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Originally Posted by Pergamum  Good thoughts brother.
How should this be taught from the pulpits and how do we balance this very real truth in Packer's quote with many evangelicals who promote an "every person should be a missionary" approach.
There does seem to be a balance and Packers quote appears true, even while reminders that every person is not a minister are valid.
How do we rightly mobilize the laymen while preserving proper roles? |
What Winzer has said seems to be the key. Many people do not feel they have any responsibility to "ministry" apart from what they do on Sunday (which has already been pointed out). Personally, I think it goes back to the indoctrination that many have received through the world's influences, and it manifests itself in these types of thinking:
1. My life is compartmentalized. I worship on Sunday; I work during the weekdays; I play and do work around the house on Saturdays. The world thinks this way, and most Christians have subconsiously adopted this thinking rather than viewing life as always for Christ.
2. We pay the missionaries, we pay the preacher, we pay the church staff. They will do the visitation, the ministering to the sick and take the Gospel to the lost. It is not my duty. This is also how the world operates in business. The higher ups pay people to do their work for them while they sit in ivory towers and administrate. (Sadly, I think some pastors have adopted this viewpoint)
As a lay person who feels that my responsibility to God is 24/7, I am frustrated when I encounter these kinds of attitudes. As we are going, we are to minister to those around as, and as God gives us opportunity. This is not "preaching" the gospel. It is simply "being Christ" to those around us, another way of putting it is living as Christ would live in the world, all the time. When my neighbor comes to me with a problem, I seek to minister to that need as I believe the Lord Himself would have done. If that gives me an opportunity to tell that person about Christ, then I will tell them.
Though this kind of teaching can be brought out from the pulpit and should be, I believe a lot of it goes back to how families live, the examples they give to their children and how much we allow the influences of the world to mold our thinking. We are more "worldly" than we think we are.