A PAID PROFESSIONAL PREACHER
"I don't preach
for money!" You shouldn't. BUT are you fulfilling your God-given
talent? Some promote the idea of a
series of tiny house-churches with each member taking a turn at
preaching.. And there may be a time and
place for this. But the Bible shows us a
broader role for a "Timothy."
There is a God-given place for a committee of church elders to manage
God's business in the local church. But
there is also a role for a preacher. He
will be a catalyst for the whole church and will assist in the spiritual family
life of the church. He may or may not be
one of the elders also. But he must be a
"servant" leader who loves the people. He is not a "hired servant." He works with them and not for them. The church supports him as he reads and
studies and passes on to them the wonderful treasures of God. It is scriptural that he be supported
financially by the congregation. Phil.
4:16; 1 Cor. 9:14; 2 Cor. 11:8-9.
Because of the special conditions at Corinth Paul refused to take
support from them.
In
the NT an evangelist does these necessary things
1.
Preach the Gospel (Christ-on-the-cross and His resurrection. 1 Cor. 1 & 15). 2 Timothy 4:1-5.
2.
"Water" God's church. 1 Cor.
3:5-9. Barnabas was an encourager. He also helped enable Paul's work (Acts
9:26-31).
3.
Train and teach other workers. 2 Timothy
2:1-2
4.
Put things in order. Titus 1:5; 1
Timothy 5:19-20; 1 Cor. 6:5.
5.
Teach in general the true meaning of the Gospel of Christ. Titus chapters 2&3; 1 Cor. 15:1-23.
"I
(Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." [1 Cor. 3:6]
Paul pointed out that he and Apollos were partners working together for
God. Their work overlapped as they did
the things necessary to make the "plant" grow - even though it was
God Himself who was the Source of life.
The
general rule in the church - the Christian community - is that each is to
"submit to one another because of your reverence for Christ" (Eph.
5:21). The Head is Christ Himself. Reverence for Christ is both a motive and an
example which Christ Himself set for us.
"Submitting" does not imply any inferiority, but rather a
mutual sharing of the new life in Christ.
THE PARABLE OF THE
AIRPORT
[What need is there for
"paid-professionals"?
Consider.]
We arrived at the airport.
The cab driver set our luggage on the sidewalk, then drove off. No one seemed to be around to help us. So we were forced to carry our own luggage
into the terminal.
No one was behind the
ticket desk. We looked up to see a large
sign which informed us: "Due to the current crisis we have eliminated all
paid personnel. Please insert your
credit card and punch in your destination. You will receive a magnetic-coded
slip."
We carried our luggage over
to the check-in desk. There another sign informed us to insert the magnetic
slip into the reader, then to walk through the metal detector. We did this and a machine spit out a green
plastic card for each of us.
We inserted our green
plastic cards into the turnstile at the door, then walked down the loading
chute into airplane. There a sign
instructed us to load our own luggage on the plane. We found this difficult to do, finally
stowing things in some cupboards and lockers we found.
There seemed to be no
stewardesses. Since no seats were
assigned, we sat here and there, wherever we were comfortable.
We sat and waited for the
plane to take off. Finally someone
called our attention to another sign up front. "Please choose one of your
number to act as pilot, plus someone to act as copilot for the flight. There
are no air-traffic-controllers. You must
be especially careful not to conflict with other planes as you taxi for
takeoff. Thank you for flying our
Airline."
As I woke from my dream, I
thought of what the Lord had said. "The 'gifts' which He made are
appointments as missionaries, preachers, reporters, organizers and educators,
who are to shape the believers into a working force, into a functioning
Christian body.” [Ephesians 4:11-12 Jordan's Version] And I prayed to the Lord to give me wisdom
and a message for the sermon I was to preach Sunday morning. I am a "paid
professional."
Paul planted, Apollos
watered the plant, God made the plant grow.
Compare 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. The word "evangelist" is used in
a broad sense in the Scriptures. "Evangelize" describes only one
facet of the preacher's work. A lot of Timothy's time was spent in teaching (1
Timothy 4:6,11-13; 2 Timothy 2:2 [note: men = anthropos = people]). Paul, in
addition to planting, spent time teaching and training (Acts 20:31; etc.). He
rejoiced and wept with his brothers and sisters in Christ (Romans 12:15). Paul,
Barnabas, and others could be called "paid professionals" as they
worked for the Lord. [1 Corinthians
9:6-7; 2 Corinthians 11:8; Philippians 4:15-16]
Chaucer [c. 1387] wrote
some things about a man who evidently loved God and loved his brothers and
sisters in Christ. I have translated this into American English.
His congregation was
scattered
and houses far apart,
But he was not discouraged
by rain or thunder,
In sickness and misfortune
to visit
The farthest in his
congregation,
high or low,
upon his feet,
and in his hand a staff.
This noble example
to his sheep he gave,
that first he did and
afterwards he taught.
He kept at home and guarded
well his fold,
so that the wolf
did not bring disaster.
He was a shepherd
and not a hireling.
Note Jordan's
restatement of Acts 20:28. “Keep an eye on yourselves, as well as on the whole
group over which the Holy Spirit made you guardians. Take good care of God's
fellowship, which He has brought together around the death of His Son."
Note Apollos “watered”
where Paul had “planted.” Our Restoration
has been severely damaged in some instances by a lack of "watering."
About 170 years ago, Walter Scott evangelized in northern Ohio
and western Pennsylvania. He baptized some 1,000 people a year for 30
years! A. S. Hayden wrote: "Under
Walter Scott a new order arose. It was given to him to blow the trumpet of the
gospel. His work was purely an evangelism.. The admirable Osborne saw it, and
lamented the absence of a system for holding and training the converts...There
is an old Latin proverb which teaches that 'it is right to learn, even of an
enemy.' Other religious bodies could have taught us wisdom, if we had not
spurned every thing that the fingers of 'sectarianism' had touched."
["Early History of the Disciples on the Western Reserve," A. S.
Hayden]
One brother has observed:
"If the denominations go in and out the door - we will go in and out the
window." Our desire to be "different" can lead us astray and can
send us down a "blind alley."
Often the "baby is
thrown out with the bathwater." Turning to the right is no better than
turning to the left. Simply "reacting" against "change" can
cause us to do foolish things. The "past" is a good teacher if we are
willing to learn from it. If we do not learn, we will repeat the same mistakes.
The young Alexander
Campbell was ready to "burn the house down to get rid of the mice."
In his excitement and frenzy, he opposed some things simply because others were
doing them. Age brought added wisdom, and the results of rash actions became
more clear. Some simply destroy, for whatever reasons. It seems always more
exciting and popular to destroy, rather than to build.
There will always be a need
for spiritual preachers, elders, deacons, teachers - and members. Jesus has put
the Gospel into our hands. We are to occupy until He Comes!!!
The Gospel is: JESUS -
Crucified, Risen, Coming Again!" We dare not forget: JESUS SAVES!
