Wacky Wednesday--We Shouldn’t Have Pastors/Priests

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~The word is only used once in the New Testament, and it carries no real explanation with it.
~Having designated leaders sets the whole church up for a fall when those leaders fall away or go astray. How much loss in credibility does Christianity suffer when someone like Ted Haggard or Jim Bakker falls from the stage?
~If you didn’t have pastors, you wouldn’t get cults. Cults are always dominated by particularly charismatic heretics.
~We shouldn’t be going to particular people to get our needs met, we should be going to our close network of people to get them met.
~Having pastors facilitates the clergy/laity distinction which carries with it all sorts of problems like lazy faith, spectator Christianity, and a spiritual caste system.
~Many reject the strict and rigid hierarchical system of the Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, etc. but having a pastor is just a vestigial form of this system.
~It costs money to have a dedicated pastor. Wouldn’t those funds be better used to serve the community?
~Anyone who is baptized can baptize. Anyone who is a Christian can serve communion. Why are pastors necessary?
~Why would you pay one person for his spiritual gifts when you don’t pay everyone for theirs? Is it fair for the pastor to take a salary and ask everyone else to simply volunteer?
~Paying people for spiritual gifts is simply what Simon the Sorcerer wanted, wasn’t it?
~Many people resent pastors, thinking they don’t really do anything. This would eliminate such resentment.