Someone, responding to me online, commented that the class difference between clergy and laity is a good and divine system we have inherited, and speaking against it is blasphemy.
He agreed that there is a class difference between clergy and laity in our church. He also agreed in the message that such a difference will not exist in the new Heaven and New Earth. If we agree that these two statements are true, we also have to agree that such a class difference couldn’t have existed in the beginning when God created everything. God created the world good. But by the free will of mankind, evil also came into existence. Thus we have inherited not only the good that God created but also the evil created by man.
He agreed that there is a class difference between clergy and laity in our church. He also agreed in the message that such a difference will not exist in the new Heaven and New Earth. If we agree that these two statements are true, we also have to agree that such a class difference couldn’t have existed in the beginning when God created everything. God created the world good. But by the free will of mankind, evil also came into existence. Thus we have inherited not only the good that God created but also the evil created by man.
Thus along with a lot of good things, we have also inherited so many bad things from our ancestors. Say, for example, the gender inequality is something bad we have inherited.
“Inherited” does not mean it has come down from God or from Jesus or from the church fathers. It simply means the present generation got it from the past generation. Our job is to identify all that is destructive and rotten from what we have inherited, and get rid of them.
Our church has inherited, along with a lot of good things, a very bad thing, which is a division and all the problems and court cases associated with that. None of us created it, but we inherited this. This division is not a characteristic of the “One, holy, catholic, and apostolic” church. The oneness is what we have inherited from God. The division is the result of human evil, and that is what I call destructive and rotten.
No class difference is a part of God’s original creation, but a result of human evil. The church cannot remain “one and holy” if class differences exist.
In “The Theology of a Classless Society,” Metropolitan Geevarghese Mar Osthathios states that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is a classless society. Although they are different in their roles and functions, they are equal in status, and the love among them makes them act as one.
In my understanding, God’s will for mankind is also a classless society. If God is father, all people on earth have to live together as a family. The church is supposed to be a visible society of people representing the invisible God on earth. If the world has to see God in the church, it has to be a classless society.
Speaking against the compartmentalization of clergy and laity is not a blind rebellion against authority. Our rebellion is not against flesh and blood, it is against the powers of darkness—the destructive and rotten system that exists in our community and in our world. This is not a rebellion of laity against the clergy. The clergy and the laity together need to rebel against an evil we have inherited, the evil system that allows the formation and existence of wolves in shepherds’ clothing.
This is similar to the fight against gender inequality. When a woman raises her voice against inequality, it is often misunderstood as a rebellion against men. Where inequality exists, men are also slaves along with women. Once this is understood, both men and women will participate in this rebellion. Similarly, when a compartmentalization exists between clergy and laity, neither is free.
Rebellion is not un-Christian. Actually, that is what we are called for, as we read in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. (Eph. 6:10-18). To repeat what St. Paul says, our rebellion is not against people (flesh and blood) but against powers of darkness and wickedness. Jesus indeed was the archetype of a rebel.
Clergy are the ones who should take the initiative in fomenting rebellions against all that is unjust such as the inferior status perpetrated on our women. People like me can only raise our voice in online forums and in certain publications. Clergy are the ones who can do something about this out there in the real world. Fortunately we have a few clergy members who are willing to participate in the online discussions. Let us hope and pray that they will understand their obligation to defend truth and fairness as leaders of our churches.
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