Teach and Admonish

I have a confession to make.

I am a control freak.

And that is a side of me that I had to face up to, especially as I am writing this.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

When I first started serving in a worship ministry, the popular teaching was that we musicians were a specially called group, the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Levites and priests.

As I grew in my understanding (and just kept on reading the Bible) I just couldn’t hold to that idea anymore, that worship leaders and worship musicians are a separate group from the ‘average’ believer. I don’t believe that is an idea that can be justified from New Testament Scripture.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a Kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father…” Revelations 1:5-6 (NIV)

Notice from the two passages I quoted that there is no argument the New Testament believer is a priest? Depending on what translation you are using, people can dispute whether we are made kings. But it is clear that we are definitely made priests.

All of us. Even the ones who are not serving in a worship ministry or see themselves as having no music gifting at all.

And one very neglected duty of the priest is the duty to teach. If Christ has made you a priest, he has given you not only the duty to praise God but also to teach. Consider this passage on the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe:

“He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel. He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.” Deuteronomy 33:10 (NIV)

And what are the priests to teach?

“They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances.” Ezekiel 44:23-24 (NIV)

This is the tough part for me. To tell you all that you are called, no, you are commanded by God to teach his people. What if you start teaching the wrong things to God’s people? Wouldn’t I be at least partially responsible?

“I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” Romans 15:14 (NIV)

And THAT is the verse that slapped me in the face and told me to tell you what I am telling you now.

Now, I’d love it if I could teach you what to teach God’s people, and be your reference and guide if you have any questions, or be someone you check things out with before you share your teaching with others. But it’s better for me to share with you some principles that will help you teach the right things to God’s people.

1) “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult, whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you, rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still, teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning.” Proverbs 9:8-9 (NIV)

Remain open to being taught. Notice in the above passage mockers and the wicked are grouped together? And so are the wise and the righteous. Be open to what others share. Please, don’t swallow everything they say wholesale, because they may be wrong, but at least give them a fair hearing before you come to your conclusion. Remember Proverbs 18:13!

And thank them too, even if they are wrong. Oftentimes it’s very hard to step up to a sibling-in-Christ and share what you think they need to hear, especially if it’s something uncomfortable. So thank them for making the effort and assure them that you’ve heard what they had to say and you are giving it thought.

2) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16, NIV)

Notice the word “dwell”. Think about it. There are scientists who study cockroaches and centipedes, right? But they don’t let those creatures dwell with them in their own homes. Likewise, we can study the Bible seriously. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Word of Christ is dwelling within us.

So let the Word of Christ dwell within us as a welcome and respected guest. As you open your mouth and speak out the Scriptures, let this welcome guest minister to you, edify you and educate you.

And also keep up your worship lifestyle. Besides teaching God’s word we are also to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Now, there is room for us to disagree on the exact definition of those terms for worship, but it’s clear that we are to keep worshiping God, as that is part of letting the word of Christ dwell richly in us.

Side point: I personally spend lots of time in the book of Psalms also. I believe that it helps me understand the rest of the Bible better. In Ephesians 5 the psalms are linked with being filled with the Spirit. As I said, this is a personal thing.

3) Be ruled by peace.

In Colossians 3:15, we are commanded to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. We are called to peace, and in this context we’re talking about peace with our fellow believers. And this is the order of priorities that God has. First peace, then teaching.

And when we treasure peace, unity and continually release forgiveness to preserve that unity, we will find ourselves released to greater understanding of God’s word. And that will help you to teach the word of God to his people in an effective and appropriate way.


There is so much more to share on this topic, so I hope what I’ve shared so far will help you start off or encourage you further on this aspect of your priestly ministry. Be blessed, everyone!


Prayer time: Please pray for me that I will continue to be guided by the God in my decisions. Very heavy decisions to be made this season. The breakthroughs I’ve been praying for are finally arriving, and I need wisdom in reaping the harvest. Thanks, everyone!

Life-giving Kingship

We headed to the cars. We were supposed to worship God and pray at my friend’s new place, a house-blessing event, but received news that her friend’s old mother’s health had taken a turn for the worst. And her friend was about to leave for a mission trip in just a few days.

So after lunch we went to that friend’s place. Now ‘we’ were an interesting mix of people. A retired couple that used to be missionary pastors, a newly ordained Presbyterian pastor, my friend (an undergrad) and me. Along the way, we found out that the old lady had cancer for years, and in fact outlived the doctors’ expectations while refusing conventional treatment and taking massive amounts of fruits and vegetable juices every day.

But just when her daughter was about to go for an important missions trip in just a few days, her mother suddenly became sicker. So we became a kind of prayer Emergency Response team, going there to pray.

“We fall down, we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus” – Chris Tomlin, “We Fall Down”
For years I just couldn't click with that song. The lyrics seemed artificial and contrived somehow.

“And we cry holy, holy, holy is the Lamb” – Chris Tomlin, “We Fall Down”
When we got to the home and entered the room, we saw a tiny, frail old lady sitting in a chair, head down. She seemed so weak, barely able to lift up her head to look at the sudden burst of visitors that appeared out of nowhere, struggling to lift her hand to signal to her maid to show hospitality to these people who seemed to know her daughter.

She didn’t understand English, we were told, so the pastors in the group tried to speak to her in Cantonese. Because she was too weak to respond, we gave up trying to communicate, and the rest of the people started praying for her.

Now, because I hold quite strongly to Word of Faith teaching, I felt that the way the rest of the people there prayed lacked faith. It was as if they weren’t too sure that God wanted to heal the lady and wanted to pray in a way that would hedge their bets, whatever happened. (this was just my impression, ok?)

When it came to my turn to pray, I had a choice. I could pray in a way that would show off my theological position, make me feel superior to the other people in the room and alienate these brothers and sisters in Christ from me, or I could pray the same way they did (and leave me feeling like a hypocrite, because I wasn't praying the way I felt was right), or I could just take a song and worship God. I chose to worship God.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. (Revelations 1:5-6, NKJV)

And when we all ended the worship song, that old lady finally looked up. Looking into her eyes I saw so much life in there, I was bowled over. And I felt God telling me in my heart that He touched her body and gave her life because I sought to bypass our theological differences and unite our prayers around Jesus Christ.

I sat there, stunned by the transformation that took place right before my eyes. And at that moment I realized that what the Chris Tomlin song spoke about, laying our crowns before Jesus, could not make sense to people who did not know, in their heart of hearts, that they have been made kings and are therefore crowned with power and authority.

And this is what I’d like to share with you. The question is not how to we, as believers, get more power and authority. Its how are we going to use the power and authority we already have as kings and priests serving God the Father. (Rev 1:5-6)

In the situation described earlier all it took to unite these believers from very different background into a group that saw the hand of God at work was a simple worship song. Why was this unity so powerful and life-giving? Because it was an alliance of kings.

“When a king’s face brightens, it means life…” Proverbs 16:15 (NIV)

And that is why there are so many accounts of kings, those of Judah and Israel, in 1st and 2nd Kings and Chronicles. God included all these accounts in the word of God so that we, as kings-in-Christ, will learn from whatever they did, whether wrong or right.

So what does that mean to you now, king and priest of the Most High God? How does my reminder of your power and authority in Christ affect you? I’ve got a couple of suggestions, practical steps you can take to exercise the life-giving kingship powers God has given to you.

1) Pray with confidence and authority.

2) Worship God more, especially with people from a different denomination or church. (Tuesday Group is perfect for this, of course)

3) Seek alliances with other believers, whether in work, ministry or even in family life. Some believers I know are talking about home-schooling their kids together when they have kids. This is a powerful example of the alliance of kings that we can set up.

Prayer time: God has been speaking to me through his people about growing up even further as a son of God, joint-heir with Christ. Pray for me that I will be led to the Scripture Passages that I need to feed on at this time, as well as the believers whom God has chosen to mentor me in this area.

Thanks, everyone! Be blessed!