Let Women VI

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Let Women Be Women:

Equality, Ministry & Ordination

by Peter Toon

Gracewing. Fowler Wright Books, 1990

Chapter 4 – Ministry and Priesthood

The best way I can introduce the dynamic, traditionalist position is with some comments and reflections upon the important New Testament concepts of ministry and priesthood. These will serve to give us a basis from which to engage in theological thinking about equality, ordination and patriarchy.

Ministry in and with Jesus

The first Christians deliberately chose the word diakonia (a word used of the service rendered by the waiter at the table or by the servant in the household) to refer to the practical nature and reality of the new life for which God the Father had chosen them, the Incarnate Son had redeemed them and the Holy Spirit was sanctifying them. The apostles could think of no better noun to describe themselves, engaged in the work of reconciling people to God, than diakonos (servant/deacon). So it is not surprising that diakonia, the service rendered in the name of and in imitation of the Lord Jesus, became the hallmark of genuine Christianity. For the eternal Son “laid no claim to equality with God, but made himself nothing, assuming the form of a slave” in order to provide salvation for sinners. The first Christians knew that they were called to take upon themselves the “yoke of Jesus” and learn from him for he was “gentle and humble hearted”. They did not need telling that such an attitude runs contrary to the normal functioning of the sinful, human heart, mind and will; thus they were much aware that it is only ever attainable and possible to the extent that a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit.

On the basis of the New Testament we may affirm that it is as true today as it was in the apostolic age that all Christians share in the one ministry or service (diakonia) of Jesus Christ which he offered to the Father as the Messiah and which he is still offering to the Father as our King, Priest and Prophet in heaven. From the moment of their baptism all believers, whatever their age, sex or social standing, are called and set apart for ministry or service in and with Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father and in and by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no higher calling for any person on earth than this – to be engaged in and to share in the one ministry of Jesus Christ in the world. Such is the unique nature of this ministry that it can be undertaken anywhere at any time without any restriction or hindrance. No human circumstance short of insanity, being in a coma or death itself can prevent the exercise of it.

This means that as a Christian I can and ought to minister whatever my position in life. In the apostolic age the Christian slave was able to be a perfect minister of the Gospel in and with Jesus by an attitude and action which breathed the love of God. But so also the Christian master and owner of slaves was able to engage wholly in the ministry or service of Jesus by words and behaviour which brought grace and goodness into human relationships. Paul makes this very clear in his Epistles (see e.g. Colossians 3:22ff). Today it is not only the Christian in western society who is free to go here and there and enter this or that profession who can minister for God the Father in and with Jesus. The person unjustly imprisoned, the woman tied to her home as a mother and homemaker, the man working in drudgery on a production line, and the person lying in a hospital bed are all able and called in the power of the Holy Spirit to engage in the one ministry of Christ. Jesus Christ, exalted in heaven, is present throughout God’s world in and through the Holy Spirit ministering by means of the willing hearts and hands of true Christians, and through them making present his reconciling and healing grace. If only each of us could truly believe this we could accept the deprivation and drudgeries of life as opportunities to minister in and with Jesus. Certainly it is easier said than done but such is the high and precious calling of God in Christ Jesus our Saviour.

But, it will be asked, what about “ministers of religion” – pastors of congregations, parish priests and diocesan bishops? I believe that the relationship of ministry I have been describing (which by the Spirit is in and with Christ) and particular offices in the Church is clear. At a basic level it may be said that every Christian has a vocation or calling from God to serve him in the sphere, responsibilities and jobs of life into which God has placed her/him. This is so whether that calling is to an office in the church or a regular job in the world. Thus a man may be called to be both a father and an engineer; a woman may be called to be a mother and a teacher. Likewise a woman may be called to be a mother and a deaconess and a man may be called to be a father and a pastor.

The vocation to be a pastor is a vocation to serve Christ in his Church by sharing in his specific care and teaching of his flock. The basic Christian calling to share in the general, serving ministry of Christ is united in a pastor with duty of oversight and leadership in a church. Thus those who are pastors and leaders in the Church are expected to reflect more intensely by their lives the basic and constant ministry of Christ in and through his Church and to the world. They are to be examples and encouragers of ministry to all the household of faith.

There is another way of expressing the connexion between the basic ministry which is common to all Christians through baptism and the particular ministry of the offices of priest and bishop in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. This is to see the historic ministry of the bishops (which they share with their priests) as continuing the ministry of the original Twelve apostles (and Paul). On this view (which is that of Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism and parts of Anglicanism) the relationship with Christ as Head of the Church is emphasised so that there is a vital authority given to the ordained ministry to rule, to teach, to feed and to guide the Church – in love with humility.

The way we use words is often confusing. Within the Free Churches it is common to call the pastor “our minister” and to produce the impression that there is not a shared ministry of all members. Further, one specific office of ministry within the historic ordained ministry in the Church is called the diaconate and the one who exercises it is called a deacon (diakonos). Here again this word can suggest that others are not involved in diakonal service for our Lord. However, despite the problem with words the general concept is, I think, clear enough. The ordained pastor or bishop or presbyter or priest is to minister in such a way that he is the servant of the servants of God!

If we relate these biblical truths to the subject of this book then we can make certain claims straightaway. The first is this: that in a society where men are in positions of leadership and authority, a woman whose natural gifts and talents are under-used and whose natural freedom is curtailed, is not prevented in any way whatsoever by these adverse circumstances from exercising her basic Christian ministry. Though she is unable to enjoy and exercise her “full rights” as a person she is in no way restricted from thinking and acting in a Christlike way and thus exercising a full and complete ministry in and with Jesus, commending the reconciling love of God to fellow creatures, through loving example and word. In the second place within such a society a Christian man in the exercising of his headship/authority is obliged to exercise it as the head servant not as one who lords it over the woman. Only in such a way will he be truly engaged in Jesus’ ministry. Other ways may seem appropriate, natural and acceptable but they will not be the ministry of the One who set aside his privileges and came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

James I. Packer has expressed the essence of what I am seeking to explain in this way:

“In all ministry, from the informal spontaneities of every member fellowship to the preaching, teaching, sacramental actions, and disciplinary pastoral care carried out by stated leaders, officially commissioned in the historic orders, Christ himself is the true minister, giving himself and his gifts to his needy people as they hear and share his word. That Christ is always the real minister is the deepest of all truths about ministry, yet it is one that is constantly forgotten, or at least disregarded. So what are we to do? The rational course is not far to seek. All structures of ministry in the church should be so designed as to create and sustain, with maximum force, faith-knowledge that it is Christ himself, Jesus of Nazareth risen and glorified, who ministers to us, communicating knowledge of his grace and goodness, his power and purpose, his will, work, and ways, making vivid to us his own reality, and drawing us deeper into his love for the Father and for the world; and doing all this through the words and acts of his ministering servants, who are his medium of ministry to us here and now” (M.W.P., p. xii).

I cannot emphasise too strongly that this doctrine of Christ, the one and true Minister is fundamental for the whole doctrine of ministry and for what follows in this book.

A royal priesthood

As there is only one true Minister and his authentic ministry in which his people share, so there is only one true Priest and his gracious priesthood in which his people share. The Epistle to the Hebrews makes it clear that as Priest on earth Jesus offered himself at Calvary as the perfect and final atoning sacrifice for our sins: and having done so he was exalted to heaven in order to be our Priest there, to bring us with all our weaknesses to the Father for eternal life and divine blessings. He reigns at the Father’s right hand in order to make intercession for us! Nowhere in the New Testament is any individual Christian called a priest. The word is reserved for the priests of the old covenant and of pagan temples. It is the Church as a whole which is a priestly body ministering constantly in Christ’s name on the basis of what Christ has achieved as the Priest and is now doing as Priest.

In the Revelation of John we read these words of praise to the exalted Lord Jesus Christ: “To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins with his blood, who has made of us a royal house to serve as the priests of his God and Father – to him be glory and dominion for ever! Amen” (1:6). And we hear these words in a song of praise to Jesus, the Lamb of God: “You have made them a royal house of priests for our God” (5:10). Then Peter tells the members of the churches to whom he writes: “You form a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5) and follows this with these powerful words: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, a people claimed by God for his own to proclaim the glorious deeds of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (2:9). On the basis of these texts we may happily speak of the royal priesthood of the whole Church of God. Priesthood here includes the privilege of a relationship and fellowship with God, but it also points to such duties as proclaiming the Gospel by word and deed and praying for humanity (1 Timothy 2:1). Further, Paul urges all Christians to “offer your very selves to God: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance, the worship offered by mind and heart” (Romans 12:1). The royal priesthood expresses its priestly vocation by offering itself as a dedicated, committed life of serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here we face a problem. The New Testament does not use the singular “priest” to refer to any Christian at all; but, in the history of the Church one name for an ordained minister used from early times has been “priest”. The quick answer to this problem is to say that “priest” stands for “presbyter” (in fact our English word “priest” is a medieval contraction of “presbyter”). Whether we use the word “presbyter” or “priest” one thing is clear: he does not function like a priest in the Temple of Jerusalem offering bloody sacrifices to God. Further the term “priesthood” is another word for the “presbyterate”. Perhaps we need to be aware that the word “priest” has been preferred to “presbyter” because of the intimate association of this office with the celebration of Holy Communion and the belief that the presbyter is representing Christ, the High Priest, in his presiding at the service. Then in the Church of England the word “priest” has been used to distinguish the “presbyter” in the threefold ministry of bishop, presbyter/priest and deacon from the twofold ministry of Presbyterianism (presbyter and deacon).

The ministry of the presbyter/priest (who is inescapably a member of the one royal priesthood) is that of ruling, proclaiming the Word, and administering the Sacraments on behalf of Christ, the High Priest. The priest undertakes these activities in order to enable the whole body of the faithful to function for God as truly a royal priesthood. By his ordination his sharing in the royal priesthood is not increased; for that priesthood is the common possession of the whole Body of Christ. However, acting in Christ’s name and place the bishop or priest has an unique union with Jesus, the High Priest. This union is separate from that common priesthood of all the people of God. In particular by what he is (an ordained man), says (proclaims the Gospel) and does (consecrates and distributes the bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus) for and on behalf of the High Priest (who is also the heavenly Apostle, King and Prophet) in the Eucharist, the bishop or priest acts both as the representative and representation of Christ to the assembled body of the faithful. The whole congregation is then able by the Holy Spirit’s action to act together as the royal priesthood and offer spiritual sacrifice to God in and through the Eucharist. It is important to note that the priest is not a priest because he is representing the congregation (as the royal priesthood) to God but because he is united in his office and ministry to Christ, the High Priest.

Graham Leonard, Bishop of London, has explained it in this way:

“By his calling of the Apostles and by his institution of the Eucharist, our Lord gave to his Church a structure by which it would be enabled to be sustained in its union with him, and witness to his unique High Priesthood. By his ordination, a man is set in a new relationship with Christ in his Body, the Church, with the particular role of being the sacramental sign of the fact that Christ is the Head of the Church and depends for its being and life upon the sacrifice of Christ. As celebrant of the eucharist, he is the instrument through whom the death and resurrection of Christ is shown forth. When he absolves the sinner he witnesses to the fact that it is Christ who forgives” (M.W.P., p.19).

He also reminds us that the essential role of the ordained priest was beautifully expressed by the great poet, George Herbert, in his A Priest to the Temple where he said: “A priest is the deputy of Christ for the reducing of man to the obedience of Christ.”

If we relate this biblical truth about the shared priesthood of all Christians to our specific task in this book, we can say, as we did with respect to ministry, that whatever our position in life, be it to live in freedom or in bondage, our participation in the royal priesthood does not increase or decrease. A woman living in patriarchy is able to share wholly in the priesthood of the faithful and a woman living in a society where there is total equality of women is likewise able to share wholly in this royal priesthood. The lack of civil rights in no way restricts the members of the royal priesthood from exercising their task of offering spiritual sacrifices to God in, with and through the great High Priest. Many members of the congregations whom St Peter described as the royal priesthood in his First Letter were slaves!

A right mental approach

In discussing the subject of ordination it is very important that we are aware of, and are rejoicing in, these fundamental truths which declare to our souls that all Christians share together in the one ministry and the one priesthood of the one Mediator between God and mankind, our Lord Jesus Christ, the unique Servant and High Priest. They make us aware that we are entering the sphere not of human rights and achievements but of the rich grace of God given to us in and through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Further, they encourage us to determine that in our explorations we ought to discipline our minds to bring them into harmony with our Christian calling in God’s world of corporate sharing in Christ’s continuing ministry and priesthood.

Then also we need to be aware and to affirm without any hesitation the equality of Christian men and women before God as those (i) who are made in his image and after his likeness and enjoy a common dignity; (ii) who enjoy equal and common fellowship in the body of Christ as they are being brought to full salvation by God; (iii) who are commissioned in their baptisms to fight together and with Christ against the world, flesh and devil; (iv) who as adopted children of the heavenly Father enjoy his blessings and communion with him and (v) as members of the royal priesthood and the one ministry of Christ serve God in worship and loving service each and every day.