5. We preach to build God’s kingdom. There will always be a tension here. Ever since Genesis 3 we have all been deeply infected with the death-virus of godlikeness. We will default to independence in any way conceivable (including self-driven ministry), and our flesh will always look to build our own kingdom. But we are called to join Christ in His work of building the church. It is not about our pursuit of godlikeness, but about our humble service for the God we desire to honor and please.
There are so many factors to keep in mind in this pursuit. God often works more slowly than we’d prefer. So we need patience. God can transform people and communities in miraculously short order. So we need to expect great things. God can choose to build his work in ways we don’t expect. So we need to trust in His providence. God can choose to bless the work of others, even in our neighborhood (after all, the earth is the Lord’s, including your neighborhood!). So we choose to esteem others. We are not building our own kingdom. We are privileged to participate in building His.
6. We preach to equip others for ministry. No matter how great you may be, you are nowhere near as great as your whole congregation equipped, enthused and launched into ministry. I’m thankful many churches have grasped that ministry is not wrapped up in a clerical class. God has given gifted people to the church to equip believers for their ministries. I long to see the day when an entire church is so gripped by God, so equipped by God and so excited by God that they are like an army of effective witnesses, of empowering encouragers, of heartfelt worshippers, spilling out into the rest of the church and the community and the world.
We preach to that end. We don’t preach to look ministerial. We don’t preach to build our own reputation. We preach to serve Him, and we preach to serve them.
7. Because we can’t help but speak of Someone so wonderful. This should be the case. Sadly, over time, it can easily cease being the case. We can end up in a role, in a ritual, in a rut. We end up preaching because that is what we do, or that is how we pay bills or that is how we get respect. We feel we should. We feel it is expected. We know it is needed. And somewhere along the way, we fail to notice the fog gathering between our hearts and heaven.
A growing spiritual complacency is the proverbial frog in boiling water syndrome for preachers. God can become familiar and distant at the same time. He can become a concept, a set of truths, a source of identity for us, but somehow fade from being the captivating One who so fills our hearts and lives that we can’t help but speak of Him. May we all have a constant stream of newly engaged folks in our churches—constant reminders of the simple reality that a captivated heart can’t help but spill out.
8. Because we care about the people to whom we preach. Again, this should be the case. Sadly, over time, our flesh can easily co-opt the other centredness of ministry and turn it to a self-serving project. We can become preachers doing so to gain respect, to gain credibility, to gain attention, to gain a following, to gain influence. The gain increases and the give becomes token. Of course we can talk about giving—we can frame the ministry in self-sacrificial and spiritual terms. But really?
Just as spiritual fog can go undetected for too long, so a growing self-absorption is hard to spot in the mirror. Our flesh will always justify a subtle pursuit of godlike status. So we must keep walking with the Lord and ask Him to search us and know us. Ask Him to underline the motivations that drive what may look like a gloriously giving ministry. The true biblical preacher is shaped by the Word they preach, and they join God in giving of themselves as they preach it to others. The blessings are hard to quantify, but they must be the by-product, not the goal. Â
