Priest or Pawn?
Recently, I’ve been quite discouraged reading social media posts. I’m not discouraged by those who do not claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but by those who do. I am saddened to see how opinions have been shared, stances have been taken, and dividing lines have been drawn. I have watched as brothers and sisters in Christ have separated from one another and have pushed those who don’t know Jesus away from his love, grace, and mercy, over opinions on COVID-19, politics, racism, and more. As I’ve read these posts, tweets, and blogs, I have asked myself several questions about how I am speaking through social media:
Does this reflect the character of Christ?
Does this draw people closer to God, or drive them further from him?
Does sharing my opinion bring people together in unity through the Spirit or divide them?
Do my words represent a true disciple of Christ, or do I sound just like the rest of the world?
Am I a priest or a pawn?
It’s this last question that I want to address with the hope that it will show us how it answers the other four questions. When I began to pray and contemplate these questions, I was drawn to 1 Pet. 2:1-5, 9-10. Before you keep reading this article, go and read that passage, meditate on it, and then come back.
When I meditated on this passage, I kept coming to the same question in my heart: “Am I a priest or pawn?” I began to ask myself if I had laid aside all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, and envy in my opinions and convictions. Did my posts demonstrate that I had tasted that the Lord is good and offered myself as a spiritual sacrifice, or was I more concerned with getting my point across and demanding that others agree with me. Was I seeking uniformity or unity? Did I proclaim the excellencies of Christ who called me out of darkness into his marvelous light, or was I leading others into a deeper darkness?
When I had spent some time approaching these questions, I then asked myself again, “Am I a priest or pawn?” What are a priest’s duties? To answer that, we have to go back to Leviticus (yep, you heard me). In Lev. 10:10-11, God makes the duties of the priest clear and simple: “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
As priests, we are called to do three things in order to fulfill our priestly duties. First, distinguish between the holy and the common. That means we are to help others see the difference between the things of God and the things of this world and to understand the difference between walking in step with the Spirit versus the flesh (Gal. 5:16-26). Second, distinguish between the unclean and the clean. That means we are to help others understand what separates us from God and what draws us closer to him. We are to proclaim that which brings restoration, not condemnation. Third, teach the Word of God, not only by what we say, but also by how we live. As Thomas á Kempis once wrote in Imitation of Christ, “On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.” Jean Pierre de Caussade said it this way:
Without knowing it, all are instruments of that Spirit to bring the message very freshly to the world. And if souls knew how to unite themselves to this purpose, their lives would be a succession of divine Scriptures, continuing till the end of time, not written with ink on paper, but on each human heart. This is what the book of life is about. [1]
So, if we are priests, our words and actions will help others come to know what is holy (of God), what is clean (draws us closer to God), and what his word teaches us (by how we speak and live it). However, if we are pawns, our words and actions will be common and will not sound any different from anyone else (of the world), will be unclean (drive people further from God), and will teach others our word over God’s (by sharing our opinions over God’s truth). If we are priests, then we are moved by the Spirit; if we are pawns, then we are moved by the world. If I’m truly a priest, then I have put on Christ and demonstrate his character (read Col. 3:12-17). Now you can see how answering question #5 answers the other four.
So, are you a priest or a pawn? The answer to that question lies not only in what you post, but in how you live. I pray we choose a priestly life that proclaims the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light!
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[1] Jean Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment, 1st Harper & Row pbk. ed. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982), 73-74.
