 
PROBLEM PREACHERS
Without doubt one of the greatest assets of the Lord's church is her faithful gospel preachers. Churches with good preachers almost always are stable and growing. Good works flourish when consecrated, godly men of God put their hands to the task. However, just as surely, problem preachers are the church's greatest bane. Most every church has and at least one such misfit in its history. Because of the influence and position of a preacher in our congregations it is likely that a troublesome preacher will afflict the church he serves. To help elders and congregations avoid such painful problems we will note several undesirable categories of preachers. May I hasten to say that I do not have in mind those men who faithfully proclaim God's truth in love and in so doing arouse opposition from worldly carnal-minded members (Eph. 4:15).
I. Some are false teachers. Such men teach things contrary to the revealed will of Christ Just because a man says, "I am a gospel preacher" does not necessarily mean it is so. There have always been wolves in sheep's clothing in the preaching business (Matt. 7:15). No false teacher will ever announce himself as such. Nor will an apostate volunteer to admit his departure. The apostles repeatedly warned us of these poisonous preachers (Acts 20:28-31; II John 9-11). A congregation dare not tolerate such a man in their midst.
II. Some are rebels. Some men jut cannot submit themselves to the authority of others. Sometimes a preacher is found with this attitude. Jude warned rebellious disciples of judgement awaiting those who "rail at dignities" (vs. 8). Samuel reminded Saul that "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" (I Sam. 15:23). These preachers have forgotten the divine principle that God made elders the overseers of his church (Acts 20:28; I Pet. 5:2). The command to "obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them..."
(Heb. 13:17), is applicable to all Christians, preachers included. Of course not one of the rebels will boldly declare his rejection of authority. He will attempt to discredit his elders or to intimidate them in some way. Some are even now attempting to prove that a preacher is not under elders' authority, that he is at least their equal. Such men are trouble just waiting to happen. We often see this class of men attempt to unseat and remove elders and not a few succeed.
III. There are impenitent preachers. Like all other mortals, preachers sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Being flesh and blood they occasionally fall victim to the temptations of life. Just as with other brethren there will sometimes a preacher will be impenitent. Unable because of his false pride to admit his error, he may draw away a small group of his disciple friends and start a new congregation rather than repent. How many congregation have had such an inglorious beginning. He may flee to a far city and pretend that nothing has ever happened, only to mar another congregation's life. Like all others, preachers must repent or perish (Luke 13:3). Those who will not must be delivered "unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" ( I Cor. 5:5).
IV. Occasionally we hear of the dishonest preacher. Judas was one of those. He stole from the disciples's fund (John 12:6). What a tragedy to the cause of Jesus when so prominent a disciple as a minister is found mishandling church funds. It may be that he is dishonest in his own financial transactions. We have known of men who represented the kingdom of truth while being addicted to lying. All liars shall have their part in the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8), even men who preach with the eloquence of Apollos.
V. There are men who love and crave power. Unable to find it elsewhere, they seek it in the pulpit of a church. No one ever knows as much as they know, none are so sound in their views. They must run the show or ruin it. They trample on other's rights and crush all opposition. I once heard such a brother say, "If anybody runs this church, I will." Like Diotrephes, they love to have the preeminence (III John 9). Where this type of brother works, the church will submit to his will or he will leave in a huff. If neither of these occur, they may have to ask him to leave rather than endure the continual striving which would result.
VI. Now and again we find a preacher who just cannot seem to get along with people. He may be loyal to the truth. He may be a capable proclaimer. But he is always at odds with someone. This is an unfortunate case because talented men are severely handicapped by this problem. It actually forces many out of the field of preaching. This is usually a personality problem. Either they are too sensitive to other's criticisms or they are overly aggressive. For some it is a problem of communication. They know what to say, but they have not learned how to say it to achieve the desired end. Those with this serious personality disorder will likely need professional counseling to master their problem. Some whose basic training was faulty can profit from books on human relations, such as Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People. Solomon wrote, "He that hath friends must show himself friendly" (Prov. 18:24 KJV). The golden rule of our Lord is the balance wheel of all good social relationships (Matt. 7:12). A man whose
chief business is working with people cannot afford to be deficient in this critical area.
VII. Churches are hurt by preachers who are sadistic in preaching, teaching and dealing with people. There are men who seem to enjoy browbeating and up-braiding brethren. They feel it a pleasure to publicly humiliate brethren and sinners alike. They urge you to bring your denominational neighbor and then they proceed to flail him and skin him alive. No consideration is given, no tact is used. To them, this is weakness. Ridicule of those in error, undiplomatic name calling, vindictive language are all part of their pack. One brother used to say to his audience, "If you disagree with my preacher you are either men or ignorant." Thank God that most brethren have outgrown this low type of preaching. How could it possibly edify? How can it save souls? If one be saved through it, a score are driven away in disgust. The truth must be preached in love (Eph. 4:15). In our work for Christ we must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matt. 10:16). Paul advised Timothy, "The Lord's servant must not strive, but be gentle toward all....in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves..." (II Tim. 4:24-25). With this ugly approach we may well win the argument, but we will almost certainly lose the soul. Such preaching should be labeled with skull and crossbones. It is harmful and destructive. Those saints who grow up under it are usually spiritually warped by its influence.
VIII. We sometimes see preachers who are status seekers. They can never stay with a congregation long enough to do a great work because they are continually seeking a chance to move up the ladder. A bigger salary, and a bigger congregation mean more than the welfare of the church with whom they presently labor. A congregation may have spent $5,000 moving him there and gone to great expense to prepare his home. But he cannot afford to miss this step up, so he goes. There is always that haunting question, after one gets to be the greatest, where does he go? Many leave the pulpit for a worldly position. As one noted ex-preacher eloquently states, "After you've preached for ________ congregation, where can you go?"
IX. Every generation produces preachers who are attention seekers. To feed their hungry egos, they resort to all sorts of tricks and gimmicky to win the oohs and aahs of the people. For some it is extreme styles of clothing; for other it is a flamboyant life style. It often is a bombastic pulpit style.
For some it is the endless stream of funny stories to get the audience to respond, but which smother and hide the precious Word of God. Such egoists need to study the inimitable Paul. "And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (I Cor. 2:1-2). The braggart, the clown and the show off seem strangely out of place beside God's great men mentioned in the Bible.
X. We cannot overlook the hobbyist preacher. He is the man obsessed with one which he drives into the ground. It may even be a valid point he teaches but he becomes unbalanced and one-sided in dealing wit it. Most often it is a personal opinion or a matter of judgment that captures his mind. Sometimes he thinks he is the only man who sees that point, or that it is the key to the church's future. While he pounds away at his pet theme other important areas of teaching are neglected and his hearers lose interest in coming to hear his sermons and classes. Often he becomes so inflamed that he imagines that all who do not share his excitement are enemies of Christ. Most "anti" preachers first suffered from this illness before they latched onto their peculiar issue. Sound preachers will preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:28). They will never hold back anything profitable from their brethren (Acts 20:20). But a hobby-riding preacher is like "a continual dropping (of water) on a very rainy day..." (Prov. 27:15).
XI. Last of all, we notice the preacher who is a promoter. It is a conceded that every preacher must promote the cause of Christ and all good works. But I think of the brother who promotes himself or his own pet project. Some men use their church connections for opportunity to promote their own business interests. Some men always have a big project to promote and are so zealous that if you do no support their project you are suspect to say the least. I read of a notable brother, a few years ago, who in his zeal to promote a certain Christian College said that every church ought to put that school in their budget or be looked into. For shame! He caught a storm of protest and rightly so. Surely we do not object to a brother telling us of a good work
to help or his encouraging us to do so. We do not mind a brother selling his books, cassettes or soul-winning kits. But when he takes advantage of a captive audience and uses subtle selling techniques to squeeze them into buying, he is out of place. It is wrong to make merchandise of brethren (II Pet. 2:3). Paul warns that "Men corrupt in mind and bereft of truth (suppose) that godliness is a way of gain" (I Tim. 6:5).
The church needs thousands of gospel preachers. But she does not need the kind who cause her hurt and shame. May God deliver her from those that do.
May we who preach daily, "prove our own selves" to see if we are truly in the faith. (II Cor. 13:5). May we honor our Savior and respect his holy church and "be good ministers of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith" (I Tim. 4:6).
JHW |
