Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
If everyone has the opportunity to share, then that is not a clergy-laity system.
But if everyone is lazy and looks to one person in the group to do most of the speaking, essentially they look up to that person as a "clergy". That's how it starts. It parallels the situation in Israel when they wanted a king to rule over them. They basically wanted to hand over their spiritual responsibilities to others, and those who wish to control others are more than happy to oblige under the guise of them being "unable" or doing a "poor job".
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Good point. I think it may be hard to determine the exact initial cause - did the people get lazy or did someone rise up to conquer the laity? But if the people are strong in the Lord, then they will fulfill their function and there won't be an opportunity to allow someone to rise over them . . .