APEST Church

Intro to APEST

In the biblical sense all Christians are priests and clergy, and this is a crucial starting point if we are to re-discover the true concept of ministry and leadership within the church. ~ David Watson

In the New Testament there are functional distinctions between various kinds of ministries but no hierarchical division between clergy and laity. ~ Howard Snyder 

Before addressing a specific way to look at the gifting and functions of the body of Christ, let’s consider a general view of leadership that in many ways has kept the church from fully realizing its calling. I am referring to what is considered the clergy-laity divide.

The word laity comes from a Greek word (laos) that means “people.” Today we often use the related term “layperson” in distinction from the word “professional.” A layperson is someone in a particular discipline who is seen as an “amateur”—someone who dabbles in a certain area but doesn’t operate with a high level of skill or expertise. The professional, on the other hand, is the expert. He is the one “in the know.” She has the expertise to operate at a high level. While there may be a place for this division in the business world or perhaps in the area of sports, there is no biblical basis for such a distinction in the church. Eugene Peterson writes on this division of language in his book “The Jesus Way.”

Within the Christian community there are few words that are more disabling than “layperson” and “laity.” The words convey the impression—an impression that quickly solidifies into a lie—that there is a two-level hierarchy among the men and women who follow Jesus. There are those who are trained, sometimes referred to as “the called,” the professionals who are paid to preach, teach, and provide guidance in the Christian way, occupying the upper level. The lower level is made up of everyone else, those whom God assigned jobs as storekeepers, lawyers, journalists, parents, and computer programmers.

Ministry, therefore, is not set aside for some professional class within the church, but instead all the people of God are called and commissioned. In the classic book, The Community of the King, author Howard Snyder speaks to this issue:

The New Testament doctrine of ministry rests not on the clergy-laity distinction but on the twin and complementary pillars of the priesthood of all believers and the gifts of the Spirit. Today, four centuries after the Reformation, the full implications of this Protestant affirmation have yet to be worked out. The clergy-laity dichotomy is a direct carry-over from pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism and a throwback to the Old Testament priesthood. It is one of the principal obstacles to the church effectively being God’s agent of the Kingdom today because it creates a false idea that only “holy men,” namely, ordained ministers, are really qualified and responsible for leadership and significant ministry. In the New Testament there are functional distinctions between various kinds of ministries but no hierarchical division between clergy and laity.

We need to “deprofessionalize” ministry and give it back to the people of God. However, this does not mean that we don’t have leaders. Any significant movement that makes an impact has definite leadership. We simply shouldn’t confuse leadership with a call to participate in Jesus' redemptive mission.

Ephesians 4 tells us that when all the members (laos) are properly working together, the body grows up into maturity. It further states that the body will experience the fullness of Christ (4:15). Such maturity and fullness is not possible if only 10 percent of the body exercises their gifting.

When we look at the early church (and every other movement that has had a significant impact throughout history), we see that everyone is regarded as a significant agent of the King and is encouraged to find their place in the movement. In other words, in the church that Jesus built, everyone gets to play. In fact, everyone must play!