One healthy trend in the evangelical world in recent years is the growth of “every-member ministry” in the local church. It would not have been uncommon a generation or two ago for much of the Word ministry to be delivered by the pastor (or pastors, in a larger church). But that would be less common today. We rightly prize the ministry of all believers – rejoicing that all his people have his Spirit and are gifted to build up the Church.
A Question, and a Proposal
As various forms of Word ministry have proliferated beyond the central gathering on Sunday, and as more and more church members have become involved (leading Bible studies, giving talks, discipling other believers through the Word), a question naturally arises: how does preaching relate to these other ministries? In part, that is a question concerning the definition of “preaching,” which would take a little more time to answer (see the resource mentioned below). For the moment, let’s assume that “preaching” is a public declaration of God’s Word by someone who has been set apart by the church for that role. When we read in the New Testament about ministry carried out by apostles and other leaders, preaching will have been a key part of that ministry (although not the sum total of it).
When we probe Scripture, what do we find concerning the relationship between preaching and other ministries? Arguably, we find strong indications that preaching sets the tone and the agenda for other Word ministries in the church. It acts as a kind of ministry engine.
Preaching as the Ministry Engine in New Testament Churches
In Colossians 1:28-29 Paul says this about his and Timothy’s ministry of proclamation: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” That’s their ministry – and it’s clearly a preaching ministry: the term “proclaim” in verse 28 relates specifically to the public heralding of the gospel.
Interestingly, later in the letter Paul describes the ministry of the whole congregation using similar terms (although now avoiding the language of “proclamation”): “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” (Colossians 3:16).
The terms “warning” in Colossians 1:28 and “admonishing” in Colossians 3:16 are actually the same word in the original. So the overlap between the two passages is pretty significant. In their preaching, Paul and Timothy teach and admonish with wisdom. And in their ministry to one another, the congregation takes the Word they have heard, and they teach and admonish one another with wisdom using that same Word.
The dynamic looks similar in 1 Thessalonians 5. Although preaching is not mentioned here, Paul calls the people to respond rightly to the ministry they receive from their leaders – and this would surely include their preaching ministry: “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly because of their work….And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-14).
As the leaders admonish the congregation from the Word through their preaching (as well as through more informal means, no doubt), the congregation will take that cue and admonish one another. The leaders’ preaching ministry has a key role in setting the tone and the agenda for the congregation’s Word ministry to one another.
An Encouragement and a Question
For preachers who labor in the Word week-by-week, seeing this dynamic is an encouragement. In an age when preaching has fallen out of favor in some circles, here is a reminder that preaching is of central importance in the life of the church with the potential to shape and give impetus to all the other Word ministries. The ripple effects of preaching extend well beyond Sunday.
All this raises a question for the wider church family: Is the preaching of the Word on Sunday actually driving and shaping other ministries in your local church? Could the wider ministries of the church be more intentionally co-ordinated with the preaching so that the church family is encouraged to feed together throughout the week on the Word that was preached on Sunday – reflecting together on what has been heard, and encouraging one another to live in the good of it?
To explore the subject of preaching a little further, consider reading Preaching in the New Testament: An exegetical and biblical-theological study.
