What’s A Preacher To Do?

Ask ten people and you might very well end up with ten different answers. However, the Bible details “the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5). What’s a preacher to do? We are taught that he is to…

Preach the Word. A preacher is divinely charged to “Preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:1-2). He must be “ready to preach the gospel…for it is the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:15-16). Some are preaching anything and everything but the word. We need preachers who can truthfully say, “I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Ac. 20:27).

Study the Word. The evangelist Timothy was instructed to “give attention to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13). A preacher is not to read just anything, he is to “Study…the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). If a preacher does not spend much time in study, he will bring about his destruction and the destruction of those who heed him (1 Tim. 4:16; 2 Pet. 3:16).

Convert Sinners. Jesus commanded, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…” (Matt. 28:19). Some have forgotten that the mission of a preacher is to “make disciples.” Without a preacher, one will not hear, believe, and obey that they might be saved (Rom. 10:13-15). To the end of saving souls, a preacher needs to busy himself teaching both “publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20).

Edify the Saints. The Lord gave some to be “evangelists…for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12). Some preachers are wreckers instead of builders. Yet, a godly preacher will work to build. He will emulate Paul who wrote, “we do all things, beloved, for your edification” (2 Cor. 12:19).

Defend the Truth. Timothy was to “charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:3). Some are afraid to stand against error. Yet, a preacher must “be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks” that he might “contend earnestly for the faith” (1 Pet. 3:15; Jude 3).

Set an Example. A preacher is to “be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). He is, “in all things,” to show himself “to be a pattern of good works” (Tit. 2:7). Some preachers ruin any good they might do because of their poor example. Thus, a preacher must behave himself “devoutly and justly and blamelessly” (1 Thess. 2:10).

May a preacher ever be found doing these things, and may the brethren “hold such men in esteem” (Phil. 2:29).

David Eldridge