Priests and pastors used to enjoy the kind of respect given to doctors and lawyers, but scandals have damaged the reputation of church leaders.
The most shocking stories have been exposures of sexual sins and abuse of children, but other forms of abuse can also be terribly destructive.
Cult like authoritarianism and financial extortion can also ruin the lives of naive followers.
These abuses of power have led many people to reject any kind of formal church affiliation, or even to reject faith in God Himself.
Some believers meet in informal home groups or house churches. Others stay at home and watch Christian television or ministry on YouTube.
Some want to belong to a Christian community but they don’t see any value in official ministry positions or ordained preachers with titles.
I have had terrible experiences which make me more than sympathetic to these de-churched freelance believers.
So many Christians look up to ordained preachers to tell them what to think, what to believe and what to do. This is childish passivity.
Ordained leadership is God’s idea, but not to keep believers passively dependant or under coercive control.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
to equip his 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 fullness of Christ. Eph 4:11–13 NIV
God appoints ministers to equip believers to be ministers, not to be ordained office holders but believers with ministries of their own.
But ordained ministers also have another vitally important function.
An 80 year old man had lived his life in luxury and playing around with women. When he became very sick, he was horrified to realise his time was short. He began to think seriously about his mortality and the judgement of God, so he called for a preacher to hear his confession and help him to make peace with God.
Only God knows if his repentance was genuine, but if there were no ordained ministers, who could be called to help?
Once I prayed for an old woman who was a nominal protestant. She was close to death when my wife and I prayed for her. Her Catholic husband called for a priest to anoint her with oil for healing. She made a miraculous recovery and was discharged from hospital.
Ordained pastors, bishops or priests can be a point of contact with God for weak believers or repentant sinners. This is so important.
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