David Fairchild (Kaleo Church in San Diego) has been thinking through some triperspectival issues on-line (see Frame’s Primer on Triperspectivalism). He has a great post on the 3 offices of prophet, priest and king. I’ve been thinking about this stuff for about a decade, when I’ve had free time. Right after seminary I wrote 2 volumes (not yet published), one each on prophet & priest. I never got to king since I started a new full-time job at Ligonier and my research opportunities dried up. I’ve been meaning to get back to it, but….
I knew through a friend and co-laborer that John Frame had done some work on it, but haven’t looked for it yet. This is a greatly overlooked model for ministry. I’ve been meaning to write on this, but haven’t had the time. Maybe now that I’m on sabbatical, or maybe not. But so few people think along these lines, and even fewer have written on them. Prophet, priest & king is a helpful, and biblical way of understanding Jesus’ work for us, as well as how he has gifted us to continue the work of gospel ministry.
One problem in ministry is when the leadership team is not balanced between prophet, priest and king. In general, the prophet will focus on doctrine and instruction, the priest will focus on worship and pastoral care, and the king will focus on advancing the kingdom. An imbalanced church will be weak in one or more areas. Prophet dominated churches are like seminaries. They will be cold and lack vision. Priest-dominated churches will be fuzzy doctrinally and not really going anywhere. King-dominated churches tend to become overly pragmatic. They downplay doctrine and people are seen as resources, not intrinsically valuable.
A Priest-King church will move forward and have great pastoral care, but… again little commitment to doctrine. The Prophet-King church will eat people up and spit them out. They will grow, but the turnover will be very high. A Prophet-Priest church will have great worship and teaching, but struggle with direction. This is why so many churches struggle
I am a Prophet-Priest (I really have to focus energy to plan and strategize) in orientation. So, I need to work with at least one strong King who sees me as a complement to their gifting rather than a threat. I’ve worked with someone with a strong kingly orientation, but his contrarian nature always seemed to keep us from getting on the same page and pulling in the same direction.
I can see these perspectives at work in our Presbytery right now. As we wrestle with an idea, some guys are struggling to see why others don’t agree with them. It is mostly a difference between prophets and priests. Some of us want to protect the church by guarding the doctrine of the church. Others place more focus on other issues in the discussion. So, this sheds light on larger organizations and the conflict that can occur as a result of these different perspectives.
HT: Drew Goodmanson
Hi
The tri-perspectival view of Jesus is very interesting. I would like to know more about how/why it is applied to a leadership context. Can you suggest resources for me to explore the subject.
Thanks
Follow the links in the post, particularly the download of the John Frame article that Drew Goodmanson has available. I’d also do a search on John Frame & Vern Poythress’ website.
Sadly, there are not many/any books dedicated to this idea. I’ve done some work and have 2 out of 3 done, but people don’t seem interested enough for publishers to publish works on this topic. You will find some mention in some systematic theologies. Hit the link to WTS books and pick up volume 1 of Francis Turretin’s Elentic Theology.