Preaching the Word

Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:2,3

As Christians we are all charged with spreading the Word of God, in many ways, whether by example or word, but some have a greater degree of responsibility. Timothy was a young leader in the early church, and the Apostle Paul was his mentor and example. Paul wanted to make sure Timothy was in no doubt about his responsibility as a pastor and leader. His first and prime goal was to ‘Preach the Word’. Everything else took a lesser place, and he was to do this whether he felt like doing it or not. He was called by God, as is the case today. Pastors and ministers do not follow a job or a career, but are called to a mission. That mission is to preach, so that others will hear, and be converted to Christ.

Church attendances are falling across the country, and across all denominations. I accept that belief in God is falling, and we are becoming a nation of atheists and agnostics, but is there another reason for God believing people deserting our places of worship? Over recent years some churches and leaders have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Abuses of position involving parishioners do nothing to foster trust in God, church, or ministers and priests. I think the root may go deeper, and be closer to home.

What do we do when numbers fall? What or who suffers? If numbers decline, there is less money to do important things like keep the grounds neat, maintain the interior and all the various rooms, and perhaps most importantly, pay the minister or pastor. There is one reaction. We could become like the people we want to attract. That way, we can hopefully  improve income and at the same time minister to more people. There is one major problem with that approach. It doesn’t work, and it never has. Don’t you think Paul and Timothy came across this problem in their ministries? I’m sure they did, but look again at Paul’s advice to his young charge.

A heavy responsibility rests on our various church ministers and pastors. A responsibility like no other. So when numbers fall, it is a sure sign that the Gospel is no longer in first place and being preached faithfully from the lectern and pulpit. The aim of the church after all is to preach the Gospel, and by doing so, producing a change in the hearts and minds of men and women. Then and only then are homes changed, society improved, and communities made safer. All achieved by the faithful preaching of the Word, undiluted and true. While we dither around making our churches more like the world, we haemorrhage people. It has never been more important that we preach the full Gospel of the Word of God from the pulpit, and see growth.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 10:14

(NB.. This post was written on 22 July 2016, awaiting publication)