What Is A Preacher?

What is a preacher? The answer depends on who you ask. "A preacher is someone who works only three hours a week and gets paid for it." "A preacher is a personal relations man whose responsibility it is to be a spokesman for the church in any given community." "A preacher is someone who works 80 hours a week and gets paid for 30 hours of work." "He is a servant, busboy, nurse, and errand boy for the sick and shut-ins and elderly folks in the church!" Elders often have a woeful misconception of what the Biblical concept is of a preacher. One eldership under which I once labored asked me quit studying so much and get out among the people. I responded by asking for their suggestions as to how better balance my time. It was recommended that first thing in the morning I go around the businesses in town and have a cup of coffee with the managers, owners, and workers. Then after lunch I could visit the hospitals, nursing homes, and shut ins. Then I could go to the office for an hour or so and study. It was easy to see in this recommendation that those elders had no concept of the work of a preacher. Yes, those things were important. And like any other member of the congregation I sought to fulfill those responsibilities as a Christian. To some degree every preacher must engage in personal relations with those in the community. But those things are not the focus of the work of a preacher. I responded kindly but forcefully by telling them that it is impossible for a preacher to spend one hour a day in study and present lessons four times a week - unless of course, you expect the preacher to tell human-interest stories derived from his socializing with those business owners, managers, and workers.

First Corinthians 4:6-13 provides an excellent analysis of the work of a preacher. The false teachers had wormed their way into the congregation at Corinth and were disparaging Paul's work as an apostle. Accusations were made, and it appears from the two letters we have to the Corinthians, that they had painted a portrait of their concept of Paul and his work that was completely out of harmony with the truth. Here are four things we can derive from this passage that help us understand the work of a preacher.

First, a preacher is someone who loves the word of God and appeals to it for his authority. He takes Paul's words seriously where the apostle tells all of us not to "go beyond the things that are written" (4:6, ASV). He is faithful to the Word of God and cautious that he not "think of men above that which is written" (4:6, KJV). Because of his love for the Word, a preacher will spend the vast majority of his time in a study of the same. The late Gus Nichols was said to have spent no less than 40 hours a week in his study of God's word. I once heard Franklin Camp say that if brother Nichols needed to study 40 hours a week, he needed to study 80 hours a week. Guy N. Woods once said he spent 8 hours a day in his library. Yes, a preacher is someone who loves the Word of God and would even think about going beyond that which is written.

Second, a preacher does all he can to promote unity and harmony among brethren. In this same verse (4:6), he admonished the brethren "that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other." The division in the church at Corinth could not, would not, promote harmony, but it would foster animosity one toward another. Leon Morris touched on this very point: Uniformly the Bible elevates God. The Corinthians emphasis on the persons of teachers meant that they were thinking too highly of men. Paul wants none of them to be puffed up for one, i.e,. he desires that they have no feelings of pride as they contemplate the particular teacher to whom they have attached themselves. Being puffed up in this way in favor of one of them meant that they were against another. This is the evil of partisanship. There is a sense in which Christians may rejoice in the leadership given by their eminent men. But when they find themselves so much in favour of the leader that they are against another, they have overstepped the bounds (Tyndale series: First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, p. 78).

Third, a preacher is someone who is grateful to God for the blessings received and tries to instill that same degree of appreciation in others. "For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). None are so blind as those who cannot see the blessings that God has bestowed upon them. This is especially true of preachers. One author put it like this: "If one preacher is more gifted than another in debating, education, speaking, writing, it gives neither him, nor his 'followers' [thee right] to look down on another preacher, since God is the One Christians are seeking to glorify and since He is the giver of every good and perfect gift" (Dale Parsley, Victory Lectures: 1 Corinthians 322).

Fourth, a preacher is someone who is allowed to use sarcasm or humor in his communication with others. I once preached a sermon in which I used some sarcasm to stress a point, even to the point of being somewhat humorous. As the brethren passed by me on the way out of the auditorium, a sister who had a sour look on her face, reluctantly shook my hand, and said, "I don't believe in humor or sarcasm!" It was obvious on her face that she seldom, if ever, allowed herself to laugh. On another occasion, my wife and I were enjoying a festive evening with some of the brethren at a church get-together. One lady said to me, "I did not think preachers ever had a good time, or laughed and joked like you do." Admittedly, I am no comedian, but I do enjoy telling a good joke from time to time. In the passage under consideration, Paul uses sarcasm in his attempt to subdue the blustering brethren and help them see their foolishness. In 1 Corinthians 4:8, he wrote the following [permit me to paraphrase and highlight to help us see his sarcasm]: "Oh, you are already filled, so you don't need me! Oh, you are sooooo rich that any spiritual treasures an inspired apostle might bring you is not needed! Oh, you reign and rule over others, so you no longer need my guidance or the Lord's direction in His Word."

Fourth, preachers are willing to go that extra mile and suffer much for the cause of Christ and the advancement of the gospel. As Paul seeks to describe the suffering that he (and others) had endured for their sake, he writes: "For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world...we are fools for Christ's sake...Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no uncertain dwelling place; and we toil, working with our hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat; we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now" (1 Cor. 4:9-13, select phrases). It is doubtful that many preachers living in the United States have endured the discomforts that Paul endured. It is certain, however, that any preacher that is worth his salt has sacrificed much for the cause of his Lord in the form of ridicule, rejection, or the loss of his job.

Not all preachers rise to the occasion of being what a preacher should be. Like any other Christian, the preacher has his moments of weakness. He gets discouraged and often thinks of seeking another career. When we read Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 4:6-13, let us reflect upon what a preacher is and what he does, allow our appreciation for those who have "beautiful feet" to grow, and then occasionally pat them on the back for their work's sake.