I heard something the other day that made me stop and take note. While listening to a preacher talk about ministers, he said, “Please pray for those of us blessed to preach the Good News.” I understand what he was talking about. I get what he was saying but I couldn’t stop wondering if maybe the reason why the church isn’t growing is because those who warm the pew have started thinking that the only one who should be preaching Jesus is the minister.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I love and pray for preachers. My father, grandfather, uncles and brother are or were preachers during their lifetime. Some of my closest friends are ministers. I know what the speaker was trying to say but what if we made it a point to fervently remind those listening that we are all preachers of God’s word?
What if we reexamined some of the great preachers in the Bible? Those men and women who didn’t let class, gender, brokenness, or peer pressure keep them from going and telling the good news? The woman at the well (John 4:29), the cleansed leper (Mark 1:45) and the thousands of others who took the word and over turned the world (Acts 17:6).
What if our churches were places to rejuvenate on Sundays so that each one of us could speak life, grace and truth into Mondays? What if every Christian man, woman and child preached Jesus because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing? I know it’s possible. I read about it every time I pick up my nearest Bible.
Those who preach aren’t only in the pulpit. Sometimes, it’s the tired, stressed out mom who should get a reward for making it to services on time. It’s the divorced father who can’t believe his children are growing up so quickly. It’s the elderly woman with years of wisdom. It’s the teen who is striving to live a godly life in an ungodly time. It’s the kid in the youth group with more problems than you could ever imagine.
The preacher is the school teacher, auto mechanic, engineer, banker, lawyer, construction worker, doctor, nurse, gas station attendant, plant worker, salesperson and clerk. It’s the single mom. The homeless man. The foster child. It’s every person who has ever come face to face with the Messiah and been changed.
So friends, exhort those who listen to become those who teach. That’s how the lost will get found. And that’s how this beautiful Kingdom will once again over turn the world.
Paula Harrington is the mother of five children and resides in Calvert City. She is compiler and editor of the books, Once Upon a Bible Class, A Common Bond and A Sunday Afternoon with the Preachers’ Wives. Her work has appeared in Christian Woman magazine, the Christian Chronicle newspaper and numerous other sites and websites. When she’s not teaching at one of Marshall County’s finest schools, she’s helping her family at the Calvert Drive-in Theater (and by helping, she means eating the cheeseburgers). She can be contacted at harringtonseven@yahoo.com