she replied rather hesitantly, adding after a pause, ‘It depends what you mean by a Christian.”
I replied,
“Surely a Christian is anyone who is sold out to the Lord Jesus.”
“Oh, then I’m not,” was her response.
All true Christians are called to glorify the Lord Jesus by all they say and do. This is the commission given to all of his people. If we are not committed to serving him we should question whether we are Christians in the Biblical sense.
Jesus’concern that Christians should be trained to speak about him
Jesus was clear that his disciples were commissioned to go into all the world to make disciples:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
Note that this commission had to be passed on to subsequent believers, ‘. . .teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ Jesus had prepared them for this difficult role. In this context to ‘bear fruit’ means to win others for Christ and we do this by speaking about him.
“ . . . and you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:27
Jesus’ disciples were to go out and tell the world what they had learned from Jesus. This is what Jesus meant when he said that they were to ‘bear fruit’ for him. In order to do this they would have to ‘go out’ into the world and not remain in holy huddles.
“You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” John 15:16
The last command he gave to his whole church was:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Paul’s concern that Christians should speak about jesus
He clearly understood why he had been called, it was to live in such as way that persuaded as many people as possible to become followers of Jesus and so become members of God’s eternal Kingdom.
“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:19-24
After describing his own motivation he urges all Christians to behave similarly. Paul also stresses that all Christians are now Christ’s ambassadors because we understand the love that Christ has for all people:
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them, and was raised. . . We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15,20
When he wrote a short letter to Philemon about accepting back the escaped slave Onesimus, he begins his letter with a reminder that a Christian is a ‘fellow-worker’ and ‘fellow-soldier’ with all other Christians who are trying to advance the cause of their master. This is achieved by caring for God’s people and telling others about the ‘good news’ of salvation through Jesus Christ.
“I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.” Philemon 5
The news about the work of the small church in Philemon’s home was spreasding because people were talking! Paul continues with this reminder,
“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6
Sharing the news about Jesus and his gospel was a great need then, just as it is a great need today. Notice that our understanding of our Lord deepens as we serve in the way God wants. No wonder many Christians do not have satisfying, productive lives; they are not serving him as he wants us to.
The apostolic teaching is that all Christians belong to the Lord Jesus. We are, as it were, his slaves, his bond-servants. Paul refers to himself as a slave of Jesus Christ as do other apostles (Romans 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Titus 1:1, James 1:1, Jude 1:1) Paul put this relationship succinctly when talking about sexual problems in the church at Corinth,
“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
The role of church leaders is not to make themselves indispensable but the very opposite, to train up all Christians so that it is they who minister to others.
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-14
God’s ideal is that every Christian is trained so they can live for Christ and speak effectively for him. Is your church achieving this goal?
Peter’s longing that Christians should speak about jesus
In Peter’s last letter, written shortly before his execution he wrote about how Christians can be both productive and effective. It is not an easy path that is described.
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8
This should be the way all Christians behave. These should be the priorities of all Christians, we must be progressing by adding to the foundational faith that saves us. Peter continues,
“But if anyone does not have them, he is short-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” 2 Peter 1:9
Christians should be actively learning and maturing so they can live to please the Lord Jesus. Martin Luther summarised this in his saying:
“The true, living faith, which the Holy Spirit instills into the heart, simply cannot be idle.”
Real worshippers are needed who will speak about Jesus
A Christian worships God by ensuring that his whole life is for the glory of God. God longs for the whole world to honour him and we have been chosen to achieve this end by the way we live and the way we speak to others. King David recognised this a thousand years before Jesus,
“All the nations you have made will come and worship before you O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.” Psalm 86:9
What a tragedy it is that so many Christians think they worship God in church buildings and they even appoint so called ‘worship-leaders’. Singing the praise of God corporately is only a very small part of the worship God wants of us. It is so important that worshippers speak his praises to those we meet during the week. Indeed if we have no longing to share our faith it is questionable whether we really belong to Jesus. All true Christians have his Spirit in us, which means we will have the same desires as Jesus who said,
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10
The necessity for all Christians to be overt about their commitment to Christ is clearly explained in Paul’s letter to the Romans:
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your tongue that you confess and so are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
Thus a silent faith is an empty faith.
Isaiah’s teaching on sharing the Lord’s message
There are many examples throughout the Bible demonstrating that a real faith in God must overflow through our lips as well as through our lives. David repeatedly emphasised this in the Psalms but he was not the only man of God to understand this. The prophet Isaiah wrote,
“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent. For Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory.” Isaiah 62:1-2
The Lord continues to stress that we must keep speaking both to other people and to our Lord himself about the comission we are trying to fulfil.
“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest.” Isaiah 62:6
The Lord lets the world know what he wants through what his servants say:
“The LORD has made a proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your Saviour comes! See his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’ They will be called the Holy People, the redeemed of the LORD . . .” Isaiah 62:11-12
How we all need to see ourselves as God sees us, whether we call ourselves Christians or are still uncertain. We all need his forgiveness, we need him both as Saviour and as Lord, which means we need to know and fulfil his purpose for our lives for the short time we are on this earth. After all, we will each have to give an account to him at our judgement.
Non-Christians can understand this need for integrity. Zeng Shen was young enough to be Confucius's grandson, yet he won high praise from the old sage. One of the sayings for which Zeng Shen is famous goes something like this.
“Every day I ask myself three questions. The first is, ‘Have I sinned in my thoughts and actions toward others?’ The second is, ‘Have I broken faith in any of my friendships?’ The third is, ‘Have I tried to teach anything to others I have not fully learned and understood myself?’”
If Zeng Shen asked himself these three questions every day, resolving to make no mistakes, then, young as he was, we can well understand why Confucius praised him. Not only is each of the three questions extremely important in itself, but the practice of examining one's own behaviour every day is a habit that every Christian should cultivate. Anyone who does this will quickly recognise our continued need for a Saviour.
True faith is much more than doctrine and being in the ‘right church’. John Calvin realised:
“Faith is not a distant view but a warm embrace of Christ.”
Such an embrace with Christ must overflow in the way we speak about Jesus and live for his reputation as all Christians are now his priests.
References
1Elizabeth Rundle Charles, Luther: By Those Who Knew Him (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), 27.
2Luther, “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,” in Luther’s Works, 44:129.
Bernard Palmer
August 2023
My book ‘The Duty of a Disciple’ published by Focus discusses this question in more detail
