開始履行你的祭司職分Entering into Your Priesthood
[每日靈修] 1/28/2019, 駱鴻銘編譯
在十六世紀，馬丁路德闡明了「信徒皆祭司」的概念。與對這一學說普遍流行的誤解相反，路德並不是要把對個人救贖的超自然關注縮減為一種社會關注的核心或本質。
在回應現代主義-基要主義的爭論中，許多熱衷於保留聖經對個人救贖的關注的福音派人士，開始盡量減少、甚至拒絕新約聖經所提出的社會議程。從事社會關注和救助事工，往往會被認定為是自由派。對窮人、街友，飢餓者和被監禁者的服事都太過於自願地交給了國家或自由派教會。
這種回應是聖經所陌生的，也違反了聖經所提出的明確使命。雅各寫到關於純淨的敬虔的本質：「在神我們的父面前，那清潔沒有玷污的虔誠，就是看顧在患難中的孤兒寡婦，並且保守自己不沾染世俗。」（雅一27）。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
為了幫助那些身處困境的人，你現在正在做什麼呢？你是否照著雅各的勸告，保守自己不沾染世界的污染呢？
進一步研讀：
太五16 你們的光也當這樣照在人前，叫他們看見你們的好行為，便將榮耀歸給你們在天上的父。
雅一27 在神我們的父面前，那清潔沒有玷污的虔誠，就是看顧在患難中的孤兒寡婦，並且保守自己不沾染世俗。
彌六8 世人哪，耶和華已指示你何為善。他向你所要的是什麼呢？只要你行公義，好憐憫，存謙卑的心，與你的神同行。
Entering into Your Priesthood
In
the sixteenth century, Martin Luther formulated the concept of the priesthood
of all believers. Contrary to widespread misconceptions of this doctrine,
Luther did not mean to reduce the supernatural concern of personal redemption
to a core or essence of social concern.
In
reaction to the modernist-fundamentalist controversy, many evangelicals,
zealous to retain the biblical concern for personal redemption, began to
minimize or even reject the social agenda of the New Testament. Social concern
and relief ministry became identified with liberalism. Ministry to the poor,
the homeless, the hungry, and the imprisoned was often all-too-willingly
surrendered to the state or the liberal church.
This
reaction was utterly foreign to and in violation of the clear mandate of
Scripture. James wrote concerning the essence of pure religion: “Pure and
undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James
1:27, NKJV).
Coram
Deo
What
are you doing to help those around you who are in distress? Are you keeping
yourself clean from the world’s pollution, as James admonishes?
Passages
for Further Study
Matthew
5:16
James
1:27
Micah
6:8