This is part III in a series written by Dr. Ellis Orozco. See Part I and Part II for further reading.
Years ago, I fell ill with a virus that was compounded by allergies I had recently and unknowingly developed. The virus was not manifesting. I had no previous history of allergies. The doctors were perplexed. Nothing they tried seemed to work. I steadily grew weaker.
One doctor confessed, “We can’t find the culprits that are causing this.”
Finally, they found the virus, and an allergy specialist identified my newfound allergies. I was given a fairly simple treatment and quickly recovered.
Sometimes, the culprits that are causing the problem are right in front of us, but we cannot see them.
In my last article, I examined a necessary shift in discipleship from an emphasis on the benefits of being a Christian to an emphasis on the sacrifices required of all Jesus followers.
I will now address that shift in more detail, highlighting the two culprits that may be crippling the work of the church.
The Call-to-Action
The first culprit is what we have made of discipleship.
The church faces a challenge in the way we incorporate new Christians into the work of the Kingdom of God. Discipleship must move from the classroom to the market square; from Bible Study lessons to on-the-job, hands-on training.
This training should start immediately upon a proclamation of salvation. People must move from the baptismal waters straight into marketplace evangelism.
This was Paul’s model.
Paul’s strategy was to win people to Christ, quickly train them on how to win others to Christ, and then empower them to build the body of Christ, the Church. Paul rarely stayed in one city for more than six months. This training happened very quickly.
Sometimes, Paul would leave a small, seasoned team behind to give the fledgling leaders some support. He would touch base with them through letters and messengers. But for the most part, the new and indigenous Christian leadership was expected to do the work Paul had trained them to do.
Did that strategy cause problems? Certainly. Paul was constantly writing to his church leaders to correct them on what they were doing wrong. But the problems seemed trivial compared to the results.
The first culprit undermining the work of the church is that, in an attempt to make church membership as easy as possible, we tend to coddle new Christians in a way that stunts their growth and weakens the work of the church.
To Ordain or Not to Ordain
The second culprit is what we have made of ordination.
The word “ordain” is not found in most translations of the New Testament (It is used only once in the King James translation, Titus 1:5). The New Testament Christians seemed to build their concept of ordination on the Old Testament idea of “anointing” someone for a special purpose by the ceremonial laying on of hands (and sometimes anointing with oil).
There are numerous Old Testament examples of this, the most famous of which is the anointing of David (1 Samuel 16:13). The anointing was closely associated with a special and increased filling of the Holy Spirit, as well as a specific calling from God.
Our concept of ordination, then, is loosely based on a few New Testament passages that portray the church laying hands on people to release them to the work God called them to do. This concept seems to closely align with the Old Testament concepts of ordination or anointing.
The first indication of an ordination process in the New Testament occurred shortly after the birth of the church in Jerusalem. The leadership selected seven men to form a team that would solve a problem the church had encountered.
Luke reports that the church leaders presented their chosen candidates to the apostles “who prayed and laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:6). Problem solved. From that point on, “the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7).
The second vague allusion to ordination came later at Antioch. The Antioch church leadership felt led to send Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey to Cyprus.
Luke explains how it happened: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:2-3).
Years later, Paul made a vague reference to ordination when he reminded Timothy to constantly refresh “the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6). Based on the remainder of the letter, “the gift” that Paul referenced was most likely teaching, preaching, or general leadership.
Finally, Paul made a more direct reference to ordination when he instructed Titus to “set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city” (Titus 1:5; KJV). I quoted the King James translation because it is one of the few that translates the Greek word Paul used in this verse as “ordain.” Most other translations translate the word as “appoint.”
That’s it. The Bible gives us no more direction than that. Stripped of all we have layered on top of the meager Biblical evidence for ordination, it all comes down to this: A small group of Christians saying to one of their beloved Christian friends, “We see you and we see the call of God in your life. Let us affirm you, pray for you, and release you to do God’s work.”
That’s it. That’s ordination.
The problem with what we have made of ordination is that it draws too stark a line between the ordained and the laity. It creates a false dichotomy between the “professional clergy” and everyone else. It places undue pressure on the ordained to carry more than they can bear while excusing the majority from sacrificial service. It falsely relegates certain acts of service – preaching, teaching, baptizing, and pastoral care – to the ordained, excluding many talented laypersons from the very work that God may be calling them to fulfill.
The church is quickly coming to a place where it can no longer afford this false dichotomy. The church desperately needs every Christian hand on deck. It cannot long afford to rely solely on the “professional clergy” because their ranks are dwindling.
The church that can restore a more Biblical view of ordination and demand much more of every Christian will be a church that thrives in the next century.
This insight was written by Dr. Ellis Orozco, the Public Theologian in Residence at Stark College & Seminary. Dr. Orozco served in ministry as a pastor for 30 years and is the founder and CEO of Karooso Ministries.
Visit Dr. Orozco’s Blog to read more.