A critical change in attitude occurs when we come to a full recognition of the fact that the church is indeed the Body of Christ. When we recognize that this is not something that we should be but is something that we are, we will begin to listen to ourselves differently. Consider how this different perspective challenges the separation between clergy and laity. A frequent result of the attempt of seminaries to educate potential clergy about the nature of the church is that they are taught what a church ought to be. The result is that they are trained to be over against the church of which they are pastor.
When they consider their church, they compare it to what they have learned about the true nature of the church. Wanting to be a successful pastor, they conclude that if the church is to provide a saving experience for its members, be a faithful church, or be successful, the church ought to do this or ought to do that. The result is that pastors are trained to enter a church with the purpose of changing the church. They bring special insights as to how the church ought to be from outside the body. They bring ideas from their seminary, from books, from popular speakers or people they admire. “How can I possibly get the people to behave in this or that way so that the church will be a faithful church? I must be a failure because I do not perform baptism in the correct way, educate my people in a true Biblical understanding of the church, have a grasp of the new educational highway or understand the correct shift in paradigms.” We may preach grace but we are taught by our mentors and have bought in to the fact that we must save our poor benighted members by our works.
Imagine the different approach of a pastor and a congregation if they truly believed that the mystery of the Word of God was right there in their midst and that their task together was to learn how to listen. As has already been stated, this is not to suggest that everything a church does is correct or that the pastor should be passive in interpreting the Scripture to the congregation. Nor should a church conclude that it is the true church as opposed to those who act or believe differently. The people of God have often and continue to be disobedient. And certainly God has and continues to use a prophetic voice to call a people back to faithfulness.
In the pattern revealed by the Bible, the prophetic voice does not bring the challenging word from outside the community but rather uncovers it in its midst. Also it is important to remember that even in disobedience, God is not defeated and the Word of God is revealed for those who will receive it by faith.
