Torch, Fall 1985

\( THANK GOD FOR THE LAYMEN by Dr. P aul Dixon L aypeople are not second-class citizens in the cause of Christ. Too long have our factory workers , housewives, educators , doctors, engineers , and business people sat in the pews of our fundamental churches and felt insignificant. Unfortunately , many of us as preachers have been the major culprits in creating this unscriptural attitude . We have inadvertently taught a dichotomy in the church . In our desire to have young people serving God as pastors and missionaries , we have treated as special those who sense this call and the rest as having missed out on God's best. A major emphasis at Cedarville College is that we are all in the ministry . All of us are under marching orders from heaven and are to obey the Great Commission. The important issue is: how does God want each of us to accomplish this? It may be as a pastor or as a plumber. God directs some to be missionaries and others to be attorneys. Yet, many of our college students tell me that they go home to their churches or their Christian schools and are treated with indifference when they relate that God is leading them into business. Some are even accused of being greedy or making the decision out of financial consideration . An attitude survey of the lay people of our churches would probably reveal that this is what we have communicated to our people . This defeats them and hinders them from being and doing God's best. The early church was primarily a lay movement. Every Christian went about his or her work sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in the process. We will never reach this world for Christ from a pulpit, but it is possible to do so from the pew. Tentmaking, a major emphasis at Cedarville College, is a commitment to this biblical principle. There is a need today to have lay people supporting and serving our churches not only at home but also on the foreign fields. Each summer we send approximately 100 college students on gospel teams around the world in our missionary internship service (MIS) program; they return with a great heart for missions. Some return to the field after graduation as missionaries or as laymen to assist the missionaries. Last year three of our graduates, Sara Beattie Dixon , Becky Jones, and Myron Youngman, taught English in universities in mainland China. Becky, Myron, and others are doing the same for the 1985-86 school year. This is a marvelous opportunity to serve God in a country closed to "full-time missionaries." Aquila and Priscilla who were tentmakers labored with Paul when he came to Corinth. Beyond these laypersons' hospitality to Paul, they were used to teach the Scriptures to others (Acts 18:3,26). May their God– given ability to expound "the way of God more perfectly" challenge all laypeople . We are all needed in the cause of Christ. 3