"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10: 11-17).
This Scripture and others teach us that the Gospel is for all (and needed by all) people. They also show us that those who have the Gospel must preach the Gospel; for this is the way that people come to the Gospel. We are called to be ambassadors for Christ and we ought to be preachers of the gospel of peace.
There is preaching the “every Sunday morning message” and such like. A man, by divine calling, is ordained by the church. He is charged to lead the church, to call men to repentance, and to exhort and encourage the family of believers. To prepare to preach he prays and meditates, searching the Scriptures to organize the truth into flowing thoughts with the intent to challenge anyone who will come to listen. He does not care so much about the crowd, yet the gathering motivates him and he preaches.
The preacher loves the Gospel. He is not ashamed of it. He believes it has power. He is convinced it is for all people. With a full heart and open eyes, he watches for the signs that any man or woman is starting to receive it. Preaching the Gospel gives him joy- teaching the basics, explaining the steps of coming to the Gospel and remaining in it. He preaches, hoping that he can inspire others to take up the cause. He knows this must happen for the Gospel to spread. The Gospel preacher has a vision and a dream that those who hear and receive will become preachers so that others may hear and believe so that they can preach so that even more can believe. Every preacher is in a pyramid system. The top of this system never feeds off the bottom. The top will feed the bottom so that the bottom can grow.
A faithful, Christian wife with an unfaithful, rebel husband might “preach” to him by her chaste conversation. Any Christian ought to preach to his neighbor as they interact along their driveways. Godly parents ought to preach to their youth, confronting their immaturity, encouraging their good choices, and instructing them in the ways of righteousness.
So then, we are all preachers. There are two relevant reasons why this entire generation of our Pilgrim Mennonite Conference must see themselves as preachers of the gospel.
1. There is a generation rising which knows not God. It is critical for us to remember that the babies, toddlers, and youth of the Pilgrim Mennonite Conference have the Adamic nature and will grow up to be an unsaved, condemned bunch, unless they receive the Gospel. If they do not, someone will say that the church went liberal, didn’t keep the faith, apostatized, etc.
But sometimes, pulpit preacher’s voices have been drowned out by other voices. A preacher’s voice is enhanced by parents preaching with him. When churches apostatize, leaders are held responsible for this deterioration. However, if parents preach a gospel of hard work, admirable accumulation, and quality getaways, this preaching can drown out the pulpit preachers. In these settings, an hour of preaching once or twice a week (which is frequently perceived to be on the long side) is not enough to call away the rising generation from the instant gratification they so naturally desire. It has been concluded by some that other-gospel preaching parents have apostatized the church as much or more than unfaithful preacher preachers.
So fathers, gather your family to the table or sitting room often to preach the Gospel to them. Once a day is not too much. Sometimes, it will seem routine. Sometimes, you may sense the children are disinterested. Sometimes you will be inspired. Sometimes you will just be tired. Sometimes your family will embrace it; other times you will have to compel them to come in.
How will this generation hear except they have a preacher? In family worship, parent preachers have an excellent opportunity to preach the Bible truths of sin, salvation, obedience to the commands of Christ, separation from the world, nonresistance to evil, personal purity before a holy God, proper Lord’s Day observance, music morality, forsaking of idols, technology traps, etc. Parents, please, will you help the preachers preach to the rising unsaved generation? Do we really expect our children to believe if they don’t hear us preach?
2. There is a darkness rising in this land which neither our fathers nor our grandfathers have seen. America is no longer a religious nation. At best, she is an “Israel” about to receive the judgment from the Assyrians.
The great deception of “once saved, always saved” has produced super bugs which are inoculating people against the Gospel. The persistent demand of rights has produced an ungodliness which is erasing the general morality which made our country relatively safe and quiet. Today, we preach to people who had prayer, corporal punishment, and moral accountability removed in school. It already had been removed from the home in many places. Therefore, a generation left to pursue its own lusts is raising a generation with no Gospel influence. So between easy believism and atheism the crowd needing a preacher is large.
Has anyone witnessed to a 70-year-old who has been multiple times divorced and remarried? Has anyone met a person who has embraced “the right to choose” in reproduction and marriage? Have you heard the incredible double speak of those who know not God yet long to be at one with Him?
Today, we have a community which says, “I’m good” at the beginning of the conversation but cries at the end because life has fallen apart; they don’t know what to do and they are scared. Today, we are all aware of neighbors on our own streets who sin flagrantly. It is common for us not to feel convicted about our neighbor’s sin. So if he doesn’t feel it either, how will he ever be saved? We must preach.
In our neighbor’s homes are school children who have never been to church. They are captive by their own wills and have never heard the story of a Jesus. Christmas is Santa Claus, Halloween is just as much fun, Good Friday is a day of school, and Easter is an egg hunt. We now shop with people who do not know the story of Jesus. In other generation’s measuring sticks, this makes them heathen. A generation of violent video game players has prepared a people which murder out of boredom, diabolical impulses, and anger yet, show no remorse. This is not the inner cities that our parents met in 1W service. This is my and your neighbors. America needs preachers. Will we preach?
So what’s to be done for the 50-year-old man who never went to church in his life? What’s to be done for a 75-year-old woman who believed the gospel of the damned for 74 years and is now terrified as she’s dying of her sins? Are they truly resistant to the Gospel treatment? No one really knows. We ought not to bother trying to figure out who is who. The ambassador’s call is to preach, not evaluate who or who may not respond. We ought to preach even if it cuts out the amount of hunting, hiking or other fun we like to do. We ought to preach even if it cuts down the accomplishment of business we do in a year. What think ye? Is one less job traded for one more believer fair trade? Is 15 less jobs for one more believer also fair trade?
How dirty of a house will I go into to preach the Gospel? How dirty of a person will I bring into mine? How many hours of preaching will I do to help one soul? How many hours a week will we spend to do a Bible study to help one person’s search for life? How many weeks in a row will we do it? How many years? In our schools, we look for ways to tutor those who get a late start, fall behind, or seem to struggle to get it. Why not be a tutor preacher?
What if a congregation did not have one or two preachers, but 25 or 30? In our churches, the ordained brothers have “instruction class” with the new believers. Is everyone aware that these books are available for lay brethren to use to sit with their neighbors or co-workers? Do we understand that if a dad and his teenage son were to spend one hour a week studying a course like this with a lad down the street, that both father and son would be saved; they would both grow closer to the Lord and simultaneously distant from the world? As a matter of fact, the son would grow as much or more than if the dad took him to many church services to hear many preachers.
We have all heard the truth that in preparation to preach and the extended effort discipline to effectively communicate, the preacher receives the most. So, why don’t we all preach? The fields are white. The service has its own joy. Come to think of it, the church will not apostatize; for the Scriptures say, “for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Timothy 4:16b).