In the last sharing, I mentioned that clericalism is still deeply entrenched in the Diocese of West Malaysia. There may be some priests who believe that they should be the dominant ones in the Church, that their ordination to the priesthood gives them a special status. They cling to power and are reluctant to share in ministry to the extent that there is often tension in their relationships with lay people. At the same time, they also wear themselves out.
Team ministry has been validated as indispensable in leadership. No leader can work independently. It is impossible to be a leader who cannot work in a team. Even if you are not a leader, you must work in a team to be effective. In the 21st century, many lay people are much better than pastors in ability as well as in knowledge. What they lack is Bible teaching. What they need is to be built up in God’s Word to the point where they can have their lives changed. Only then they can understand God’s will instead of bringing their own desires into the church, which not only does not help build up the church, but also makes a mess of it. If pastors can seize the opportunity to properly teach and train lay people so that they understand their identity, mission, duties, etc., they will surely be able to participate in church ministries and build up the church with their abilities, talents, and knowledge.
However, some priests may do the opposite, unwilling to teach and train lay people, unwilling to share their duties, and treating the Church as their own property.
Does the Diocese of West Malaysia still have the phenomenon of clergy grasping for power, being exclusive and being excessively worshipped by the members? If that happened, that may be due to a lack of understanding of what the Church is, and of the identity, mission and duties of lay people, and even more so of God’s mission to pastors, which is to “teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:20).
The greatest responsibility of a pastor is to build up the believers, especially through teaching and training, supplemented by pastoral care, in order to strengthen the commitment of lay people to participate in ministries, evangelism, missions, giving, witnessing in the workplace, and so on. If lay people can utilize their respective strengths, will the church not be built up? If pastors and lay people can work together as a team and fulfill their respective roles, the church will be more dynamic.
The pastor is a teacher. His ministry must be to teach and train the believers, as 1 Tim 3:2 says, “to teach well” so that they can participate effectively in the ministry. Lay people are God’s people and have received God’s call, and the church environment must be designed to equip all members to live out this high calling.