THE CALLING OF THE LAITY:
If you are to really understand the spiritual call of the laity you must go back to the Old
Testament. God's plan was for the entire nation of Israel to be priests or ministers:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. . .
(Exodus 19:6)
As priests, each person in Israel was to be a witness of the one true God to unbelievers
around him. The establishing of an official priesthood did not change God's plan for
Israel. The priesthood was like the clergy of today with special leadership roles. But the
entire nation was still to serve as ministers of the message of God to heathen nations.
In the New Testament, believers are given a similar calling. They are to be priests or
ministers of the Gospel:
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praise of Him who hath called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light. (I Peter 2:9)
The calling of believers is to bear witness of God who has brought them out of spiritual
darkness into the light of Jesus Christ (John 9:5). Believers are told to "walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Ephesians 4:1). There is one calling and that is to
bear witness to the Gospel. It is the vocation of all believers.
The call to be a messenger of the Gospel is not based on education or natural ability. God
uses ordinary laymen so that He alone may receive the glory:
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.
That no flesh should glory in His presence. (I Corinthians 1:26-29)
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