The Pros vs The Priests

There are generally two viewpoints in today's church. There are those who follow a view of doing church a very specific way, it is called professionalism. It is making sure that we follow a certain liturgy, a way the church service operates. This is kind of like left side of the brain in the church body. It is all about what is done and how it can be done efficiently. The other viewpoint is based on the idea of a biblical priesthood. The priesthood is really what we are called to by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the right side of the church brain. It is about the heart of the church. The priesthood wants to serve God because it loves Him, the professional wants to serve Him but it is the most logical.

In the Old Testament, the priests are the only ones that God had ordained to perform certain sacrifices. They were the ones who were allowed to make the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. In the New Testament, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of himself to atone for our sins. He has made us a new priesthood, because it is now our responsibility to sacrifice our own lives of worship of Him. 

These two views work best when they are balanced. You can't be too spiritual or too legalistically. If you are more one than the other, you cannot come minister to the Lord in an adequate way. They seem like opposites at times, but professionalism and priesthood work very well together. When we understand the certain ways of doing church, we can clearly see how to praise God more appropriately.

In the book of Hebrews, the author talks about the priests of Melchizedek. He calls the priesthood back to the promise made and fulfilled through Christ. It says in verses 19 and 20 that we have an anchor of the soul, and that is hope. It is a hope that takes into the holiest of holies where, in the Old Testament, only the high priests were allowed. Christ's death made him the greatest high priest and it left the curtain open for us to enter His holy presence.