Earlier this week, I posted a response to Ed Stetzer’s recent bomb-shell blog post that called for the end of the clergy / laity caste system. The fact that Ed is heavily involved in the Southern Baptist system makes this all the more astounding.
If you have not yet had the opportunity to read my post from earlier this week, let me encourage you to do so:
When The Clergy Says All The Right Things…(a response to Ed Stetzer’s recent blog post)
In my post earlier this week, I talked about the need to go beyond simple ‘rhetoric’ when discussing the abolition of the clergy / laity caste system. The clergy / laity caste system is the lynchpin that holds the institution together. If we’re seriously considering abandoning such a lynchpin, as Ed Stetzer called for, then we need to understand the severity and implications to such a call.
For me personally, the journey out of the clergy / laity caste system was not an overnight process; rather, it was a journey that occurred over a few years in three major ‘steps’. A few months ago, I had the privilege of being a guest blogger on the blog of a local Pastor who asked me to share my story of why I left the institutional system. I shared my ‘three step marathon’ with him on his blog. Because this story could be helpful for others who are taking Ed Stetzer’s call seriously, I would like to re-share my ‘three step’ journey out of the institution with you here as well.
Step 1: A Vantage Point Shift
I became a believer when I was eighteen years of age, and it didn’t take long for me to see that there was something radically wrong. The Christ I fell in love with, and the church I read about in the scriptures, was not being expressed in what was being presented to me as ‘church’. At the time, I didn’t know why I felt this way. It was simply something I knew deep down in my spirit.
Fortunately, as a new believer in Christ, the Lord put a mentor in my life that also seemed to question the same things. This gave me ‘permission’, so to speak, to not just swallow what was being presented to me. Eventually, I went off to a religious university to be trained for the professional ministry. After college, I planted an institution and was employed as a ‘Lead’ Pastor for a little over four years before I stepped down.
During this time of working ‘behind the curtain’, my suspicions were confirmed. The ‘church’ I was trained to plant was not the New Testament church in any way, shape, or form. Although the Lord did many good things in the organization I helped to establish, I knew it was only a shadow. I knew there was so much more to the church I read about in scripture. An extended trip overseas to witness the body of Christ outside of a ‘Western’ grid only confirmed this.
Upon returning from this trip, a couple of key things happened to me. First, I heard Francis Chan (popular evangelical author / Pastor) say something that I had been thinking since I became a believer. He said this:
If I had been raised on a deserted island, had never been to bible college, had only read the scriptures, and had never saw an (institutional) church before, I would never recognize my own church as anything remotely similar to the church that is described in the New Testament. – Francis Chan
That stunned me. Up to that point, I had never heard anyone who was a member of the clergy class say anything like that about their own church they were leading. I knew he was right, however. A short time after that, I was spending some time with a person who had spent years on staff with, and mentored by, another well known and respected author / Pastor in the evangelical world. This man’s mentor was a person whom had also influenced me from afar. Like tens of thousands of other Christians, I had read many of his books. He was considered an expert on theology and the church. I asked my friend a very frank question:
“During your time on the church staff with (unnamed respected celebrity pastor), did you see and experience what you would consider the New Testament church?”
Without hesitation he said “No way.” My friend was simply being honest. He had no ‘axe’ to grind and genuinely loved this Pastor. When I heard him say this, I felt the Lord give me a new sense of freedom from looking to these people as experts. These popular evangelical ‘experts’ were propagating a ‘system’ that was clearly not found in the New Testament. They were simply propagating a system that had been in place for hundreds of years that they had not questioned or examined. For me, I sensed the Lord showing me that it was time to stop blaming people for the church’s problems, and start examining the very ‘system’ itself.
From man’s vantage point, we see the church through an organizational grid of more than 33,000 different sects and denominations. There is absolutely no scriptural justification for this. While many would agree that there is only one church, the practice on the ground denies this. A quick drive down the street in any American city will demonstrate this. In one city will exist several ‘separate’ churches with their own names, logos, clerical staffs, and doctrinal positions. This is foreign to the New Testament. The city of Corinth, Ephesus, Sardis, Rome, etc… had no ‘First Baptist’, or ‘Vineyard’ or ‘New Life’, (insert your church name here). There was simply the church in Corinth, Ephesus, Rome, Nashville, etc…
While there may have been several groups meeting together that were scattered across a city or region, they did not see themselves as separate churches. The New Testament only identifies one church community as distinct from another based on geographic location. This is certainly not the case in today’s religious system.
The Lord does not carve up the body of His beloved Son the way mankind has done. He only sees one body. He does not recognize the organizational grids, names, logos, by-laws, etc… that we have created. He does not see us as members of ‘crossroads community church’ (for example), He simply sees us as members of His beloved Son.
Since the Lord sees His bride through the ‘grid’ of His one and only Son, I stopped seeing and associating with the church through the man-made labels that have been created by man. As you may be able to imagine, viewing the church this way can cause problems if you remain in institutional life:)
This shift in the ‘vantage point’ of how I see the church was step one in my journey out of the institution.
Step 2: Knowledge of Church History & The Clergy / Laity Error
Like many Christians, I read the scriptures and read words like ‘church’, ‘elder’, ‘pastor’, ‘ministry’, etc… and read into those words what I had experienced in the Western American Church context. As I studied the context and history of the New Testament, however, it became undeniably clear to me that those terms meant something completely different than what I thought they meant. Jesus Christ abolished the ‘selective priesthood’ and the concept of an external ‘temple’ made by human hands. In Christ, we are all priests. In Christ, we are being fashioned together into a living holy temple. (1 Pet. 2:5,9)
As I investigated church history, I saw that this New Testament understanding of Christ began to dissipate greatly in the second and third centuries. Instead of understanding Christ (and His body) as being the ‘temple’, cathedrals and religious edifices were constructed and referred to as ‘churches / temples’. Religious life, money, and focus shifted to these new entities. There are reasons for this, but that is another subject for another day.
The New Testament Greek word ‘Cleros’ means one who receives a ‘lot’ or ‘inheritance’. The Greek word ‘Cleros’ is also where the word ‘clergy’ comes from. Scripture indicates that all who are ‘in Christ’ have received Christ Himself as our ‘lot’ or ‘inheritance’. In the New Testament, the term ‘Cleros’ (clergy) is actually used to describe the entire church! Unfortunately, in the second and third centuries, the term ‘clergy’ began to be applied to a select group within the church to reinforce a hierarchical understanding of church leadership. This led to the creation of the unbiblical ‘clergy / laity’ system that continues intact to this very day. There is much more that needs to be said about this, but for time’s sake here, I’d like to recommend some excellent resources out there that carefully examine the history of our modern church practices that are rooted in the unbiblical ‘clergy / laity’ divide:
Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola & George Barna
The Pastor Has No Clothes by Jon Zens
Both of these books are written respectfully, but honestly, regarding the presentation of historical data that illustrate how the institutional understanding of ‘church’ and ‘clergy’ came about. I only recommend these books to those who really want to know where the roots of the current clerical / Pastoral system came from. Those who are satisfied with the current system should not read these books.
Step 3: The Necessity of Expressing Jesus Christ
It saddens my heart to hear the way much of the ‘institutional vs. Organic’ church conversation is played out. I hear these terms tossed around as if they describe two different styles or ‘methods’ of how to have a church meeting, or two different flavors of ice cream. In my opinion, that could not be further from the truth. When people see the ‘institutional’ or ‘organic’ church conversation as being simply about methodology, it is a sign to me that they are blind to the much larger issue at hand. This is not about simply discovering a more ‘biblical’ way to function as the church, it is about having a correct understanding of the very person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has a Head, and He also has a Body.
Christ as Head
Jesus Christ is the Head (direction setter, origin, and source of life) of the church. This is not something that He delegates to one person in the church, or a select group of people in the church. As my eyes were opened to Christ as the Head of the church, the more I saw the tragedy of the institutional system that places a clerical leader(s), or group of people in that position. When an entire community of people begin to look to Christ as the Head, and not another member of the body, the body of Christ can be free to function and express Christ without the hierarchical box that unfortunately keeps the saints from fully expressing Him.
Christ in the Body
Ephesians 1:23 states an often overlooked, yet profound truth about the church. The fullness of this person of Jesus Christ who “fills all in all”, will only be found in and through the people who are ‘in Christ’. Simply put, it is the members of His body as they function together with one another by His divine life that actually manifest the fullness of Jesus Christ. This is why the saints must be free to express Christ in church meetings, and in community life with one another.
The New Testament church knew nothing of the passive condition of today’s attenders who come to sing a few songs led by a select band on a stage, listen to a preselected person deliver a sermon to an audience, drop a few dollars in the plate, and go home. The scriptures are clear about the purpose of church meetings. They were a time in which each person in Christ was meant to come and bring a contribution of Christ. They were to come speaking Christ with one another, edifying one another, and building one another up. Each member is to minister (serve) Christ to the body. When the church is equipped for the work of ‘ministry’ (Eph 4:11-13), it is a stunning sight to be a part of and behold!
I have been a part of institutions who have tried to make cosmetic changes to their ‘methodology’ in order to function in a more ‘organic’ way, but it has never worked. In my experience, it is like putting lipstick on a pig thinking it will become something different. The real issue lies below the surface. In the institution, there is a monumental elephant in the room that few are willing to address. Simply making cosmetic changes to the same system will not address or remove the ‘elephant’.
I’ll never forget the first time I caught a glimpse of the church that had no ‘clergy / laity’ divide in which all the members had been equipped to express Christ. I saw the headship of Christ, and the fullness of Him manifested in that body of believers in a way that I had never seen before. The sight of Christ was so beautiful that I knew at that moment that I had to leave the institution. I have never looked back. It has been one of the greatest decisions of my life!
For the journey,
Jamal Jivanjee
Jamal, I appreciate your discussion and am finding myself on a similar journey. Who knows how things turn out with my Marathon.. I would love to have Ed be apart of it. I have to say that it is not an easy discussion to have, especially from the clergy side of things. I am enjoying being free enough to not only engage in your dialogue and thought.
I wish I had more to offer at the moment, but am training for my own marathon.
Brother, I have appreciated your freedom more than I can express with words! May your tribe truly increase:)
We are all searching together the abundant, extravagant, magnificent, exorbitant, and lavish riches of Jesus Christ. As we do we share the goldmine of love, the treasure chest of hope, and the wellspring of grace that is found in Christ.
May we seek to entice, to enlist, and encourage our brothers and sisters to join in this feast of feasts. There is more of Him than there ever can be of us.
Thanks again bro for your beautiful words.
Thanks for sharing more details about your journey, and shining more light on the distinction between the counterfeit and the true; bcs it helps to more clearly see the true.
May those who have ears to hear, respond.
Jamal – great post!!!
I’m thinking about my pastor, who I respect and love, and have a sense of burden for how complicated being receptive to what you are saying, yet needing to provide for themselves and their families, could be.
How did you support yourself and your family when you left the institutionalized church and the paid clergy position you held?
On a different note, I love what you are saying here and I believe that the group of families that I have met with over the last few months are starting to see this vision among us. It’s a beautiful thing!
Ari-Amber,
Thanks for reading. You are right, it is very complicated for those who are in the clergy system to just ‘up and leave’. It is also very hard for them to accept a reality that goes directly against their livelihood. Only a few are able to do this.
For myself, our funding structure was a bit different. My wife worked full time and my income supplemented our expenses. My family also received medical insurance through my position with the institution. To make a long story short, we had to sell our house and downsize quite a bit after I stepped down. We also lost our medical coverage. Thankfully, the Lord has adequately taken care of us and we have survived since then through numerous miracle after miracle. I could write about this for days:)
I am very glad to hear that this vision is spreading to a group of families that you are meeting with. Freedom is a beautiful thing indeed:)
Dear brother,
Love and Greetings to you in Christ. I have read and loved the article. Its true Christ is All and All. Keep writing, i am encouraged. Thanks.
in Christ,
Mohandas.
Thanks for visiting the blog:)
Wonderful post. I relate so much to it. Over the last 2 years my husband and I have been going through steps 1 and are now moving through steps 2 and trying to let go, through study of scripture, of all the unnecessary modes of “doing church” and learning what it means to be free to worship and commune together in Him. These last 2 years have been some of the hardest in our life as we’ve waded through all the muck. But they have also been the most freeing. Only in the last couple months have we been able to see things more clearly, and finally feel like we are standing on solid ground. I can’t wait for the next chapters to be written!
Hannah,
Thanks for sharing a bit of your journey here. I am thankful for the courage of Christ that is in you. This courage will see you through. May your tribe increase!
Thank you for sharing your story, Jamal. Too often I get nodding heads and “that-a-boys” from folks who approve of this shift back to New Testament church community, but too often, they walk away like the rich young ruler, not willing to give up the comforts and familiarities engrained in institutional Christianity.
I am celebrating some time with my first organic church family on the West coast right now and it is such a joy to see how many have grown in Jesus and how others are continuing to forge ahead with God’s call within their heart and shine with Jesus’ love in their community. I wish to be around them all the time, but God has called some of us to leave and go to new fertile soil or return to places where the ground is very hard.
I like reading your blog because your words encourage me by the words themselves and the fact that there are others out there who are not trying to plant churches, but to seed the gospel of Jesus back into the very fabric of life.
Thx for reading Emory, I appreciate your heart! I am glad to know that this blog has been an encouragement to you:) Thx for expressing Christ’s life brother!
Soli Deo Gloria! I am a 58 yr old SBC pastor leading a 50 yr old SBC church. This discussion is vital. Thanks so much. My soul is refreshed after reading your spot on post.
Jim,
Brother, I appreciate the freedom that you have. This discussion would offend most who are in your position. I don’t have to tell you this, but I’m sure you realize that taking this article seriously will mean lots of changes for you. This scares many from the clergy away from this conversation. May your tribe increase.
Jim, let me encourage you to subscribe to the blog by email so we can keep that dialogue going. Blessings!
Jamal, I’m a Christian (I think I can still safely assume that –although the last 2 hours of reading your blogs have caused such confusion for me in that regard) I’m finishing up Seminary in a few months, nuff said about me. .. (brief flashback)So a few hours ago I’m looking for information on Chan and Platt’s Discipleship conference in November —
(b/c they excite me as one who regurgitates my breakfast –which is usually coffee– every time I walk into church and go through the motions of pretending like we have it all figured out and this ‘organization’ is actually the ‘organism’ that it is supposed to be–)
and somehow I stumble on your review of “Radical” and I will say that I totally support your use of critical evaluation on that text as well as your stick-to-it-ofness with your replies and such–But with all the love that this computer screen and these words can express I think that you’re stance is more confusing than the picture of the church that you say confused you at the age of 18.
You have blasted everyone that has said this with a carbon copy “show me due respect” reply but I have to ask anyhow, How does it feel to own 100% stock of all truth? Has it ever occurred to you that the institution (as repugnant as it can be) might actually be the most needy mission field on this earth? That is if there is such a thing as a mission field in your view…Think about how many times Christ went after the religiously confused fan in an effort to create the heart of a follower (just read that book “Not A Fan”) …
I agree that at first glance it can seem a little schizophrenic with the message of “tear down the wall” being preached from atop the wall, but you are just doing this in a way that is strangely divisive and honestly from a true reading of scripture doesn’t add up…
Two areas that have confused me that you have replied about over and over on a few posts are–
1)Matthew 28 Christ said (my version) ‘all authority is mine and I say you go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them to follow my ways’ HOWEVER –Jamal says what???? Believers can not do anything individually???? and only through a community can you make disciples (So what was Paul attempting all those times), your logic on this text completely caused me to go cross-eyed
2) Ephesians 4 …What do you do with this text? “He gave some to be Apostles, Teachers, Evangelist…for the equipping of the saints…”–So every translation in all of history has gotten these two major texts wrong, and the reality is that individual Christians are figments of our imaginations and we are all called to be ministers with no distinctive gifts whatsoever??? What of the Jerusalem Council, there is a rough reading of a pretty early on “clergy/laity” within the body–I mean we can spin the context a million different ways from Sunday but it seems clear that the church was beginning to be well organized while maintaining organic life even then (some 20 yrs. removed from Christ??)—
Let’s not ridicule so many methods of modern day Pastors just because you’re on the outside looking in (even if you used to be on the inside) I can think of NO ONE more needy of hearing David Platt’s God-given message of Radical abandonment for Christ than the American Christian Machine and if he doesn’t preach it from the pulpit of a mega-church or on the pages of a best-seller then no one will care to listen …
I’m especially confused with the couple that left Brook Hills because “there is much more to the gospel than making disciples of all nations”…..REALLY? DO TELL?
Bryan,
Wow, what a comment! First of all, welcome to the blog:) I am very glad that you stumbled across this site. I don’t believe in coincidences, so there is a reason you read these articles. You have brought up a lot of things that I am not going to address here at this point in the conversation. There are three things that I’d like to say here, however:
1. Recognize that you are on a journey.
I know where you are coming from. I have been in your shoes. If I would have read this blog when I was in seminary, I would have reacted exactly the same way. The things that I have written here have been a result of years of unlearning and detoxing from the western institutional religious system. If you approach this conversation as if you have already figured things out, then this journey will come to an end and you will simply seek to defend your preconceived ideas. If you realize that there may be things here on this blog that are true, however, then you will be open to the dialogue. (Consider the comment from the SBC Pastor named Jim who posted a comment just before you did)
2. Watch the ‘Matrix’:
I’m not sure if you are a movie fan, but let me encourage you to watch a movie called ‘the Matrix’. The reason you should watch this movie is because your life is on a similar course. In the movie, ‘Neo’ was presented with a choice. He could find out the truth about what was really real, or he could simply continue his old life in the false reality that he knew called the ‘matrix’. The truth about the ‘matrix’ was hard for him to come to grips with because it was the only reality he knew, and all that he had been taught. His desire for the truth was greater than his desire to continue living in the status quo he was familiar with, however. This led to his freedom from the ‘matrix’.
Bryan, could it be possible that you are living in a ‘religious matrix’?
3. Purchase a book called ‘Pagan Christianity’ by Frank Viola & George Barna
If you desire to know the truth and want to know how deep the religious lies are lodged within you, I would encourage you to read a book called ‘Pagan Christianity’ by George Barna & Frank Viola. You can get it from Amazon.com. Don’t read the book to refute it, simply read it with an open mind. This is especially important since you have just come out of seminary. The book will bring up questions that are healthy to ask.
We never have to be afraid of the truth Bryan. Let me know if you are open to these suggestions. If so, I’d love to keep the dialogue going. Feel free to subscribe to the blog by email so we can continue the conversation when future articles are posted.
Blessings to you on your journey.
Sometimes I say things at 2 a.m. that make me squint when I read them the following day so thanks for the gracious reply…NOTE: I meant “I just read ‘Not A Fan’” sorry sometimes I write like I talk…
I don’t have a lot of time for the blogosphere but I subscribed here (whatever that means) because honestly there aren’t many people in my life that care to have this sort of conversation…
I’m a moderatley-huge Matrix fan, I’ve had a rough week managing the Chick-fil-A fall out and the sex change of the guy/girl who wrote Matrix—On a serious note I decided that I would keep my beliefs close to my chest in the homosexual verbal massacres and pray for opportunities to actually share Christ with with more people–gay or not…
I’m not afraid, honestly I agree with some things you say …I wear people out with this message and frankly no one wants to hear it–the Chan message about reading the Bible on an island and walking into a western 21st century church building and being completely confused really shook me up…
I’m rambling but honestly—So what do we do with the church-goers?…I want to reach those people for Christ for the rest of my life and 2 things I know for sure
1) I would rather be a full time Hyena neuterer than participate in the Sunday morning mess that we wrap The Son of God up into (but I have 3 young boys who are not ready for daddy’s exodus from the matrix, and Matthew 10 trumps all of this that but I don’t know where to go)
2) Who am I helping and how am I being like Christ by packing my bags and leaving all of the members of my ‘would be’ future congregation to drown in a tidal wave that don’t even realize they are getting ready to eat?
Bryan-
Firstly, welcome to this online community that Jamal has provided for us. I find the words he and others share to be a source of encouragement. I too, graduated from seminary. And I had to ask some hard questions about my future and income as I was launching out of the institution. But, thanks to God, for getting me out before I anchored my future and income into the institutional church. But, I have scores of close friends who find themselves in your shoes—wife, kids, and a need to provide. They are pastor types, denominationally-supported missionaries, et al. I want to address your two question/statements, because you are not alone! Matthew 10 is a challenging text. Here’s the issue with that: Do you view each verse in scripture as an individual mandate to your person? I appeal to your reference of Ephesians 4. The first disciples were doing the work of apostles and not everyone is called to apostolic ministry. I know married people who have amazing apostolic ministries, but this is rare. Apostolic ministry is rare in the church today anyway, regrettably, married or not. The call to follow Jesus though is not a singular endeavor.
As far the leaving your family part to follow Jesus—if this isn’t a struggle for you, then God is not working in your life. C.S. Lewis famously warned that if you all too willingly accept that bit from Jesus and you find it rather easy to hate your family and follow Jesus, then you are in serious danger. Being married and having a family is the natural order of life, but it is an aspect of worldliness that works on you. This is why we cannot serve God individually. We are called as a church, a community of faith to work together. He gives us the Holy Spirit to accomplish this. The young men and women (or older, as in my case) who are single, can take more risks…they can more readily respond to apostolic callings. Just look at all the men (and women) by the way in the New Testament who responded to the calling to move into a new cultural setting, or to be on the move as the Spirit leads them. Married people do this too, and in my first organic church experience, I experienced as a younger man the lessons taught by older married people on how to love Jesus, and I saw men of Jesus love their wives, children, and community with all their hearts. The children themselves connected us with other families in the community who had never heard how much God cares for them.
This may mean that you take a regular job in the community and bless your church community with whatever giftedness the Holy Spirit pours into you. And if you are worried about the “would be congregation”…Jesus said, “don’t worry, dude.” Seriously, a true child of God already has the Holy Spirit. They will be fine.
Okay, I don’t want to ramble on. Following Jesus is hard. Our attempt to make it easier, codify it, and provide algorithms diverts our dependency away from Him to ourselves. I want to encourage you to continue to ask questions. Some people don’t like questions or to be challenged, but not here. Peace be with you, brother.
I relate to everything you said here. It is wonderful to meet another soul who speaks the same language. Most of the time one is a foreigner in a stange land – in more senses and on more levels than one!
Thank you for sharing your story and encouraging others with it. This is mine…
http://myonionlayers.blogspot.de/p/leaving-religion-for-way.html
Blessings…