Priests Among Us
One of the tenants of the Protestant Reformation is the “priesthood of all believers”. For me the word “priest” has often brought to mind images of old guys dressed in impractical robes. The result of this image is a loss of significance for what it means for every Jesus follower to be a priest. We need to put meat on the bones of what it means to be a priest and replace the images that get in the way. In order to do this, I would like to look at how doctors embody what it means to be a priest (in what follows, doctor can be substituted with any medical professional, PA, LPN, RN, CNA, Medical Administrator, etc.). Doctor and priest sound like very different professions. In order to change that perception, it’s useful to look at what Jesus said each time he healed people with leprosy “…go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matt 8:4 see also Luke 5:14, 17:14) Jesus gives this instruction because the priests had the role