Priesthood and Responsibility

All Christians are an equal part of the priesthood of all believers. This is both a great privilege and a great responsibility.

It is a stunning privilege to have direct access to the God of the universe. We've been given the gift of being able to communicate with our Lord whenever we want to do so. No individual stands between us and God. This is a unique aspect of Christianity among the world's religions.

Along with the privilege, we have the responsibility to live it out. This requires action on our part. We cannot sit back and wait for someone else to do priestly things for us. We all, as individual Christians, have the responsibility to live as sacrifices to God.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1

Paul's appeal is for us to take action. Each one of us.  Once we understand this, we need to ask what this looks like. It can probably be summed up best in the Great Commandment.

But what does this responsibility look like in practical terms? James helps us in 1:27, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Along with living holy lives and caring for the needy, other aspects of priestly living include sharing our faith with the lost and carrying out the one anothers within the church.

All of the above require activity on our part. Christ does not expect his special people to be passive. Rather, his expectation is that we will go and do in this world.

Responsibility is one aspect of the priesthood. There are several more. I'll be covering these in the next few posts. In the meantime, what other key components of priestly living can you think of?