The writings of men...part 7, preachers

I recently heard that Paul Washer has compromised his allegiance to Christ by joining forces with people that hold to less than Biblical standards. I will admit that I don't know all the details involved and have no idea who the people are that he has aligned himself with.

I hesitate to even name Paul Washer by name here because naming names simply isn't my way. However, I recently had a reader question me on why I don't name the people I am referring to. I am naming Paul Washer only because there may be someone out there that wishes to know exactly who I speak of.

For me it doesn't really matter who the person is because I am less inclined to take up issues with him and what he is doing, although it is good to know to be wary of him, and more inclined to use him as an example of a much bigger issue.

Up until about 13 years ago I could be found in 'church' on a pretty regular basis. I was there because that is what 'Christians' do. Somehow you are less than 'Christian' if you don't go to 'church'. At least that was the understanding I gained growing up. It was a game that was played as part of being a 'Christian' and like so many others I became skilled at playing.

At least I mostly became skilled at it. I do recall being reprimanded once by those in charge at the 'church' I attended because I dared to stay home and play in the pool with my kids rather than go to 'church'. I was informed that 'church' was important and asked what kind of example I was setting for my kids. I also recall telling them I was setting the example that sometimes spending time with family is more important than going to 'church'.

So maybe I never played the game quite the right way but I still played it.

Through a series of events the Lord moved me out of 'church' and He never let me get back into it. Now I feel sorry for relatives that I know still play the game. I watch them 'get dressed up for Jesus' and 'go to God's house'. I hear them speak of 'church' as holy ground and other brainwashing statements that are created for the sole purpose of keeping the 'church' in business.

For a very brief time in my early days of regeneration I listened to 'reformed' preachers. My soul was thirsty for these new truths I was learning and my mind was happily absorbing lessons in all manner of Scriptural things. Online sermons were one of many ways I was learning more and more of the Lord and His word in those days.

Thankfully, the Lord did not leave me learning under those 'preachers' for very long. He let me listen to them for a brief season, whetting my appetite with things they said, soaking me in Scripture, and moving me away from men and deeper into Scripture.

I had not heard of the latest turn of events with Paul Washer as I tend not to follow any big name person in Christianity. Having once listened to some of Paul Washers sermons I would have said he stood for Truth.

Still, this latest turn, while sad, is not the least surprising. I cannot say I am a fan of 'church' in any form. Scripture when studied at it's roots does not bear out the understanding of 'church' as we have been brainwashed into thinking it means.

Even people that have never stepped foot in a 'church' know what one is and they often have a basic understanding of how the game is played.

I have never been to a baseball game. I have only played it to the point I was made to do so in P.E. class during my school years. I have never watched a baseball game on TV. I don't collect baseball cards, read baseball books, or talk of baseball with anyone that enjoys the sport. I do none of those things yet I still have a very basic understanding of how the game is played. I know what a pitcher does, what an umpire is, and where the catcher stands. I know what bases are, what a baseball and bat look like.

I may not play baseball, I have no interest in baseball, but in America I cannot escape absorbing baseball as if breathing it in. It is so much a part of our society that one learns about the game simply by living.

I have even been close to a major league baseball stadium when a game was about to begin. I have seen the crowds lining the streets and pouring into the event venue. There was no mistaking what they were there for. Baseball hats and team shirts adorned the festivity-goers.

'Church' is no less an event, no less a festive occasion. In fact people do much the same thing for 'church' that they do for a baseball game or a rock concert. They put on the right clothes...getting dressed in costume for their chosen event. They wear the right shoes, comb their hair befitting of their chosen entertainment, and they file into the venue where the festivities are being held.

At a concert they are entertained by the singer and band they crowded in to see. At a baseball game they are entertained by the sports team. And at 'church' they are entertained by the 'preacher' and the choir or band.

There are often fog machines and music at all three circus rings...in fact 'church' is just as much of a circus as anything else, complete with tamed lions and dancing bears. Or should I have said wolves dressing up and appearing to be what they are not.

This latest twist in the 'reformed' camp, this 'falling away' of a 'preacher' that was supposedly entrusted with the Lord's Truth and was appearing to share it for the edification of the elect and the glory of the Lord is just another example of a dancing chicken parading around pretending to be something he was not.

I am not saying the man is not regenerate. I'm not hazarding a guess at the eternal condition of his soul. I'm not even all that concerned about 'outing' him for what he is doing now. He is no better or worse than any other 'preacher' out there.

Every preacher that is making his living off the Gospel has an allegiance to their own gain first and foremost. If they know the Truth and preach it to others, seeming to be a called out believer, guiding the Lord's elect, they are still peddling Christ for their own gain.

All preachers making their money off of preaching are failing to follow Scripture. The apostle Paul said:

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20;31-35

How many preachers today, no matter what gospel they preach, follow that very simple example of what teachers of the gospel should be and do?

How many of them do we see holding jobs that do not pertain to Scripture, in other words, how many of them have jobs beyond their preaching? And how many of them live out 'it's more blessed to give than receive'?

Paul Washer is just one in a line of many, doing what it takes to sell their product and their product is Christ. When their commodity becomes unsalable or their profits decline they scramble to boost sales just as the retail market does.

There is no Black Friday sale on Christ so they must find another way to keep the profits coming in. Some resort to seminaries, others to unfruitful alliances. In the end they all strive to keep their shameful gain rolling in.

Paul Washers true colors will be revealed in the Lord's time. One would think that those that teach such deep Truths would understand all of Scripture and they would not venture away from Christ when times get rough or when there is more money to be made elsewhere. That does not seem to be the case in most of these celebrity preachers or even the 'preacher' on the next corner.

'Church' is a racket, a scam, a business just as much as the circus ring is or the baseball field. It is a business that makes it's money under the guise of religion and even those in the 'reformed' camp must perpetuate their scheme lest they be found out to be false in their claim to being a 'preacher'.

We are led by everyone supporting the 'church' idea of 'Christianity' to believe that 'preachers' are called into their profession and that they are 'called' to 'lead people to Christ' in one form or another. It does not matter if they are Roman Catholic or Reformed. It does not matter if they have a huge 'church' building or a chair under a tree in the local park. If they call themselves a 'preacher' and they are leading a 'church' than they are impostors to what they claim to be.

Scripture gives guidelines for what an elder, or mature believer allowed to lead others can be.

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,[f] as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Titus 1:5-9 esv

How many 'preachers' today can lay claim to that description? How many meet every one of those qualifications? 

I don't mind saying I have never met a single one that qualified as elder according to those verses.

The term 'preacher' is a very interesting term. Our modern definition for 'preacher' is: 'a person who preaches, especially a minister of religion'. I, personally, do not find that definition all that helpful. It's a lot like seeing the definition for cook as 'a person that cooks, especially someone that cooks food'. 

Okay. So a cook is someone that cooks but we must better understand what cooking is to be able to apply cooking to the word cook and understand what it means. How is it helpful to know that a cook cooks unless we understand what cooking entails? Likewise, how is it helpful to know that a preacher preaches unless we can better understand what exactly preaching is. 

Our modern minds have an image in them of preachers and preaching. We have been taught through osmosis that preachers are people, usually men, that stand before crowds of people in 'church' buildings, or occasionally in other places, and 'preach'. We absorb the information that their preaching generally has some connection to the Bible although that can't always be well applied. 

This is not a good enough definition for me. The more I am accidentally studying on the writings of men, which is beginning to move from the writings of men to the teachings of men, the more I find I need a deeper understanding of some things. 

My American mind has been conditioned to accept certain things in certain ways. 'Church' is one of those things. I grew up going to 'church'. I see 'churches' on just about every street corner in most cities. I find them in the country. I fend off invitations to 'church' social functions on an all too often basis. I get 'church' postcards in my mailbox. 

'Church' is a word that I, as an American, have a complete understanding of what it is. I know from experience how the 'church' functions. The trouble was when I got into Scripture and started seeing the world through Scripture rather than seeing Scripture through worldly eyes my understanding of 'church' was shaken. 

No longer was I able to read the word 'church' in Scripture and make the quick connection that it was the building on the corner or even the people attending services in that building. My mind was being led by Scripture and that leading made me question what 'church' truly meant. 

An in depth study of the word 'church' gave me a new understanding for just what 'church' is and what it isn't. Turns out 'church' is an imposter. It's a word that was placed into Scripture when the original version of the Geneva Bible was written back in the 1500's. Before then 'church' was not in the Bible at all. The word that was there was ekklessia and that word means something totally different than we are taught 'church' means. Ekklessia means the called out ones, or those belonging to Christ. In other words it means...the chosen ones.

Now as I go deeper and deeper into this study on the writings (or teachings) of men I am questioning what a 'preacher' truly is. 

My modern American mind has been basically brainwashed into understanding that 'preacher' is a man (or in unbiblical situations, a woman) that leads a group of religious people. But is that what a 'preacher' was in Scriptural times?

Ahh...here I go again. Digging deeper. Studying more.

A general internet search for 'preacher' gets numerous, conflicting, numbers on how many verses there are in the Bible about 'preachers'. I'm going to pull the biggest number and say there's 48 verses about 'preachers' but there were a lot of results that say 12 verses, or even less. 

Some of the verses were more about preaching than they were about preachers so I'm not too sure how those verses factor in since there truly is a huge difference in preaching and a preacher since one can preach without actually being a preacher. I have been accused of preaching when I speak of Scripture. My husband says anyone that speaks of Scripture or Christ is preaching.

Let me back up just a bit before I get into verses on preaching and preachers. I would like a better, Biblical definition of what a preacher is in Scripture. 

I found this on the av1611 site:

preach

PREACH, v.i. L. proeco, a crier; precor.

1. To pronounce a public discourse on a religious subject, or from a subject, or from a text of Scripture. The word is usually applied to such discourses as are formed from a text of Scripture. This is the modern sense of preach.

2. To discourse on the gospel way of salvation and exhort to repentance; to discourse on evangelical truths and exhort to a belief of them and acceptance of the terms of salvation. This was the extemporaneous manner of preaching pursued by Christ and his apostles. Matt.4. 10. Acts 10. 14.

https://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/preach.html

That same site also gives these definitions:

. To inculcate in public discourses.

I have preached righteousness in the great congregations. Ps.40.

He oft to them preach'd

Conversion and repentance.

To preach Christ or Christ crucified, to announce Christ as the only Savior, and his atonement as the only ground of acceptance with God. 1 Cor.1.

Those definitions are a bit better than the dictionary definition but they still kind of leave me with a need for a deeper understanding of what Scripture defines as a preacher. I'm also left wondering if preacher was even the right word for the original Scriptures. 

I can't help questioning the use of the word preacher in the Bible in the English translations. We have seen that 'church' was misused to represent and support the organized 'church' system when Scripture was translated into English. Could 'preach' or 'preacher' have been misused the same way? Or at the very least is it possible that 'preach', 'preacher', and 'preaching' meant something different in Biblical times than it does today? Our society conditions us to see things in certain ways that may not always be the way it was.

The best example I have for this is a recent conversation I had with a young relative. This girl was reading a book that was written in the 1950's. It was a fictional story and she was enjoying it greatly. She came to me out of the blue and told me she didn't understand something she had read. She then showed me her book and the two words that had stumped her so greatly. 

The words that caused the problem...'gay party'. 

I understood immediately what the problem was. Our society has taken a word that once meant high enjoyment, happiness, joy and turned it into something more sinister. Kids of today do not realize or understand that gay once simply meant extreme happiness. It now has a different definition and this poor girl was conjuring up who knows what kind of thoughts in her mind about the words 'gay party'. 

An explanation of what the word once meant and a reminder that this book was written many, many years ago when times were very different was all it took to show the girl she was reading about nothing more than a very enjoyable party.

Could it be that 'preacher' is the exact same way for us today? Could it be that a 'preacher' in times past meant something totally different than we understand them to be today?

And so here I find myself, sitting on my porch, laptop at hand, studying deeply a word that I should not need to question. But like so many other things people have jumbled up the word 'preacher' until the true understanding of what a preacher is can no longer be fathomed. We think 'preacher' and our minds jump to the man in the pulpit. 

But is that what Scripture meant it to be?

'Church' is an unbiblical word that was injected into Scripture to support the organized religion of old times and it is still used today to perpetuate what may well be one of the worst twisting of written Scripture ever used. 

Thanks to the word 'church' being twisted as it is we have had generations of people taught a religious system as opposed to seeing all of 'christianity' through the 'eyes' of Christ, sin, grace, mercy, and God granted salvation. 

The word 'church' in Scripture allows all religious institutions to perpetuate their systems which includes the 'preacher' and the need to 'preach'. 

But...

Is preaching what we have been conditioned to understand it to be? Is a 'preacher' really  a man in a pulpit telling us all about Scripture? Or is there more to it? 

Paul said, 'for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher," 2 Timothy 2:11

I looked up the greek word for preacher. That word is, kerusso (key-roos-so) and it means 

kērýssō – properly, to herald (proclaim); to preach (announce) a message publicly and with conviction (persuasion).

2784 /kērýssō ("to herald") refers to preaching the Gospel as the authoritative (binding) word of God, bringing eternal accountability to all who hear it.

[2784 (kērýssō) is "preaching by a herald sent from God" (BAGD, "declaration," TDNT, 3:703). To "gospelize" (2097 /euaggelízō) stresses the victory of God's Gospel-message in the totality of His "good news."]

http://biblehub.com/greek/2784.htm

I'm going to step out on a limb a bit here. I can't find a definitive statement for what is going through my mind so I'm going to say it rather than keep searching for proof that what I'm thinking is accurate.

If I'm wrong, please, PLEASE, feel free to leave a comment and correct me.

So here's my thoughts...

Paul said he was a preacher but we only have the English translation to go by here. Even comparing it to the Greek leaves a bit of leeway for the use of 'preacher' as we have been conditioned to see it. So let me just go ahead and jump off this cliff and blurt out my thoughts.

Paul was not an average ordinary man. We see in Acts that a very wicked man named Saul is doing his best to wipe out the Lord's people. And the Lord knocked him off his horse, literally, blinded him, and basically forced him to become His appointed man to give the Gospel. 

Acts 9:15 says this of Paul, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.'

So Paul was appointed straight from the hand of God to 'carry my name'. He was divinely appointed to his task of giving the Gospel. 

John the Baptist was baptizing people in water and told them, 'I baptize with water but there is one coming whose sandals I am not fit to untie'. He gave the Gospel of the Lord by proclaiming what he was appointed to give.

Preachers today say they are 'called' into preaching. They claim to have some sort of special appointing, if not saying so outrightly, then implying it by claiming to be 'called' as preachers. The very use of a 'preacher' today, no matter what doctrine they hold to, is to imply some sort of god like status, a special place, something unatainable by the average Joe or Josephine because they hold something...well, special. 

Scripture does not bear this up.

Whether or not 'preacher' was the word actually used in the original translations of the Scriptures, the word has been perverted today.

'Church' is a system of religion that is perpetuated in all it's forms. Just as the local department store has certain ways they do things to keep their system of retail going, 'church' has certain ways of doing things that perpetuate that 'system'. 

The 'church' cannot admit that a 'preacher' is not what they have led everyone to believe he is. They cannot admit that everyone that is mature in the faith should be preaching the gospel.

They cannot tell you that their 'preacher' was not divinely 'called' to be a preacher in the same way Paul and the others in Scripture were. They will not tell you that because to tell you such a thing, no matter what their doctrine is, would be to tell you that they are in defiance of Scripture.

Let's see if I can clarify my thoughts a bit better. 

The prophets and apostles were directly appointed by God. Those under them, elders, teachers, even preachers, were appointed to their tasks by men that had divine revelation and were appointed to the spreading of the Gospel by God or Christ Himself. 

Everyone is called to whatever they do in life. This is a general calling on ones life and heart. We must 'live the life we are appointed' but we are not divinely told to go and do something. It is a more subtle calling as the Lord controls our hearts and desires. 

For a preacher to say they are 'called' to preach they are both telling the truth and lying. They are within the bounds of Scripture and laughing in the face of the Lord at the same time.

They are 'called' in the same way a woman that longs to be a mother is called to motherhood. They are called in the way a little boy longs to be a man when he grows up. 

They are not divinely appointed through God's own hand to being a preacher. 

So looking at the Greek translation for preacher I get this as a better definition of what a preacher is:

A messenger appointed by God to give the Gospel, that is to preach Christ and give the call to repentance. 

That was more in keeping of what it meant to be a preacher in Scripture. 

Looking at Scripture I see that the apostles and those appointed with the task of overseeing the Gospel in the first century were going into cities, giving the Gospel to groups of people that had believers, unbelievers, and would-be believers in the midst of crowds. 

They could not possibly have known the hearts of every person hearing them speak or hearing the letters they wrote. They were also faced with new believers.

We must keep in mind that not only were these newly regenerated people but these newly converted people had no example for what a chosen one of God was except for the apostles they saw before them. 

These new converts most likely had to wonder when they would become like the apostles. 'When can I heal the sick', 'when can I raise the dead', 'when will I get direct revelation from God as you do'? And why wouldn't these new converts expect to have such gifts? The examples before them had these things. 

Paul warned them that these gifts would end. He even went so far as to say that apostles would come to an end, and indeed he said he was the last one. He knew that. He was instructing others in a manner that told them to teach others the Gospel but he never implied to them that they would be appointed to that task by God. 

He even told Timothy that he was appointed through the laying on of hands by the elders. It was men that appointed Timothy to his place not God. 

And what was elders? We are told who can and cannot lead believers. 

 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,[f] as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

We are told here they are 'overseers'. Overseers of what? They were to oversee the giving of the gospel to the body of Christ. 

The message was to be given to all but it was not to be entrusted to those new in the faith or those that could not pass the above test. 

Paul shows what a 'preacher' is to do:

I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those ofmy companions. 35In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”…Acts 20:33-35

According to Scripture 'preaching' is not a means of employment. It is not appointed to god like status for men (or women) to rule over anyone, individual or congregation. 

Preaching according to Scripture is the heralding of good news. It is the giving of the gospel and the call to repentance. 

Paul set an example before us of the greatest preacher that ever lived. He visited groups of people, taught them a little then moved on, leaving them to grow in Christ or not as the Lord led them. He visited them from time to time, lifted them up in their endeavors to follow Christ. He gave them instruction as it was given to Him but He did not lord it over them. 

He did not make them dependent on his system of religion so that they were stuck in that system. 

Preaching is nothing more than the sharing of gospel. I am preaching as I write this. My husband preaches when he speaks to friends or coworkers. Everyone preaches when they speak of Christ.

"Preaching' as a profession, being a 'preacher' as we are brainwashed into thinking a 'preacher' is...it's nothing more than a modern system of religion that must perpetuate itself or else the house of cards that is 'church' will come tumbling down around their religious ears.