The caste system is alive and well in the evangelical church.

One of the biggest problems facing most evangelical and charismatic churches is the “holy man” myth.  The idea still persists that there is a “spiritual class” of Christians who have a higher calling than the rest.  Much like the Hindu caste system — although admittedly in a less extreme form — this is a false belief that prevents many in the Body of Christ from fulfilling their destiny.  It takes the form of the totally unbiblical distinction between those who are “called to full-time ministry”, as the expression goes, and those Christians who earn their living in other ways that are considered to be less “spiritual”  (in other words, those who are not employed by the church), whose main contribution to the ministry of most churches is to pay their tithes so that those who have “heard the call of God” – a synonym for paid pastoral staff – can do the “work of the ministry”.

The aim of this post is to uncover the spiritual root system of this false belief that God has two classes of servants – full-time and part-time – and to show that this idea has no place in a New Covenant church.   The idea for this post came when I was doing some personal Bible study, reading the Book of Numbers, and I came across these words spoken by God to Moses concerning the tribe descended from Levi, who was one of Jacob’s twelve sons :

I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.  (Numbers 3:12-13)

Lest anyone wonder what is meant by the statement that the firstborn belongs to the Lord, Exodus 13:11-16 makes the meaning clear. The Israelites were told that the firstborn male of every family was to be consecrated to God as an enduring sign of the freedom that was purchased for Israel at the Passover. In the case of an animal, this meant the death of the animal, or else the death of a substitute animal (e.g. a lamb) if the firstborn was of a species that was too valuable to sacrifice. In the case of a human son, a redemption price was fixed so that fathers did not actually have to kill their sons, because it was forbidden for parents to sacrifice their own children. So the Levites were consecrated to God as a substitute for the firstborn sons of every Israelite family, and set apart to serve Him in caring for the tabernacle and the sanctuary. Within this special class of set-apart Israelites there was a smaller class comprised of those Levites who were male descendants of Aaron, called to the priesthood. Their life’s work would be to offer sacrifices and offerings in the tabernacle, and there were special rules pertaining to their ritual purity so that the sacrifices would be acceptable to God.

I have to confess that although I have read the Bible through many times, I saw the significance of this in a new way this week. I already understood that in ancient Israel, being a firstborn son was a position of privilege. The firstborn son had a place of honour entitling him to a special blessing from his father and a larger share of the inheritance. What I had not seen – at least, not so clearly – was that the firstborn son also belonged to God in a way that other Israelites did not. Were it not for the substitution of a Levite or a sacrificial animal, his very life would be forfeit. You can’t be more surrendered than that. So in a real sense, the priests and Levites – as substitutes for the firstborn sons of Israel – had no life of their own. They did not belong to themselves; they existed solely to serve the LORD and his people in various ways that made the temple service possible. Levites alone could handle the things pertaining to Israel’s place of worship; the priests alone could enter the holy place and offer sacrifices. As representatives of Israel’s first-born sons, they belonged totally to God.

This is the spiritual root system of the idea that some in the church are called to “full-time service” and are “serving God in the ministry” while other believers are, by implication, less consecrated, less called, and less holy. The only problem is, it’s an Old Testament concept. Everything changed with the coming of Christ. The New Testament applies the label “firstborn” to Jesus first but also to those who belong to him. Instead of a special class of people who can go into the holy place, all believers can go in to the presence of the Lord without fear.  All who have identified ourselves with Jesus in His death and resurrection are granted the full inheritance rights of sons. But in addition to all this, I now see that being a firstborn son denotes not only inheritance but also God’s total ownership.  So when we are told in Hebrews 12 that we are the church of the first-born – i.e. that every believer is a first-born son in God’s sight – this tells me not only that we all inherit the promises, but that we all are to be fully devoted to Him, fully consecrated to His purposes.  Just as the Levites – representatives of the first-born in Israel – had no right to a life of their own, but belonged totally to God, as a believer in Jesus I have no identity outside of Him; I live for His purposes; my goal in life is to glorify Him.

There is, of course, a very clear Biblical basis for division of labour. Scripture clearly teaches that some are specially gifted and equipped to give spiritual leadership and oversight to the church, while others’ gifts are more suited to different forms of service. In the prototype church in Jerusalem, deacons were appointed to help the apostles so that the apostles could devote their attention to the Word of God and to prayer. But all who have put their faith in Christ are called by God, and the last time I checked, there was nothing in my New Testament to suggest that Jesus ever called anyone to follow him part-time. If we are His purchased possession, paid for by the Blood of the Cross that was shed for our sins, then we are His completely – which is the meaning of the word holy. Jesus didn’t shed his blood for anyone’s partial redemption. We are redeemed totally or not at all, and we belong to the Lord totally or not at all. It’s clear that the ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher were established by Jesus himself – but the purpose of these leadership ministries is to train others up so that they in turn can fulfil their ministry, serving the Lord full-time in accordance with their own unique mix of gifts and opportunities.  Whether or not we happen to receive financial support for our ministry is a secondary issue, and has nothing to do with the genuineness of our calling, or our value, worth or standing in the Kingdom.

Imagine what the church might look like if we applied this idea to how we view ministry. If we are truly among the first-born – both amazingly privileged and totally consecrated – the particular place that He assigns to us in His Kingdom should be of no real concern to us, except that we desire to play the part that we are best suited to play. Instead of a special “priestly class” who do the work of ministry for the rest of us, all of us can go in to the place of intimacy with God, all of us belong totally to Him for His glory, and all of us have significant gifts from God that can be used to advance His Kingdom.  Although some leaders would continue to receive financial support for their ministry, being “called to the ministry” would no longer be equated with a paid position, because every Christ-follower is called to the ministry.  All of us would see ourselves as “full-time ministers” because we are full-time followers and servants of Christ; we belong totally to the one who called us and set us free to find our true identity and purpose in Him.

Radical?  Revolutionary, even? Well – yes – but then, so is the gospel.