Preach It!
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COLUMN: ENCOURAGING WORDS
Preach It!
by Paula Harrington
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Wouldn't it be neat if you could sit down and figure up
how many sermons you've heard in your lifetime? I can't
imagine the number. Sundays. Wednesdays. Church camps.
Gospel meetings. Lectureships. Devos. Chapels and not
to mention funerals and weddings where sometimes the
best sermons have been found. There is no telling how
many sermons we've heard. I love them. I even listen to
them on iTunes, YouTube, CDs, and podcast.
I heard something the other day though that made me
stop, rewind, and listen again. The speaker was talking
about Gospel preachers and used the words, "Please pray
for those of us blessed to preach the Good News." I
understand what he was talking about. I totally get
what he was saying, but I couldn't stop wondering if
maybe the reason why the church isn't growing is
because those who warm the pew have started thinking
that the only one who should be preaching Jesus is the
preacher.
Please don't misunderstand me. I love and pray for
preachers. My father, grandfather, uncles and brother
are or were preachers during their lifetime. Some of my
closest friends are ministers. I know what the speaker
was trying to say, but what if we made it a point to
fervently remind those listening that we are all
preachers of God's word? What if we reexamined some of
the great preachers in the Bible? Those men and women
who didn't let class, gender, brokenness or peer
pressure keep them from going and telling the good
news? The woman at the well (John 4:29), the cleansed
leper (Mark 1:45), and the thousands of others who took
the word and overturned the world (Acts 17:6).
What if our churches were places to rejuvenate on
Sundays so that each one of us could speak life, grace
and truth into Mondays? What if every Christian man,
woman, and child preached Jesus because that's what
we're supposed to be doing. I know it's possible. I
read about it every time I pick up my nearest Bible.
We know that those who preach aren't only in the
pulpit, they are also on the pew. It's the tired,
stressed out mom who should get a reward for making it
to services on time. It's the divorced father who can't
believe his children are growing up so quickly. It's
the elderly woman with years of wisdom just waiting for
you to notice. It's the teen who is striving to live a
godly life in an ungodly time. It's the kid in the
youth group with more problems than you could ever
imagine.
The preacher is the teacher, auto mechanic, engineer,
banker, lawyer, construction worker, doctor, nurse, gas
station attendant, salesperson, and clerk. It's every
person in that building who has come face to face with
the Messiah and been changed.
So friends, exhort those who listen to become those who
teach. That's how the lost will get found. And that's
how this beautiful Kingdom will once again overturn the
world.
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news" (Romans 10:15)!
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