We Are Laity

(The People of God)

Opening Story – “Secret Service” Christians

A man was coming out of church one day. The pastor stood at the door to shake hands and gently pulled him aside.

“Brother,” he said, “you need to join the Army of the Lord.”

The man smiled, “Pastor, I’m already in the Lord’s army.”

“Then how come I only see you at Christmas and Easter?”

He whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.”

We sometimes call those folks “Cheasters”—Christmas-and-Easter attenders. It gets a laugh, but it also raises a serious question:

What kind of people are we?

What kind of church family do we really want to be?

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Scripture – Our True Identity

Hear these words from the apostle Peter:

> “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9–10, NIV)

Notice the “you are” statements. Peter isn’t speaking to a select few or only to church leaders. He’s talking to every believer.

You are:

Chosen — wanted by God.

Royal — joined to the King through Christ.

Holy — set apart for God’s purposes.

God’s treasured possession — valued and kept.

And there’s a purpose clause: so that you may declare His praises—the testimony of the One who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

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Ken’s Story – Ministry in the Marketplace

Ken worked in human resources during a tense strike. Factories were shut. Administrators pressed hard. Workers were angry. Ken’s job was on the line. Late one night, exhausted and ready to resign, he sat down with pen in hand.

The door opened. The janitor—Charles—stepped in and said quietly, “Sir, I felt impressed to pray with you.”

They prayed. Later Ken said, “Suddenly I found new strength. Suddenly I found new meaning in life.” Then he asked a question that still searches the heart:

“What kind of people are you?”

What a compliment—and what a challenge.

What kind of people are we?

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God’s Laity — A Word We Need to Recover

In 1 Peter 2, the word behind “people” is the Greek laos—from which we get our word laity. In the Bible, laity doesn’t mean “non-experts” or “non-clergy.” It simply means the people of God—all who belong to Christ.

But many of us inherited a confused definition. Ask a room of church members to define “layperson,” and you’ll often hear what a layperson is not: not a pastor, not ordained, not on church payroll, not formally trained in theology. That might be how dictionaries speak, but it’s not how Scripture speaks.

In Scripture, “the people of God” is not a lesser class inside the church; it’s the whole church contrasted with those outside the covenant community. The New Testament never pits “laity” against “clergy” as higher and lower. Instead, it presents a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19 language reborn in 1 Peter 2)—a people raised up to represent God to the world and bring the world to God.

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How We Got Confused (Briefly)

Historically, the English word layman came to us in the late Middle Ages, when the church embraced a rigid two-tier system—“holy” professionals and “ordinary” believers. Over time that hierarchy hardened into habit and vocabulary. The Reformation pushed back, insisting that every believer is called, gifted, and sent. But the old drift toward passivity still creeps in if we let it.

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Melt Down the Saints and Put Them in Circulation

When Oliver Cromwell’s men reported that the purest silver in England was found in the cathedral statues of the saints, Cromwell famously said:

“Then melt down the saints and put them into circulation.”

That’s precisely the call of 1 Peter 2:9. God never intended His people to be display pieces. He wants living saints in circulation—in homes and schools, in hospitals and shops, in boardrooms and breakrooms, in neighborhoods and nations.

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The Body of Christ — Many Gifts, One Mission

Scripture never treats “the people of God” as soloists. The laos is always a body—many parts, one organism, all connected to Christ the Head. A hand is not a body by itself; an eye isn’t the body by itself. Only together are we Christ’s body.

You’ve likely heard the story of the animal school. The curriculum included swimming, running, climbing, and flying.

The duck, excellent at swimming, lost his edge when he tried to major in climbing and running.

The rabbit, a superior runner, was forced to spend so much time learning to swim that he lost much of his speed.

The squirrel, an “A” in climbing, dropped to “C” after months trying to swim and fly like others.