God's plan is for each disciple (believer) to be a witness of the Gospel. The early church grew as they followed this plan. Each believer shared the Gospel and was reproductive spiritually. Their homes became centers of the gospel. The church grew and multiplied as individual believers bore witness to the Gospel.
As the church grew, God called some people to serve full-time as pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles. Over a period of time, believers became part of one of two divisions in the church. They were either "clergy" or "laity."
The word "laity" comes from a Greek word which means "belonging to the chosen people of God." The basic meaning of the word is "all the people of God." The terms "layman" or "laity" came to be used for those who were not serving in special full-time functions in the church.
The term "clergy" developed to identify professional ministers in the church. Clergy refers to those who consider the ministry their profession and who usually are employed full-time by the church. They may or may not be ordained by a denomination.
Over a period of time in church history, a gradual separation developed between clergy and laity. Many laymen stopped reproducing spiritually. They began to leave the challenge of reaching the world to the full-time clergy.
No professional clergy can ever accomplish what the entire Church was commissioned to do. This is one of the reasons we have not yet reached the world with the Gospel. Believers have shifted their personal responsibility to the clergy. The Bible does teach division of labor in the Church, but every person is to be involved in the spread of the Gospel.
As the church at Jerusalem increased, it became necessary for a division of labor to meet all the needs in the church. The leaders gave themselves full-time to study of the Word and prayer. Laymen performed duties like ministering to the widows and other such tasks of serving. But although believers served in different offices in the church, they were all involved in the spread of the Gospel.
Stephen was one of the laymen chosen for serving tasks, yet he bore powerful witness to the Gospel according to Acts 6:8-11. Philip was another layman chosen for serving tasks. He shared the Gospel with the Samaritans in Acts 8:5-12.
When persecution came in Jerusalem and believers scattered to other cities they continued to be witnesses of the Gospel:
Acts 8:4 "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."
For true believers, there is no division between sacred and secular because Jesus is Lord of all. We all work for the same King and Kingdom!
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