The Other Six Days: C7 – Three Roles, One Body

The Other Six Days

Part Three – For the Life of the World: Chapter 7 -  Prophets, Priests, and Kings

Today we begin the third and final part of the book. Part I dwelt on “A People Without ‘Laity and Clergy.’ Part II reflected on being “Summoned and Equipped by God.” In the last three chapters, we will examine what it means to be the Church “For the Life of the World.” In case you haven’t noticed, the headings for each part can be linked together into a sentence that forms the basic thesis of Stevens’ book:

“A people without ‘Laity and Clergy,’ summoned and equipped by God for the life of the world.”

With Chapter 7, we now turn more directly to the mission of the Church.

Three Roles, One Body.

As we examine the Old Testament, we find three functions for which there was a divine anointing. Priest, Prophet, and King:

• Priests – Maintained the sanctuary and sacrificial system, guarded and taught the scriptures, acted as judge in matters of ritual uncleanness, and discerned God’s will.
• Prophets – Told forth the future and told forth God’s purposes in specific contexts so as to bring people to repentance and faith. They kept the people’s past with God before the people and ministered hope about the future. They were the faith barometers, as Stevens puts it.
• Kings – Anointed representatives of God to bring order, justice and peace to the nation.

Christ has taken all three of these roles unto himself through his life, death, and resurrection. He is the threefold officeholder (munus triplex) of priest, prophet, and king. He exercises these offices through his body, the Church of which he is the life-giving, animating head. Within the Roman Catholic tradition, there has been a tendency to see specific individuals called to a particular office, like priest. Stevens makes the case that the body of Christ collectively occupies these offices and not specific individuals. None of us alone are priests, prophets, or kings, yet we offer priestly, prophetic, and kingly service to the world.

We will briefly look at each office over the next three posts.

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