Priests 3

So my last question about priests is, "Who are the main benefactors of their service?" If you check out most churches today, most of the "service" and "ministry" is for the benefit of the people in the church. The ones who already have access to God! WAKE UP CALL!!!!! Priests serve as bridge builders between God and those who don't Him! Those outside the church! And if we are going to be true to our calling and our mission, we must be sure that we are looking beyond our four walls. (BTW- I loved hearing about the cheapest yard sale in town all my Denton crew was doing! SWEET!) We must be seeking, taking and investing in opportunities to serve our community with the intention of introducing them to the God we love and serve! May it be said of us, "The church has left the building!"

Let's get out there and be priests!

Priests Part 2

What does a priest do? He/she serves men as a bridge-builder, gap-filler. Priests have access to God, and others don't, so priests stand in the gap, and provide a bridge to God. The priests of the old days were the ones who would take a family's sacrifices, and would present them in their stead. He provided a way to approach God. Priest of this day do much the same thing. Christ-followers are responsible for building the bridge between God and men, and showing those who don't have access to God, how to know Him. Being a priest has nothing to do with self, and everything to do with God and others.

Check out some of the sacrifices that priests of the new order offer. They don't offer bodies of bulls and goats anymore, but their own bodies. (Romans 12:1) They also offer the sacrifice of praise. (Hebrews 13:15- here's a kick me in the face question: is my praise a sacrifice, or do I just offer it in comfortable situations?) Christ-following priests offer up good deeds and sharing with others (biblical, not kindergarten, sharing) as sacrifices. (Hebrews 13:16) Paul, an old priest of the new order, said that the Gentiles he was converting to Christ were sacrifices offered to God. (Romans 15:16) Did you notice that all the sacrifices have got nothing to do with me, and everything to do with God and others!

My motto for the day: "It's not about me! It's not about me! It's not about me!"

Priests Part 1

Okay, time to talk about priests. We need to answer three questions about priests. The first is, "What makes a person a priest?" The second is, "What does a priest do?" We will deal with the third one later.

What makes a person a priest? Being a priest means we have access to God. In other words, we are allowed to approach Him and know Him. Remember that in the old days, only priests could enter the tabernacle. And only the high priest could enter into the most holy place where God Himself dwelt at the ark of the covenant. A priest is one who has access to God.

Now this is wicked cool- all Christ-followers have access to God! Paul (or whoever wrote it) tells us in Hebrews that we can "approach [God's] throne of grace with confidence." If you need a visual aid for this spiritual reality, imagine approaching the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant and God's shekinah glory filling the room, and speaking "face to face" with Him as Moses did. God has given us this access to Himself, to His grace, to His power!

This COULD lead to a little arrogance. "Humph! I have access to God, I am better than others!" But our attitude should be that of humility and thanksgiving. After all, it was only by the undeserved and unearned grace of the High Priest, Jesus, that we became priests and were given this privilege. And, to top it all off, being a priest is all about serving anyway. But we will deal with that tomorrow!