My friend and pastor Brooks just made an entry on his blog about Prophets, Priests and Kings. I began writing a response in the comments, but it started getting lengthy. I thought it might be worthwhile to instead post it here, with the intention that it will give some context to everything else I write.
If I’m not mistaken, it was Mars Hill Church in Seattle (and the related Acts 29 Church Planting Network) who first developed the idea that each person who is active in the Church fulfills the role of either a prophet, a priest, or a king in their serving. This comes from the theological concept that Jesus Christ holds the three offices of prophet, priest and king at once, and as Christians, we are like Christ in some capacity. The key to effective church planting is having a mix of all three types of people, and having each person aware of which office they are called to fulfill. A more detailed explanation can be found here.
After having conversations with Brooks this past year and reading the descriptions in that Mars Hill article, there is not the least doubt that I am a prophet. I have never cared much for being in charge of people like a king, and I don’t naturally gravitate toward the encouragement or helpfulness that characterizes a priest. It’s a lot of work for me. But I do have an internal drive to not settle for anything less than the best, whether it’s at a church or at my job, or just in my own life.
Ever since my years at Emmaus, I have had a reformer’s heart, a desire to “fix”, and a drive to destroy complacency. There are a lot of things in the world that are less than ideal, and the worst thing we can do is to ignore them or accept them. I disrupt and disturb with the sole intention of improvement. Some people see this as pessimism; I deny it. A pessimist sees the world negatively. I see the world realistically, and many things in it are broken, but I want them to be better because I care about them. I am a disappointed optimist.
Like spiritual gifts, I believe these three offices are extensions of our personalities. In most cases, God calls us to whichever one we are predisposed toward; a shy person will not often be given the gift of evangelism or teaching, or be called to the office of king. Likewise, approaching it from the other direction, I believe these offices have much wider application than just church. The “prophet” role is a part of who I am, so as I mentioned earlier, I do similar things at my job.
Each of these offices has its own temptations and weaknesses that we can fall into if we aren’t careful. Above all, we must not forget that the purpose of these offices is to reflect Christ: we are to be prophets like he was, priests like he is, and kings like he will be.
[I believe the Mars Hill was different than the church led by Mark Driscoll; however, ironically it is through a conversation with Pastor Steve Treichler of an Acts 29 Church in Minneapolis two weeks ago that I posted the article.]
I am a huge fan of viewing all personalities as created by God and it is the job of God by his Spirit to craft the personalities we have to be holy and perfect for his use in this world, for his glory.
Knowing you, Kevin, you have absolutely fallen into my “trap.” When I read the article I immediately thought of you as Prophet. I am so excited to see that you dove into the article as many things in it (I believe written by a man named John Stoll?) should be very helpful in self-analysis.
Let each of us examine our own weaknesses and strengths so that we can know how we work best and how we each need each other’s help! (my paraphrase of Galatians 6:3-4)