Preacher

 Isn’t it an amazing truth that we of different race, color and tongues are gathered together as one, not by chance or coincidence but by the perfect and divine will of God.

Romans 8:30 states
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he called and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified them he glorified.

Whether we were born a Christian by blood or born into Christianity through faith, we are here because He predestined us for salvation and called us. When we heard and obeyed that call, it was His will and divine plan for us to be justified before His sight. This is not a gathering of ordinary people. No, this is a gathering of those who are justified, declared of God, free men from guilt, acceptable to Him and counted righteous by Him. This is a gathering of the righteous. This is a gathering of His saints and so it is declared of us all who are saved in 1 Cor 1:2 as “saints by calling”. And it is from among these “saints by calling” that God seperates to Him, vessels sanctified and meet for the master’s use and prepared unto every good work. It is clear and without doubt that God will never use a vessel that is unclean and filthy to pour out His sweet wine into the world.

Rom 10:13-15 speaks about how all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and asks how anyone can call on Him whom they do not believe, how can one believe on Him whom they have not heard of and how can anyone hear without a preacher. And verse 15 begins with the most important part in relation to our topic of discussion – “And how can they preach unless they be sent?”. So for any preacher to preach, they have to be sent by God for that purpose. Thus a divine call is necessary and essential for one to preach.

But we may also argue that as Christians, isn’t it our great commission to preach the gospel as well. Well, that is absolutely right, but the difference between the great commission and the preachers call is in its nature of call. For e.g. we attend to a hit and run victim in an accident. Our assistance only ensures that the victim is alive and eased of pain till the ambulance arrives. This help was a first aid and general in its nature whereas a doctor attending to the victim is there to meet every specific need to ensure recuperation and recovery to good health. While both helped the victim in his time of need, one met out the general while the other the specific purpose of the call of the need and so it is with the great commission and a preachers call.

The confusion between the two has led many to assume that all are divinely called to preach, which brings me to point out a few qualifications of a preacher. Jesus taught the parable of servants who were given certain amount of money by their master and who upon returning required it of them. Of the three, two of them multiplied what was given to them and it pleased the master that they did not idle away what was given to them unlike the third servant. This brings be to the first point of qualification.

A preacher is qualified to be a preacher if he is…


Faithful to assigned ministry

Are we eloquent in speech, do we have a drive for social work or do we have the ability to influence others by our people person attitude? Do we think that an education in theology is our license to go and preach. No, these are just the gifts and tools for us to minister where God has placed us in. God wants to see how faithful and diligent we are towards the area of ministering that he has assigned us to, before he takes us to a higher ground or responsibility and “when” and “how” he does it is His own prerogative. Both the gifts and education are utterly useless apart from this divine call of the Lord. If we limit God to our boundaries i.e. to our gifts, abilities, education etc., we are limiting God in His divine work through us to those whom He seeks to call. One of the downside to limiting God to our boundaries is the rise of pride through dependence on our own abilities rather than the move of the Holy Spirit working through us. We must also remember that pride was also the reason when an exalted angel was cat out from the presence of God. So if we are placed in a stream, let us be faithful to the place where we have been ordained and in His own time He will guide us to wide rivers, large lakes and vast oceans. If we try to do it on our own, we are going to end up like a fish out of water. Let us also remember that Paul and Barnabas who while they were ministering was called by God to be separated for His work.


Faithful to God’s Word

The Bible says that Jesus ordained seventy disciples and sent them to spread the good news. And like all the other disciples Judas Iscariot one day decided to preach the good news as well. The only difference was that , he preached the good news to the Pharisees for thirty pieces of silver. Unfortunately for him, his good news resulted in his cursed death. How many times have we seen this happening? When a preacher waters down the Word of God at the prospect of a monetary gain or simply to please the Pharisees of this age, for a position or approval by them.

Today pulpits are turning out to be more and more like a well organized business with huge financial returns not to mention the power of human wealth at ones disposal. Give people what they want to hear and not what God wants them to hear has turned out to be the motto of most preachers today. Jesus and His salvation are being traded for wealth and fame. A preacher does not qualify to be one if his ulterior motives are to gain recognition, position or wealth through the preaching of the Word. When these great preachers will tell Jesus that they have done great things and wonders in His name, His response is going to be the grave and fearful words “I don’t know you” How frightening and terrible is that? A preacher is a person who will not compromise God’s Word even to the point of death for anything or anyone. He will not compromise the word not out of fear but out of love to do the will of the father.


Not a preacher of doctrines that are stumbling blocks

There are so many examples of stumbling blocks mentioned in the Bible but one that I truly find interesting is the story of Balaam and his donkey. Although well aware of God’s disapproval and fully knowing that God would be displeased with him, he saddled his donkey and set out to curse Israel on Balak’s request. Failing in his task, he taught Balak how to entice the Israelites to sin through food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Balaam preached stumbling blocks that led to the fall of Israel. Today many such Balaams are preaching stumbling blocks to the saved and unsaved and leading them astray from the truth. Doctrines of self help & prosperity which directs the focus from God to oneself and materialism are deceiving many. Strobe lights, rock music, smoke screens and hip hop dances have entered into the church to cater to the youth, to call them to God. One may argue that these are drawing in people and we are able to reach out to the youth in their elements. These pop culture spin off ministries never come close to the greater impact of a steady diet of rich Biblical teaching not matter how boring it may look like to the youth. Those things may draw a crowd today but they don’t seem to keep the crowd together or effective twenty years down the road. The church is not built upon fun, fame or feelings but the faith once for all delivered to the saints. In a world rampant with Balaams, there is a dire necessity for speaking donkeys so that at least a few may be saved from the sword of death.


Not a preacher of denominationalism

Paul himself spoke of this in Acts 20:38-30, how these wolves will enter among us to draw away disciples after them. Didn’t he say in 1 Cor 1:10 that all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among us? Didn’t the apostle plead with us in the name of our Lord on this matter and what has happened to the church or churches today?

Denominationalism which means different churches teaching different doctrines is basically the product of preachers who are seeking a personal following. A preacher is not one who promotes or creates his own sect or denomination but directs the unsaved to God. Today many of the Churches we see are not God's church, they are the churches of the Pastors or elders. Teachings varying from one to the other, some with great emphasis given to the outward person than the inside man while others have no modesty or piousness in the outside person while proclaiming great faith and works of faith and then there are those who left their former traditions of their fathers and churches before them and have created new ones of their own for others to follow. Pharisees and Saducees were present during the times of Jesus as well but all that Jesus had to say regarding their ways are quoted in Matt 23:23-33.


Jesus although he was the first preacher of the new dispensation of the New Covenant of grace, we can readily see that He walked in perfect unity with the straight pathway of the Old Testament Prophets. Those who try to distinguish between the grace preachers of today and the message, life and ways of those old prophets are sadly mistaken. Those who contradict those old time preachers have invented a new type of preaching and ministry which is unacceptable to God. We are still in the New Testament dispensation of grace which means the preachers and prophets of the early church are still the primary example and pattern of God called preachers in the church of our day. Any departure from this is apostasy.

I have always seen the pulpit with respect and reverence and I hope that all who are called to preach would come to this place with the same fear and reverence the High Priest had when he entered the Holy of Holies. The choice is ours, we can either choose to be that bush in the desert that turned to be a wonder and through which was spoken the message of deliverance to those in bondage or we can be like any other bush caught with a strange fire and to ultimately burn down to ash and dust.