This past Sunday I attended
services in a ‘Church’ building of a denomination I’d never visited before. I
went not for the denomination, not for the beliefs of the people there but
because my husband wanted to listen to the man giving the sermon that day.
This man wasn’t a preacher as
the world defines a preacher. He hasn’t been to a seminary, doesn’t have any
kind of degree in preaching, but he delivered the message that day…and I understand
he does this on a fairly regular basis…so in my mind that makes him a preacher
no matter what the world thinks.
And I must admit that this man
delivered the best sermon I’ve ever had the privilege of listening to in
person. He stuck mainly to Scripture and added very little else. There were
moments where he stated his opinion, moments where he added this or that, but
for the most part he used Scripture. And delivered a powerful message. One I found
myself wishing I had a copy of so that I could listen to it again. And again.
It was a sermon that left me
wanting to listen to him preach again…and again. That hasn’t happened very many
times in my life. I’m impressed with very few preachers.
Not all that long ago we visited
another church where we were left wondering what the point to the sermon was at
the end of the service. That sermon was delivered by a preacher, one that…I
assume…holds a certificate that says he’s a preacher.
Of the two sermons I much prefer
the one by the man that truly isn’t a preacher by the world’s standards.
It leaves me wondering…what
makes a man a preacher?
What exactly is a preacher? I’ve
never questioned that before. Growing up in and out of ‘church’ buildings,
having set through more Sunday services than I can count I had a good idea of
what a preacher was long before I understood what he did. He was the man that
got up in front of all those people, all dressed in their best clothes, and
talked for a long time. At some point I began to understand that the talking he
was doing was teaching from the Bible.
Of course, knowing what I know
now about Scripture….I have to wonder how much of what was said in all those
numerous services was truth as the Scriptures teach it.
Because all the lessons I learned
in my years and years of Sunday services left me reeling and reevaluating once I
could see the truths in Scripture.
And 99% of those preachers
delivering those sermons held a certificate from a seminary that should have
been a guarantee that that man…the one so many people entrust their souls to…is
telling them straight.
I sometimes attend a ‘church’
that has over 1000 people in attendance every Sunday. The preacher isn’t an
ordained minister. He’s never been to seminary. His sermons are hit and miss on
the truth from Scripture. But he is better than those other preachers I grew up
hearing. He does at least acknowledge that everything in the Bible is to be
believed and applied to our lives. He does see and preach on some of the deeper
truths. He uses words like sin and hell.
It’s a big improvement over the
sermons of my childhood. Not that I remember any of them. It’s also an
improvement over the sermons I heard as an adult in other ‘churches’. But they
don’t even come close to the truth, to the value, to the edification of the
sermon I heard delivered this past Sunday…or to the ones I occasionally listen
to online.
I was once a member of a rather
large ‘church’ that had a steadily dwindling congregation. In the five years I went
to services there I saw them go through three different preachers. One of the
main criteria for their preacher was whether or not he held a certificate from
a seminary that lined up with their denominational beliefs. The other most
important criteria….whether or not he would let the ‘church’ leadership tell
him what to do.
These ordained ministers often
delivered sermons that were written by someone else, and usually included a
whole lot of personal stories that had little or nothing to do with the topic
of the sermon.
Now…my faith wasn’t what it is
now back then. I wasn’t drawn to Scripture the way I am now, didn’t see the
truth’s in Scripture the way I do now. And I sure didn’t understand the full
context of Scripture. But that meant I was easier to please back then. I most
likely didn’t sit through a sermon picking apart everything the preacher said,
listening for mistakes, cringing when he gets it wrong, and cross checking
things in Scripture. Yes…I do that now. Back then I pretty much just took what
the preacher said as truth.
After all he was the preacher.
If I saw something different than he did, or understood it differently, it must
mean I was wrong. Right?
So Sunday after Sunday I sat
through those services, listening to that ordained minister preach, listened to
him ‘lead his flock’ as so many call it. And…I warmed the pew. Because I got
nothing out of those services.
I saw people on the pews taking
notes, saw them nodding their heads and agreeing with everything that ordained
minister said. They talked about what a great sermon it was.
And I got nothing out of it.
Week after week.
Month after month.
I went because that was what a Christian
was supposed to do. Or so I thought. But I walked away each week knowing
nothing more after that service than I had when I walked through the doors.
I was simply there.
Was it bad preaching? Maybe. Was
it the Lord protecting one of his from false truths? Probably.
Whatever it was though…I know
have to ask…what makes a preacher?
Can a man that’s never been to
seminary preach as well or better than one that has?
Paul did. In Romans 1 Paul
begins by saying…
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle,
set apart for the gospel of God…
In 1
Corinthians 1 he says…
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of
Christ Jesus…
In 2
Corinthians 1 he says…
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…
In Galatians he
says…
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through
Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead
In Ephesians…
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
In Colossians…
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…
1 Timothy 1…
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our
Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
2 Timothy 1…
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
In Titus 1…
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which
accords with godliness, 2 in
hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began3 and at the proper time manifested in his
word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of
God our Savior;
Paul was a bit
different. He wasn’t a preacher but an apostle. He was appointed his job by
Christ and equipped for it the same way. He was chosen by Christ to do a
specific job. Many preachers today will claim that they were ‘called’ by God to
preach.
. Each of the
above verses, or partial verses, were Paul’s introduction of himself. Paul well
understood that he was an apostle. He knew his job. He repeatedly introduced
himself as…a servant of Christ…set apart for the gospel of God, called by the
will of God to be an apostle, set apart by the command of God…. But my very
favorite is how he put it in Galatians… Paul,
an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead.
He understood.
He got it.
He plainly
stated… not from men nor through man… He
got his orders, his ordainment, his certification, his right to preach and
teach…not from men nor through man but
through Jesus Christ and God the Father. He needed nothing else.
And neither did
the church he led. They didn’t tell him he had to attend a certain kind of
seminary to preach to them, they didn’t require a certification to let him
teach them.
He taught. They
listened. Because he was chosen by God, because he knew the truth of what he
spoke and they wanted to hear it.
We still listen
to Paul’s teachings today. Everytime we read anything in Scripture written by
him…we listen. Everytime we listen to someone that uses a verse that Paul wrote…we
learn from Paul.
Paul wrote 13 of
the 27 books in the New Testament. That’s a lot of teaching. Teaching that
covers a good part of where Christians today get their instructions on how to
live as Christians.
And none of
those Christians…at least none I’ve ever met…refuse to listen to Paul because
he never went to seminary.
It’s enough to
know that he was an apostle, that he walked with Christ, learned from Him, and
therefore to know that when Paul says he was entrusted with the gospel to
believe him and to listen to what he had to say and to learn from it.
It was enough
then.
It’s enough
now.
Paul did further
explain his position in Titus 1 when he said…
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which
accords with godliness, 2 in
hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began3 and at the proper time manifested in his
word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of
God our Savior;
If there was
any doubt about Paul’s position he cleared it up there. How much plainer could
he have stated it than to say… a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect
and their knowledge of the truth? Paul, a servant of God, for the sake of
the faith of God’s elect. He was a servant not for himself but for God’s elect,
for their faith. And if that doesn’t say it plain enough he goes on to say… through the preaching with which I have
been entrusted by the command of God.
Through the
preaching.
He preached. By
his own admission that was what he did. Yet…he never went to seminary, never
held a certificate that said he had the right to preach. If ever there was a
man that Christians should have refused to listen to it was Paul. After all he
had once persecuted Christians to the point of death. And here he was, saved, a
different man than he had been, preaching to the very people he had persecuted.
And they listened.
We listen.
But if we go by
the belief that a man must have completed seminary to be a preacher…then Paul
wasn’t a preacher.
One of those
three preachers that preached at the ‘church’ I attended years ago was fresh
out of the seminary. He had never held a position of preacher before. And he
made a big deal of seminary. He talked about it in his sermons. Often. He spoke
of the classes he took, of the tests he had to pass, of the things they taught
him.
The fact that
he had been to seminary was what made him a preacher. In his eyes anyway. But
it also was what made him a preacher in the eyes of most of the congregation.
If he had stepped onto that stage without whatever certification he’d been
issued by the seminary that ‘church’ would have quickly escorted him off and
put him back in the congregation.
Because without
whatever state or school issued paper a seminary issues…apparently a man can’t
be a preacher.
It’s much the
same way a couple can’t be married without a state issued marriage certificate.
In the eyes of
many the paper makes the position.
But is that
what makes a preacher? Can a man preach when he’s never been to seminary? Does
the man standing on a street corner telling people about Jesus, reading from
Scripture, have the right to call himself a preacher? Does someone’s sweet ole
Uncle Joe have the right to say he preaches because he teaches from Scripture
when he sits with his family or when he plays dominoes with the men at the restaurant?
Is the man standing in the pulpit week after week a preacher if he hasn’t been
to and completed seminary?
Not according
to some?
As far as I’m
concerned I don’t care what you call a person…preacher, teacher, friend,
student…if they’re teaching the real truths of Scripture I want to hear them.
The person delivering the message can be a preacher or not. I don’t care. I
just want to hear what they’re teaching.
But not
everyone shares my opinion.
And to some…
If a man isn’t
ordained by a seminary…
Then he isn’t a
preacher.
But does that
make him a preacher? Is that the standard for which we determine whether or not
a man knows the Truth? Whether or not he can share it in a way others
understand? Or does simply knowing the truths of Scripture qualify him to
preach if he so desires,
Or if the Lord
desires him to?
