All my heroes are preachers. Men I have looked to for strength and inspiration since my teens. None of them perfect, but all of them easily recognisable as “having been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).
I still marvel at their understanding of God’s Word and am humbled at their faith during the toughest of times.
No one raises their son to be the most hated man in the church. But the men I know would rather wear that title than compromise the truth. I have seen them endure bitterness and envy with a spirit of love. I have heard them speak kindly of those who have unceremoniously removed them from congregations. In all conflict, their core principle is: “Even when it hurts me, I will do nothing to hurt the church.”
It is God who makes these Men of God, and it is God that we must thank for them.
Those who know me can attest to my longstanding concern over the lack of men stepping up to preach. Greater is my concern over the way some of the brethren treat preachers. The endurance of these preachers is testimony to their strength of godly character. I believe that the church is going nowhere without preachers. Those who strongly oppose this point of view often point to their congregations as proof that ‘full-time preachers’ are neither needed nor Biblical. Some even move the sermon beyond the ‘closing prayer,’ lest preaching be considered a part of worship.’ I hasten to add that most of these brethren are better Christians than I will ever be, but they are wrong. I challenge them to look to their own conversions and to ask how many of them came to Christ, directly or indirectly, as the result of a preacher.
I have never heard a man say, “He is not my preacher!” but I have heard a few think it.
Stepping up means that we must get behind our preachers. “How will they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom.10:15).
John Staiger
0 Comments