In Anglican churches, many members think that they have fulfilled their obligations by giving money. They think that by giving money, the church can afford to hire full-time workers to serve in the church. By doing so, members do not have to be involved in the church’s services.
In fact, God’s requirement is that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. But when God asks us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him, some Christians think that coming to church on Sunday or giving money is more than enough. How ironic. What is most unfortunate is that some pastors also encourage their members in this way, believing that as long as the church has money, they can hire workers to carry out the ministry, as if lay people responsibility is to contribute money only. All this is very clearly opposed to the first part of the Constitution of the Diocese of West Malaysia, that is, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s “Historical Statements and Declarations”. Speaking of lay people, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “Lay people are called by God to commit themselves to giving themselves to God as King over the world, and to make all of life for God, and all of life’s dealings with their neighbours a service to them. Laymen should not regard the pastoral call as a substitute for doing what they can and can do better. This would greatly enhance the life of lay people in the Church and enable pastors, like the Apostles, to “devote themselves to prayer and evangelisation”.
In the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury, lay people are charged with the task of witnessing to God and serving their neighbours in every aspect of their lives. Lay people must not only serve God in their lives, they must also actively participate in the service of the church, sharing the ministry with the pastor and doing their own work, so that the church can flourish.
However, it is a pity that our churches do not strongly advocate these teachings, but instead flood the churches with specious teachings, making the church a mess. Discipleship Training is all about disciplining lay people and restoring them to the original mission entrusted to them by God. They should not make the church like a social entertaining center.