PREACH IT BROTHER

I sometimes wonder just what is being preached from the pulpit these days. Mostly feel good sermons if the remarks that appear on christian forums on the net are anything to go by. I can’t believe how many Christians there are out there who quote one verse of scripture and then use it to prove some unbiblical doctrine. The fact that they ignore 50 other verses which make it clear what the scripture teaches and it is not what they are claiming, doesn’t seem to register on their theology scale. To them one verse is all that is needed to prove anything.

An example is one verse that talks about a plurality of elders and overseers being appointed in all the churches. This guy said that it proved that each New Testament church had a single pastor in charge that was paid for the privilege.

I am very aware that some churches are blessed with a man who has the gift of teaching and fortunately the church acknowledges the fact, but these are few and far between as most of them only acknowledge a person called ‘a pastor’ and if they happen to be something other than that and have the luck to be acknowledged as such then one can expect teaching as opposed to feel good sermons.

In fact, most churches cause their own demise for the simple reason that although Jesus gave five ministries to the church that of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher, they only recognise the ministry of a pastor.

When was the last time you saw a church notice board that says

SENIOR MINISTER: Apostle Nathaniel Growalot

Or one that says

SENIOR MINISTER: Teacher Sydney Bookalot

Those with a pastoral ministry have one passion and that is caring for the sheep and mending broken hearts and that is how it should be. That being the case, how on earth are you going to expect that same man to have a vision and passion for church growth and building and the time and energy to make it happen. A sure recipe for burnout and depression.

Most pastors are frightened of such an idea because it means that as the church increase in size, their ability to shepherd will diminish, so they will most likely feel inadequate because they cannot do their job properly.

As a result they will in all probability oppose church growth. I have spoken to ministers fraternal where there is not one visionary amongst them and they have made it very clear that growth is the last thing on their agenda.

Every church needs shepherds, but every church needs the other four ministries as well. In particular every church today desperately needs men who have an anointing to teach. Without someone like this, the bible will just be a smorgasbord of vignettes that one dips into to get a few words of comfort or guidance, rather than being the revelation of God to the church as to how they establish his kingdom.