08-The All-Body Ministry

By going back to the old covenant, and applying its principles to the church, the Fathers ruined church rule and care, twisting it into a monstrosity. In tandem – the one feeding off the other – they allowed the priesthood of all believers to dwindle into practical neglect, so that it became the poor relation of the Christian religion. In fact it died out. The Reformers recovered this priesthood, it is true, but only to a limited extent – as an individual thing, a personal thing: I can go directly to God for myself. A wonderful truth, of course, but one that fails to exhaust the breadth and depth of meaning of this new-covenant priesthood. And for most believers, this is how it is to this very day – something which is rarely discussed, let alone thought about, least of all acted upon. And, as I say, at best, for those who do have some concept of it, too frequently it is thought of simply in terms of the individual.