 
PREACHERS WE DON'T NEED
There is a dearth of faithful preachers in our generation. It is said that one preacher can effectively evangelize a community of 25,000 people. In a world of 7 billion souls we need upwards of 280,000 men to reach every creature with the message of salvation (Mark. 16:15). In America we have perhaps 5,800 full-time preachers with a few hundred more scattered in other lands. Given these figures, it is obvious that we are not oversupplied with preachers. There is room for growth in this market.
We Need the Right Kind of Preachers.
Paul urged Timothy to be "a good minister of Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 4:6). The Holy Spirit also speaks of false prophets and unworthy men such as Hymenaeus and Alexander (I John 4:1; I Tim. 1:19-20). There are several types of preachers that hurt rather than help the church. Such men we could do without.
A. We do not need popularity seekers. The man who seeks to please men should not be a servant of Christ Jesus (Gal. 1:10). God's man must be prepared to preach the whole counsel of God, even if it means that some will hate him for so doing (Acts 20:27; John 7:7). The man who seeks popularity often finds it easy to preach an ear-tickling message that folks want to hear, rather than the gospel truth they need to hear (II Tim. 4:2-4). God's man will preach the Word whether it is in season or not!
B. We do not need flamboyant showmen. A preacher is not an entertainer. He is a spokesman for God (Jer. 1:7). He should point men to the Master, not to himself. Paul was determined to know nothing in his preaching but Christ and him crucified (I Cor. 2:2). Again he said, we preach not ourselves, but Christ (II Cor. 4:5). It is true that not all men have the same personality, and some will be nature be more outgoing and personable than others. Yet the faithful man will gladly loose himself that others may see the Christ. When people are drawn to hear and see a preacher perform they usually have trouble finding the humble Galilean in whom was no beauty that men should desire him
(Is. 53:2).
C. We need no politicians in our pulpits. The politician type is eager to gain the vote of the people. He desires power and position. He will promise most anything his audience desires to get them. He is usually a master a compromise and can speak equally well on both sides of an issue. He seeks to advance his own cause first of all. Such men bear no resemblance to Jeremiah, Micah, Amos or their New Testament counterparts. The concept of a preacher being a bond servant (Rom. 1:1), a soldier on service (II Tim. 2:4) or a prisoner for Christ Jesus (Phile. 1) seems strange and foreign to the political type. He will serve a church only so long as it advances their personal cause.
D. We do not need malleable men. They are the double-minded type, unstable in their faith (Jas. 1:6-8). They are "tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine..." (Eph. 4:15) God's man must be strong enough to stand alone, if necessary, in the midst of weakness, compromise and fear, declaring the whole counsel of God (Acts 20: 26). As a leader of god's people, he must resist the pressures, which call for conformity and tolerance of sin. They must cry aloud and spare not to declare transgression (Is. 58:1).
E. The church needs no tyrants in her pulpits. This type of man insists that everyone submit to his dictates, honor his objections and fall in line with his column of troops. Cursed with such a preacher, a congregation is doomed to certain death. The aged John resisted such tyrant by the name of Diotrephes, who loved "to have the preeminence" among the brethren (III Joh 9). Such men have no likeness to the Master who was meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29).
F. Inflammatory preachers are unneeded in the leadership of the church. Some men have emotions that burn hotly. They seem incapable of dealing with problems in a calm and deliberate fashion. They were born "in the objective mood and the kickative case." Whether they are on the school board, in the union or in the church they are always involved in a fracas. Such men think that peace is weakness. They love quarreling and fighting, mistakenly thinking such to be "contending for the faith." In reality, they are factious men who should be avoided (Tit. 3:10).
G. We need no weakling preachers in the pulpit. Such men are prone to seek peace at any price. Compromise is their usual way of dealing with thorny problems. Like the infamous Neville Chamberlain, they are willing to surrender truth and right for peace rather than take their stand firmly for the right. The church desperately needs men who will not shrink form declaring all things profitable for the brethren; in short, "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:20, 27). God has not given his servants "a spirit of fearfulness, but of power and love and discipline" (II Tim. 1:7).
H. The church does not need impatient preachers. Its is often young preachers who are impatient with brethren. However, this weakness can be found in all age groups. Such men tend to demand immediate response to their lessons and their proposals. Forgetting that most brethren are human and sinners like themselves they expect more of them that the Lord does. They find it difficult to be considerate of the inexperience and lack of seriousness of youth and the slowness of the aged. In contrast, Paul dealt with the Thessalonians as "when a nurse cherisheth her own children" (I Thess. 2:7). He teaches us to "rebuke not an elder, but exhort him as a father (I Tim. 5:1). Such impatient preachers generally discourage the brethren rather than challenge and build them up. A church that has had one such preacher does not want another.
May God give us a generation of good ministers of Christ Jesus (I Tim. 4:6), who will build up and strengthen his people and lead them on to higher ground.
JHW
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