Who should preach?

WHO SHOULD PREACH?

Sermon preparation is an activity which finds its final expression in the act of preaching. In this activity God uses people, through whom He may reach others with His Word. When we think of people whom God used in the Old Testament various names come to mind. Think of Moses, a man from a difficult background, a fugitive from Egyptian justice, above all, a man called by God (Exodus 3:1 ff.). God, in His sovereignty, has chosen to work through feeble humanity. God in the Old Testament repeatedly does mighty works by using a man or a woman as the instrument through which He achieves His purpose. God uses His creation to bless His creation. This principle is true also of preaching. Preaching requires someone, dedicated to its stated purpose, through whom that purpose may be achieved. The preacher is the instrument through whom the preaching process finds expression. This has certain implications for the preacher.

The preacher must be called to preach
Preaching requires someone with a strong sense of the call from God to preach (Isaiah 6:8). How can anyone know whether or not God is calling him to a ministry of preaching. Note the following:

The preacher must pursue holiness
A person who wants to be in leadership in a church must be filled with the Spirit of God (Acts 6:3). The presence of the single, but nine-faceted, fruit of the Spirit must be evident in his life (Galatians 5:22-23), and his life should manifest of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). The congregation is entitled to look for a high degree of spirituality in those who seek to lead it. Apart from congregational expectations, the plain teaching of the Bible is, that believers must be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The command to be filled is of such a nature that it places the responsibility on the believer consistently to yield in faith to the ongoing control of God the Holy Spirit. Such fullness should be reflected in the believer’s lifestyle (Ephesians 5:19 ff.). The evidence of the indwelling of the Spirit of God in the life of the preacher will manifest in at least the following ways.

n	A sense of call starts with an awareness of an inward compulsion, a pressure being brought to bear upon one’s spirit, directing the mind to the whole question of ministry and preaching. This involves the feeling that we can do nothing else. The call to ministry has become an ever growing obsession. We are certain of the call when we are genuinely unable to resist it. Paul experienced a strong sense of constraint which totally convicted him that he had been called to be a preacher of the Word of God (1 Corinthians 9:16).
n	This compulsion to ministry should be confirmed through the opinion and influence of other believers. This is an important element in discerning the call of God. We should listen to the combined wisdom of the Godly men and women who are part of the fellowship where we worship, and who know us well. Sometimes people feel called to a particular form of Christian service when they are actually not. It is the responsibility of the church to see this, and to advise the misguided person. The body of believers played a major role in Timothy’s entry into the congregational ministry (1 Timothy 4:14).
n	There needs to be a sense of concern for a world which is lost and going to hell, unless it hears the good news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:14). Moreover, this concern should have already propelled us into some form of ministry in our local church. God seldom calls totally inactive Christians into active ministry. The ultimate step into preparation for ministry should be a new phase in a life already dedicated to ministry. Only if we have already been active in our local church is that church able to confirm our call. Where this is not the case, it is quite conceivable that we are appointing ourselves to preparation for ministry for any number of reasons. Sometimes men and women who have not been able to cope with “secular” life, have decided to enter some form of Christian ministry. In such cases the Christian ministry has seemed to be a way out of an intolerable situation. Needless to say, this defective motivation always leads to disaster, both for the misguided individual and, if he gets so far, for the church or mission to which he goes.
n	There must be a realistic awareness of personal unworthiness and inadequacy (Isaiah 6:5), linked to a vital experience of salvation in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:13). We should have no illusions about our own sinfulness. Nor should we have any doubts about the ability of Christ to save us (1 Timothy 1:15) and the fact that He has saved us (Acts 2:21).

n	He will be a man of prayer - giving himself to disciplined, consistent prayer. He will understand that prayer is the umbilical cord which links him to his Lord and Saviour. He will have learnt that the cultivation of a meaningful prayer life is not an optional extra, but a command from Jesus (Matthew 6:5-6).
n	He will be a man of the Word - manifesting an obvious love for the Bible as the Word of God (Acts 6:4). Most important is the need for the preacher to be seen to be under the Word himself. It must be clear to the congregation, sitting under his ministry, that their preacher is in submission to the dictates of the Word of God. It is vital in Christian ministry that those who are involved in ministry practise what they preach. A preacher who preaches one thing, but does another, has no credibility. Before a preacher addresses others with the Word of God, he must himself be addressed by the Word of God. He must manifest an obvious determination to live life according to the principles taught in the Word of God, producing in him a commitment to Godliness and Christ-likeness.
n	He will be a man of doctrine - knowing what he believes, and why he believes it (2 Timothy 2:15). This knowledge should not just be intellectual assent to biblical doctrine. The reality of the teaching of God’s Word should reflect in active and practical lifestyle. Jesus taught that belief determines behaviour (Mark 7:21). A man who does not really know what he believes and why he believes it is a man carried about with every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). Such a man never experiences personal victory in Jesus Christ, and is highly unlikely to be a man called of God to Christian ministry.
n	He will be a man of upright character - a Godly man with wisdom, patience, and gentleness (2 Timothy 2:24).
n	He will be a man with an understanding of people, and of human nature. The preacher who knows God, will know himself, and will consequently have a realistic understanding of human nature.
n	He will be a man with certain abilities. Although ministry must be exercised in total dependence upon God the Holy Spirit, the preacher does need natural ability and intelligence. This includes the ability to communicate clearly. This raises the matter of the role of God the Holy Spirit in the preparation of the message to be preached. Would-be preachers are often confused by a seeming overemphasis on technique in the sermon preparation process. However, the most important elements of that process are not technical, but spiritual, theological, and personal. In preparation, as in actual preaching, the preacher must be totally dependant upon the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit. It is God the Holy Spirit who leads the preacher into all truth (John 16:13), and who anoints him with power in preaching (Acts 1:8). It is the same Holy Spirit who does the work of convicting in the life of the hearer (John 16:8). In the entire process of sermon preparation there must be total dependence upon God the Holy Spirit. But this does not mean that the preacher does not have a personal responsibility in this matter. One of the foremost examples in the New Testament of a man who lived in dependence upon the Spirit of God, and demonstrated that dependence in his life-style and ministry was Paul, the Apostle. But Paul instructed Timothy to equip himself in such a way that he could handle the Word of God accurately (2 Timothy 2:15). It is a mistake to argue that developing preaching skills, and dependence upon God the Holy Spirit in preaching, are in opposition to one another, and mutually exclusive. The biblical attitude is for the preacher to say that he develops his skills in dependence upon God the Holy Spirit. God has given him certain skills, he acknowledges that they are from God, and now he trusts God to enable him to develop them to His glory.