This passage provides guidelines for pastors and ministers.

…BE SHEPHERDS – This first injunction may seem confusing, because in modern Christianity many church leaders use the title of “pastor” (which originally meant “shepherd” or “sheep herder,” and still does in some languages, like Portuguese).  Some even have their members address them as “Pastor ___,” which is a little confusing in light of Jesus’ explicit warnings in Matthew 23:8-12.  In any case, people whose title is already “pastor” or “shepherd” might think they are automatically being a shepherd.  Titles, however, are not the same as behavior.  This passage enjoins us to act like shepherds taking care of flocks in the way we treat the members in our churches – with care, self-sacrificing love, and genuine concern for their well-being.  This is the opposite of thinking of members as sources of tithes, subordinates to order around, or the numerical measure of one’s greatness as a religious leader.  Rather than seeing ourselves as the commander of a legion or the executive of an organization, we should view ourselves as protectors, guardians, and nurturers.  Too many church leaders think the members are there to serve them, when it should be the other way around.

NOT BECAUSE YOU MUST, BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE WILLING –   We must ask ourselves why we are doing this – why are we pastoring?  Even men in unpaid ministry positions, like those in Maranatha, can find themselves doing things merely to appease or impress their supervisors or the denominational leadership, or out of fear of the church hierarchy.  It is easy to find pastors who hold a flurry of special events (small seminars, special workers’ meetings, etc.) before a local visit from the directors of their organization.  This passage instead encourages ministry “because you really want to,” that is, compelled by a genuine love of Christ and love for the people (see 2 Corinthians 5:14).  Our motivations matter to the Lord, and are probably more obvious to the members than we think.

NOT GREEDY FOR MONEY – The worst reason for doing ministry, which is lamentably common, is that it provides an easier opportunity for income than alternative sources of secular employment – some people are in ministry as a career to avoid having to earn their living through manual labor.  Suppose for a moment that your country outlawed receiving any money or other compensation whatsoever from the ministry or from church members, but otherwise allowed churches to function freely – in other words, all ministry had to be on a strictly volunteer basis, with no salary, no sponsorship from foreign churches, no income or assistance related to the ministry at all.  How many pastors would there be in your country?  In the New Testament period, this would not have changed anything.  We fear that today, very few would be willing to be pastors if they had to support themselves completely with secular jobs, as the Apostle Paul did.  Worse, it is easy to find pastors who are egregious in their greed, begging for donations and then using the contributions to support a life of luxury.  Some will even lie to donors in order to solicit assistance.

NOT LORDING IT OVER THOSE ENTRUSTED TO YOU – The Bible simply forbids authoritarian styles of leadership for pastors, here and elsewhere (Matthew 20:25-26; Mark 10:41-43; Luke 22:25-26; 2 Corinthians 1:24).  Titus 2:15 does mention encouraging and rebuking “with all authority,” but this refers to confidence in the eternal truth of what we are saying, not to our relationship style with the church members.  Do we teach the members to obey us, or to obey the Lord?  Do we expect members to be submissive to the ministry no matter what, regardless of how awful his behavior becomes?  “Lording it over” means reminding the members of “who is in charge,” warning them against “touching the Lord’s anointed” (the person saying the warning), or treating it as a sin when people question things or ask for explanations – instilling fear to manipulate them into submissiveness.

BEING EXAMPLES – We should not expect or require more of the members than we ourselves do.  Pastors must exemplify the level of brotherly love, humility, prayer, study of the Word, and evangelism to which the members should aspire.

Love is not proud. In some ways, this subject is difficult to teach because the New Testament warns against pride in so many different contexts. Jesus forbid pride toward other church leaders or members: “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave…” (Matthew 24:25-27).

The Bible even warns us against boastfulness or pride when doing spiritual warfare (Jude 1:8-10). It condemns nationalistic, cultural, or ethnic pride (Romans 11:17-24; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11; Acts 11:2-18). The Scriptures forbid pride within marriages and families (Ephesians 5:21; see also Ephesians 5:33). Pride about spiritual accomplishments or ministry positions is also unbiblical (Luke 17:10; 1 Corinthians 4:9-13).

Pride manifests itself in all these situations, in many different forms. People instinctively recognize each other’s type of pride more than their own. Insecure, bashful people often view outgoing, confident brethren as overbearing and prideful, while the outgoing, extroverted types tend to view the insecure, reserved people as “aloof” and elitist. It is hard for people to recognize their own pride and address it.

In one person, pride may manifest itself in an aggressive, bombastic preaching style (unfortunately, many in the audience enjoy this). In another, pride takes the form of deep insecurity. Many people feel the need to “save face” all the time or preserve their public dignity. In either case, the desire to feel superior to others, and to have others treat us with reverence, interferes with the Work of the Holy Spirit. It will grieve Him away so that He stops operating there.  We need to cultivate true humility in ourselves.

In this passage (1 Corinthians 13:4-5), Paul lists pride separately from boasting. Paul does the same thing in 2 Timothy 3:1-5). There are two obvious reasons for making a distinction between the two – and for listing them in this order. First, bragging among Christians (and the applause or clapping for the preachers who show off in church services), leads people to believe their own boasting. They often convince themselves that they are superior to others, and become proud. Second, those who are well educated at elite schools usually learn that bragging sounds unsophisticated and unrefined to others from that social class. They have learned to associate “braggadocio” with a poorer background and lack of schooling. Thus, a person may be very proud, but he still avoids all boasting because it makes one seem more dignified and sophisticated.

Jesus modeled perfect love for us. Jesus was not proud. Even though Jesus is God in his very nature, he was willing to behave humbly. He lived as a faithful servant of His Heavenly Father, rather than asserting himself as a “boss” or powerful leader during his earthly ministry. He even took on a human appearance or likeness that hid his true glory. Most people try to make themselves look better – Jesus made himself look a little worse. Jesus was perfect in humility, and we should have his humility in us.

Some cultures elevate those in leadership, expecting leaders to be distant, superior, and aloof, and their subordinates to be extremely deferential and passive. Unfortunately, Christian leaders in these cultures often carry the same values into the church, expecting pastors to receive almost royal treatment from the members. They act like Haman in the book of Esther, who wanted everyone to bow when they met him. Their egos contaminate their anointing for ministry. Jesus did not behave like this. Self-promotion is not Christ-like. We should pray for God to give us true humility. We must be humble toward the church members, humble toward other pastors, humble toward our family members, and humble toward the poor people around us. When we ask Christ Jesus to come into our hearts, we receive him in all of his aspects. Christ indwells us as True Humility, and He wants to live his humility through us.

Ultimately, getting rid of pride must start with truly humbling ourselves toward God. We must have a true fear of the Lord – fear of displeasing Him – in our hearts. Honoring God in every situation is the starting point for avoiding pride. If the fear of God dominates all our thinking and decisions, we will not be “puffed up” with pride.

“Charity. . . is not puffed up…” I Cor. 13:5 (KJV)

Psalm 133 - “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.  It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore.” 

This psalm is a profound prophecy about the unity of the body of Christ in the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to unite God’s true servants together as one body connected to the head – Jesus Christ.  

We see this in the figure Aaron, the High Priest.  God told Moses to anoint Aaron with the precious anointing oil before he could serve in his ministry (Exodus 30:22-31).  To anoint someone with oil represented the seal of God, or the Holy Spirit enabling the person to serve the Lord.  We see this when David was anointed king of Israel by Samuel the prophet.  “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.  So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.”

Aaron, the High Priest, was the first to receive the anointing to serve the Lord in the Tabernacle.  He was the mediator between God and the people of Israel.  Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, Aaron would go in the Holy of Holies with a bowl of blood from the altar of sacrifice to pray and make atonement for the whole nation.  He would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, which was the lid of the Ark of God.

Psalm 133 uses this figure of Aaron as the High Priest to represent Jesus, our Eternal High Priest.  The New Testament says, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, which is not of this creation.  Not with the blood of bulls and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”  (Hebrews 9:11-12).

The figure of the high priest in Psalm 133 represents Jesus after he rose from the dead, glorified in heaven.  Having accomplished His mission on earth He went into the Holy of Holies, into heaven itself and presented His own blood before the Father to make eternal atonement for God’s people.  He is the only mediator interceding before the Father for us and bestowing on us the blessing of forgiveness and life.

The anointing oil used to anoint the high priest was made of spices that yielded a pleasant aroma.  It was made of a mixture of myrrh, sweet cinnamon, calamus (sweet cane), cassia (inner bark of a tree), and olive oil (see Ex. 30:22-31).  All of these spices were made of plants that the priests would crush into powder to mix into the oil.  The crushing of olives also yielded the oil.  All of the spices point to the sacrifice of Jesus, the one crushed for our sins and pierced for our transgressions.  The spices made from plants (inner bark of trees) represents Jesus who came as a man, crushed through his sufferings, yielding a pleasant aroma to the Father.  The sacrifice that pleased the Father now reconciles us to Him through faith.  The blood of Jesus that he poured out represents his life that he brought from eternity and poured out over those who believe.  This pouring out of life came over the church 50 days later with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

The faithful church today is the Body of Christ in this world.  The image of the high priest receiving the anointing oil speaks about the Holy Spirit poured out on this church, the Body of Christ.  It starts at the head, who is Jesus, and runs down though his beard and then on the rest of the body until the edge of his garments.  Jesus is the one who baptizes his church with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit comes to reveal to us the thoughts of Jesus and create in us the mind of Christ.  The oil pouring over the head points to the transmission of God’s will to the church through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit unites the true Body, bringing to it the blessing of life.  This unity created by the Holy Spirit is the only unity that counts before God.  Man-made unity is merely ecumenism, which requires everyone to be a relativist about doctrine, to say that there is no absolute truth.  This is worldly unity, not the unity of the Spirit.

The oil being poured over the head of the High Priest points to operation of the Holy Spirit bringing to the body of Christ the transmission of God’s thoughts, the transmission of His revelation. The passing of the oil through the beard of the High Priest symbolizes the transmission by the Holy Spirit of the words that come out of Jesus mouth, which is the revelation of the Word of God.  “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14).  This oil runs from the beard to the rest of the Body, revealing the sweet fragrance of the sacrifice of the Jesus.  It brings healing, life, and all the blessings that come from the Father.

God also revealed the plan for the High Priest’s garments; every detail of the garment had a spiritual meaning.  It points to the reality that the church is dressed in the garments of salvation given to us by Jesus.  We have on us His garments, the work of atonement, of sanctification that He has accomplished for us on the cross. The detail of the edge of the High Priest’s garment is explained in Exodus 28:31-36: “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.  And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around; a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around.”

The edge or the hem of the High Priest’s garment had bells of gold and pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet sown all around the robe and it pointed to the ministering of the high priest on behalf of the people.  The bells sounded reminding those who were outside not to sin and cause the death of the High Priest as he ministered inside the Holy of Holies on the day of Atonement.  The pomegranates pointed to Jesus Christ (as described in Isaiah 53), as a fruit that does not have a good appearance on the outside but is red on the inside.

Salvation includes sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit constantly reminds us not to sin against the Lord, and produces good fruit in our lives.  “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  (Galatians 5:22).  This fruit is constantly developing, maturing, and transforming our lives to make us like Jesus.  As the fruit develops, the faithful church unites in the bonds of the Holy Spirit.  ”I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

The oil that comes from the head, anointing the whole body and reaching the hem of the garment, points to the complete operation of the Spirit that unites and bonds the whole church to Him.  In it, there is an operation of life.  It transmits life to all who have contact with the anointed body of Christ.  All those who touch by faith the hem of the garment receive life that comes from eternity.  We remember here the story in which the woman who had a flow of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ garment; she received a healing instantly.  Power and life flowed to her as she placed her trust in the Lord and touched his garment.  This is true for all who come to a church that is full of anointing – power and life from the Spirit flows to them, bringing salvation.

This unity of the Spirit is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion.  Hermon is Israel’s highest mountain, located in the most northeastern part of Israel.  In the summer, it is dry during the day.  At night, however, it receives a great amount of moisture blown in by the wind coming from the Mediterranean Sea.  This dew is the only source of water for the plants, which drink from its life-giving source.  At dawn, the dew becomes a cloud of fog mentioned in the Bible as the morning cloud.  As the day warms up, this cloud dissipates, only to return the next morning.  The great abundance of dew brings life to the mountain.  The Psalm mentions that it is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountain of Zion, which is in the south, the mountain on which Jerusalem sits.  The dew from far away – to the North – is supposed to fall on Jerusalem as well.  This is the blessing of the church, the blood of Jesus, which brings abundance of life to the church, also comes from far away (eternity).  There in his Body, in his faithful church, the oil and the dew fall – bringing eternal life to us.

“They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’  But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.  And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.  Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.  The greatest among you will be your servant.” - Matthew 23:6-11

Our flesh craves prestige and power.  The Holy Spirit does not accommodate this trait of man.  In the Work of the Holy Spirit, there is a constant struggle to keep our flesh from interfering with the Spirit’s Work, from hurting God’s project.  The Spirit wants to give glory to Jesus and none other.  Our flesh wants at least a little glory for ourselves.  Some people feel a need to be someone “special” – as did the Jewish leaders Jesus describes in the passage above.  One of the main ways pastors give into this urge is to claim some glorious title, something that sounds better than average, or maybe even better than everyone.  This was a problem in Jesus’ day as well.  The Jewish leaders liked to be addressed as “Teacher” or “Rabbi” – a title for religious teachers that was related to the word for “greatness,” similar to calling someone “Reverend” (a person we revere) today.  Jesus forbid his disciples to use these titles.  He also specifically forbids us from using the title “Father” for church leaders – which, ironically, became the universal title for clergy in the Medieval Catholic Church.

For convenience, we need to have some terms that we use to designate the men responsible over church congregation – some moderate or neutral term that simply sums up the function of the person ordained for this task, rather than ascribing special traits or achievement.  Some denominations use the terms “minister” or “clergy,” which are appropriate.  In Maranatha churches, we usually refer to these men as “pastors,” which describes their role in shepherding a flock that the Lord has entrusted to them (most people do not think of “shepherd” as an elevated title).  We speak of the “ministry” as something that the pastor exercises.  Of course, in other languages (especially non-Western tongues), there may be other terms commonly used as the generic name for a person responsible for a local flock or congregation.  We have seminar classes for our pastors where we teach them that they should never require their members to address them with a title like “pastor,” or rebuke someone for calling them by their name instead.  We want our pastors to be humble men, not lording it over the flock or using their position to satiate their fragile egos or pander to their personal insecurities.

The Lord uses some of our pastors in special ways.  Some are very gifted preachers or evangelists.  Others have an extraordinary number of visions, dreams, and prophecies – detailed revelations from the Holy Spirit – that accompany their ministry activity and edify the whole Body.  Still others have additional useful skills, talents, or abilities that enrich all of our churches.

Even so, we do not give any of them titles besides the simple designation of “pastor.”  We know some of the pastors have a prophetic ministry, but we do not publicly call them “prophets” – this is unnecessary and elevates a man, while the purpose of prophecy is to turn everyone’s attention on the Lord.  We have apostles in our midst, but we do not need to identify them individually.  What matters is the fruitful exercise of their apostolic ministry, not the attachment of titles.

In some countries, we have some pastors who are regional coordinators, overseeing an area with dozens – or even hundreds – of other pastors.  We prefer to call them “regional coordinators” or something low-key and descriptive like that.  Every regional coordinator is in submission to the Body and to the Presbytery (the Body of pastors that governs the Body. Nobody acts independently, without accountability.  We are aware that other churches and movements use liturgical names for such positions, like “bishop.”  Such terms can carry connotations of spiritual superiority, as in the Catholic Church, whereas we view coordination as more of an administrative function.

We sometimes encounter religious movements that use almost ridiculously grandiose titles for the leaders – “Prophetic Bishop,” “Apostle of the Prophets,” “Healing Prophet,” and so on.  In contrast, we believe that “the Lord bestows favor and honor” (Psalm 84:11).  We do not need to claim it for ourselves, assert it through some self-designated title, or advertise it by broadcasting our credentials to the public.  Such vanity is, well, vain and empty.  If the Holy Spirit is using a man in the ministry, it will be evident.  He will not need an official title to back him up, or to bolster what the Spirit is doing.  Of course, other churches have professional ministries or full-time pastors, something we normally do not have in Maranatha.  In contexts where the pastor has turned his ministry into his career and livelihood, it is predictable that competition would emerge as it does in every business, and many professional clergy treat the ministry as a business.  In the business world, titles and positions matter because everyone is competing for first place.  When churches become like a business and the ministry is the pastor’s job, we would expect to see an escalation in the titles that ministers claim for themselves.

Some might object, however, that the original church leaders in the New Testament used an impressive designation (”Apostle”) for themselves.  That is only partly true.  James and Jude introduce themselves in their epistles as “servants,” even though we know they were Apostles.  Peter begins his second epistle referring to himself as a “servant” first and “apostle” second – this verse could be the basis for a whole sermon about which is more important.  Paul does the same at the beginning of his letters to Titus and to the Romans.  Both letters to the Thessalonians use no titles in the introduction.    Paul refers to himself as simply a “servant” at the beginning of Philippians (which fits with the theme of that book), and as a “prisoner” at the beginning of Philemon (which fits with the message of that book, which about being “bound by duty” to release a certain Christian captive, Onesimus).  The point is that the Apostles did not always need to call themselves such.  When they did, there was a good reason.

Paul does introduce himself as an “apostle,” at the beginning of the letters to the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and to Timothy.  Interestingly, these are the letters containing the most guidelines about structure and practice within the churches themselves (handling of spiritual gifts, church discipline, raising new pastors, not observing religious holidays or food restrictions, and so on).  In the era of the New Testament, “apostle” was a descriptive term meaning simply “envoy” or “delegate” – a “messenger” on a specific mission (it also applied only to men, because it involved a legal delegation of authority).  This term did not yet have the churchy, religious connotations it later acquired.  Today, many Christians associate “Apostle” with the “founding fathers” of Christianity – the term has lost all its earlier functional meaning and has take on an air of grandeur and supreme importance for many people.  Similarly, the term “missionary” now has a very specific meaning (someone who travels to another country to preach Christianity, etc.) that it may not have had in earlier centuries.

Paul refers to himself with this descriptive term in cases where he is setting general rules and doctrines for the churches, because his specific role or mission in the early church pertained to this.  He was “sent” or commissioned to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles while the original “apostles” stayed in Jerusalem, reaching mostly Jews.  As the official delegate or envoy commissioned to establish Christianity outside its original cultural context (Israel), part of Paul’s job was to set the protocol for worshipping in a non-Jewish way, with church practices that did not incorporate any Jewish food laws, religious holidays, ceremonies like circumcision, family dynasties of priests, seniority by age, education, or bloodline, etc.  This may seems obvious to us today, but in Paul’s day it was very controversial.  Almost all the Christians before Paul came along were Jewish and kept Jewish religious practices, and Paul was almost alone in pushing to remove these unnecessary cultural trappings from the Work of the Holy Spirit.  Paul knew this was part of his special mission; it was his “job” in the early church, from the Lord’s perspective.  It is not surprising, then, that Paul felt the need to refer his commission as a special emissary (that is, “apostle”) in epistles where he is refuting the encroachment of Jewish “originalism” (”God’s Work started with us”) and establishing official protocol and practice within the Gentile churches.

That was twenty centuries ago.  Today, the term “apostle” has taken on a new meaning, associated more with greatness or leadership than with a specific task.  So then, a young pastor today who has an ambitious or self-confident personality might naturally fancy himself an “apostle,” because most Christians think of this as the highest position or office one can have in the church.  Tens of thousands of Christian preachers call themselves this, and of course, every single one claims that God called him to this office.  Jesus seems to say that “servant” is the best position (and the real Apostles were not afraid to call themselves that instead), and Jesus warns about people who “say they are apostles but are not” (Rev. 2:2).  Calling oneself an apostle does not make it so.  At the same time, we know that some pastors are indeed apostles. The Lord truly gave them this ministry.  Even so, it is wise to avoid the unnecessary connotations that arise from using this today as a regular title in public.  In Paul’s day, it meant he had a job to do.  Today, it sounds pretentious.  We know we have apostles in our midst, but we simply call them “pastors,” and they can still fulfill their calling.  It is better to avoid sounding ostentatious in the church.

The quest for titles was already starting, unfortunately, by the end of the first century.  Paul felt dogged by other (Jewish) pastors who followed him around and took over his churches after he left.  They would apparently tell the new Gentile converts, “Paul introduced you to Jesus, but now we will teach you how Christianity is really supposed to be – based on the original model in Jerusalem.”  These “Judaizers” (those who tried to make Christianity retain its original Jewishness) adopted superlative titles for themselves and broadcast their elevated status. Remember that in the passage above (Matt 23) Jesus warned his listeners that this was a widespread problem within Judaism in his day.  This phenomenon within Judaism of their day crept into the churches along with the other artifacts of Jewish culture.

Paul therefore mentions in a few places, “I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing.” (2 Corinthians 12:11).  Paul understood that no man is anything; only Jesus matters.  We see similar statements in 2 Corinthians 11:5.  Paul also explained, “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.  When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12).  Paul thought each of us should compare ourselves with Jesus, not with each other.  When we compare ourselves with Jesus, we realize we are truly nothing, and we are less prone to elevate ourselves with some new title.

This brings us back to the instructions our Lord Jesus gave us.  “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.  And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.  Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.  The greatest among you will be your servant…”

]]> http://www.maranathaglobal.org/latest/134/feed/ 0 http://www.maranathaglobal.org/latest/5142 http://www.maranathaglobal.org/latest/5142#comments Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:12:22 +0000 dru http://www.maranathaglobal.org/?p=5142 HOW TO PREACH

1 Timothy 4:13 – “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

Galatians 1:11 – “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.”

Every church or religious movement has its own style of preaching. In fact, many full-time ministers are just professionals at public speaking and oratory. In Maranatha, the Lord has challenged us to lay aside traditions and avoid imitating the preaching styles we see around us, especially with “celebrity” preachers. Humility is key. The Lord has called us to abandon our fleshly desire to impress the congregation with our public speaking abilities, and focus instead on transmitting God’s message to the church for that day – no more and no less. The preaching in all our Maranatha churches – thousands of congregations – is rather uniform. We operate as a Body. We do not permit preachers in our churches to deviate from the pattern the Lord has showed us – it is a simple matter of obedience to His Word. Our entire goal is to do what the Lord wants, not what man wants. The following are some guidelines that we give to our newer preachers about the expectations we have in our churches.

Messages should contain the revealed Word, the prophetic message behind the text. Paul says that he did not preach something he made up. Unfortunately, religious leaders often think up their own messages and interpretations of biblical texts. We want to have messages that the Holy Spirit has revealed, nothing else.

The Revealed Word – The Word of God has value for our souls only if it is revealed. The Bible itself says, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6) What did the Apostle Paul mean with this phrase? He did not refer to physical sickness or death, but to a serious spiritual condition. “The letter kills” because the letter cannot give life. Some religious people use the letter exclusively and never attain eternal life. When the Bible speaks of life, it speaks of eternal life, which is from the Spirit. Only the Spirit can give life to the Word. The Bible without the Spirit is dead; it is merely letters on a page. The Spirit must reveal the spiritual meaning of the Word, must reveal salvation through it. The revealed Word is beyond the letter. The revealed Word surpasses reasoning and goes into the realm of the prophetic.

How do we get the meaning the Spirit intends for the Body? The answer is simple: the revealed Word. The Holy Spirit opens the Word to those integrated in the Body, who are pleading in their hearts for the redeeming blood of Jesus to bring spiritual life and light. The revealed Word is what we preach in our pulpits. It is what we seek when we read the Bible. When Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection, he “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” There is a meaning in the Word beyond what mere human intellect can glean from reading the letter. Many have missed this great truth. Only the Spirit, given by the living Jesus, can open our minds and hearts to understand the meaning behind the letter. Even if messages are short and simple, as long as they are what the Spirit wanted to say to those assembled, it is better than any eloquent sermon or catchy rhetoric.

As another example, let us consider three separate instances where Jesus healed blind men. In one case, a blind beggar man named Bartimaeus sat on the roadside in Jericho crying out for Jesus to heal him. (Mark 10:45-47) Jesus simply said to him, “Your faith has saved you,” and instantly he could see. On another occasion (Mark 8), however, Jesus was in Bethsaida, and there he took a blind man by the hand and led him outside the village, where he spat on his eyes and asked him what he could see. The man saw people like “trees walking.” This is the only story where Jesus prayed for someone twice. Jesus prayed again, this time laying his hands on the man’s eyes, and now the man could see perfectly. In a third story, in Jerusalem, Jesus spat on the grounds and made mud, which he put on the man’s eyes. Jesus sent the man to wash in the pool of Siloam, after which the man had perfect vision.

Why did Jesus heal the three blind men in different ways? Why did Jesus not always use a single word, as he did the first time? There are three spiritual lessons about salvation. A blind man is someone who cannot see, who cannot perceive the light. We need light. The prophets said that the people walking in darkness would see a great light (Jesus). Jesus himself said, “I am the light of the world.” Bartimaeus needed light. He illustrates the aspect of salvation where we receive new life and spiritual sight from Jesus the instant we believe – this is salvation by faith. The second man, whom Jesus leads outside the village, illustrates the process of sanctification for those who are saved, which is not instantaneous. Sanctification requires gradual separation from things of the world (shown by taking the man outside the village), and connection with the Body, the faithful church (thus we see the touch of Jesus’ hands when he prays the second time). Many new converts have only partial understanding or partial light. They receive the Word of God (like the water from Jesus’ mouth on the eyes in the first prayer), but they still harbor some worldly practices because they are so accustomed to them; often they do not even see the problem. It takes time for them to develop sensitivity to what things grieve the Holy Spirit. New believers still look at many things from a human perspective – seeing “people as trees.”

The third story illustrates the evangelistic component of our salvation. Jesus uses people in evangelism (man is made from the earth, but carries the Word, the water from Jesus’ mouth – hence, the mud that Jesus applies to the man’s eyes). The mud must be washed away – the new convert must learn to focus on Jesus instead of the human evangelist who brought him to Christ. We owe our blessing to Jesus, not to a man. These are just offered as examples.

THE SPIRIT’S WORD FOR THAT DAY – “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” (1 Cor. 14:26). As in the early church, our preachers meet with a few core members briefly before the start of each service to see what the Lord has already revealed for the service. Usually a few members have had visions, dreams, or revelations about the individuals the Lord wants to touch or the specific needs or problems He wants to address. Once the group confirms that each of these is really from the Lord, not from the members’ imagination (the process of determining what is really from God is the subject of another lesson), the one preaching that day will usually pick a message that connects well with these specific spiritual gifts, hopefully tying them all together. We need to be very sensitive to what the Lord is saying that day – usually He has some specific goal. Immature preachers will go to the pulpit and preach a rousing revival message – trying to excite the crowd – when the Spirit wanted to bring a blessing for those who are praying for their unsaved family members. Worse, an immature man will preach a harsh, rebuking message (because it makes him feel like a “prophet” to do so) on a day when the Spirit wants to bring comfort, or comfort when the Spirit wants to bring a challenge. Vanity puts us out of step with the Holy Spirit.

The preaching in our churches is usually extemporaneous, like in the Bible. When we study the sermons recorded in the Bible, we never see a case where the preacher prepared an eloquent sermon ahead of time. The sermons were more or less spontaneous. Professional preachers like to prepare and have pages and pages of notes. The spiritual preacher knows the Word, receives revelations in the Word, and is prepared to preach any sermon the Spirit wants to bring to the church that day.

It is usually better to preach on a STORY or one of the PARABLES, instead of the doctrinal passages in the Epistles. Many churches do all their preaching from the Epistles, and the members cannot remember any of these sermons, because they are all abstract concepts. You can take doctrines from the Epistles and find stories or parables to illustrate them. Jesus mostly preached with parables. The Apostle’s preaching often dwelt on some stories from the Old Testament. The members - even the children – will remember the entire message if it focuses on a story.