I have often thought there is no better illustration of what God does with us than a rock tumbler. God picks us out of the stream and changes our inward hearts, but we still look like ugly rocks. Then he puts us into a local church where we have to rub against other Christians. Fortunately, God adds his secret oil, the Holy Spirit, which over the long run turns us into beautiful stones. This idea was captured by Martin Luther in what we today call the priesthood of all believers.
The priesthood of all believers was one of the central teachings of the Reformation, but unfortunately, today, it is largely ignored. Luther wrote in his Babylonian Captivity of the Church that “all we who are Christians are priests,” therefore, no believer has greater access to God than anyone else.
While pastors and elders are selected to teach the Word of God (1 Tim. 3:1–7), they do not represent us before God. It is Jesus Christ who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf (Heb. 7:25) and now intercedes for us as our Great High Priest before the throne of God (Heb. 4:14-16).
The Apostle Peter writes that we are all to be part of “a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). He goes on to say we are like living stones being built into a spiritual house of which Christ is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:19-22).
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