The Message of the Fragile Preacher
Alina and I have joined a new church in our area in the past few weeks and are very excited about the work that God is doing among them, and in us. The church is an extension of an already established church in the area; First Baptist McKinney (www.fbc-mckinney.org). The one that we have joined is their newly planted north campus: First McKinney North (www.fmnorth.com). Alina and I are very excited to be involved with a Truth teaching God worshiping church of people who are not ashamed of what they believe.
Talking with some people about our joining this church has brought some unnecessary yet expected criticisms. My aim here is show that the criticism is unwarranted and un-biblical. The problem that some see with this church is that it is a satellite church. The pastor is not in the room preaching, and in fact is a recording of a message that he had given earlier that same morning at the main campus. The complaint I heard goes something like this “the bible says that the pastor has to be in the same room preaching [or else it doesn't count]”.
Let me just say right up front that the Bible does not say that, and in fact it shows something quite the opposite. If it were true that a man had to bring the message of Christ or else the message was void, I would want nothing of this gospel. Think about it, if the message of Christ were only as powerful as the man who brought it, it would be worthless. No matter how good a man can be, he cannot be perfect, and because of that, his message cannot be perfect. The purpose of the preacher is not to bring an inspiring message from his own wisdom, but to bring the truth of God. A pastor should not be standing on the platform telling us what he thinks, but rather what God says. The preacher is just the messenger. And it is the message that saves. The messenger isn’t what is sacred, but rather the message.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (ESV)
says that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Notice that it is the message of Christ that saves not the message of the preacher.
The problem with this understanding of the gospel is that it limits the power of God’s word and His Holy Spirit for salvation. This belief suggests that God’s word could not sustain itself without man. And that it is man who saves man, not God who saves man. Paul says in
15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (ESV)
that “1Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Notice that Paul says “the gospel which i preached… by which also you are saved.” It is the gospel that saves, not the preaching of it.
Yes, it is our duty as Christians to: (
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)
) “19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” But, nowhere does the Bible teach that the message is so week that it can only be sustained by the direct word of mouth. In fact the opposite is true.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (ESV)
says that “we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” We are the jars of clay, the message of Christ is the treasure. We must understand that this treause of the gospel is more glorious than these jars of clay, that can crack and break. The gospel can not crack and break and turn to dust over time, but we will. The message is bigger than us and more glorious than we can contain, this just proves that it is the power of God who gives life (saves) and not us, who are frail and could break at any time. In
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (ESV)
Paul says “I planted [the seeds of the gospel], Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”
Compared to the glory of God and His message of salvation, we are nothing. Our duty as Christians is to get the message out; to shout it from the mountaintops and to hold our light up for all to see. We must reach the world in any way possible. We must use tapes, cds, books, magazines, the Internet, television, and yes, even satellite transmissions to get this message out. If we were to say that a pastor had to be in the room for the message to count, it would put more emphasis on the messenger rather than the message. And if the word of God only counted when it was brought by someone standing in the same room, it would invalidate all of the theologians and biblical scholars that have come before us. We would have to throw away any cds or tapes that had preaching (or worship for that matter as you obviously could not worship personally today with a recording of an event that happened years ago). This belief would even invalidate the very truth of the bible. The Bible was written many years ago, and if the only way the word of God counted was to be given by a pastor in our midst, the bible would be worthless, after all none of us has ever met the apostle Paul, let alone heard him preach.
Hearing the word of God being preached from a man standing in the same room does not make the gospel any more true than reading the bible by yourself in a quite room does. The gospel is always true, not matter how it is brought, or who brings it, because God is always true. God’s message does not depend on man’s preaching. The message will be just as true if I’m sitting in the main campus watching the pastor as he preaches live, or sitting in the north campus watching a recording of the pastor. The message is still true.
I pray that God would use Alina and I to help get the message out.
