Preaching and Preachers

The Preacherbehalf of the Church in an official manner. That act is confined to theelders, and only to some of them-the teaching elders, the elder whohas received the gift of teaching, the pastors and the teachers. It isclear that the preaching in the New Testament was confined to theApostles and the prophets and the evangelists and these others.Why do I suggest that this is important? What is the ultimatecriticism of what is called 'lay-preaching'? The answer comes to this,that it seems to miss completely the whole notion of a 'call'. There arealso other reasons which seem to me to militate against the idea. Mymain argument is that the picture I have already given of the preacher,and what he is doing, insists not only that this is something to whicha man is called, but also something that should occupy the whole ofhis time apart from exceptional circumstances. It is not somethingthat can be done as an aside, as it were; that is a wrong approach anda wrong attitude to it.Let us first look at it in terms of this question of a call. What is thepreacher? Well, obviously the preacher is a Christian like every otherChristian. That is basic and an absolute essential. But he is somethingmore than that, there is something further; and this is where thiswhole question of a call comes in. A. preacher is not a Christian whodecides to preach, he does not just decide to do it; he does not evendecide to take up preaching as a calling. Now that has often happened.There have been men who have rather liked the idea of being aminister. It seems to be an ideal type of life, a life with a fair amountof leisure, giving ample opportunity for reading-reading philosophy,theology, or anything they may want to read. If they happen to bepoets, well it is something that will give them ample time to writepoetry. The same applies to essayists or novelists. This picture of thetype of life lived by the minister has often appealed to young men, andthere have been many who have gone into the ministry in thatway.I need scarcely say that this is entirely wrong and quite foreign tothe picture one gets in the Scriptures, and also as one reads the livesof the great preachers throughout the centuries. The answer to that1°3