I am writing this to my preaching brethren. But not to all of them. I am writing to preachers who are not currently in local church ministry. There are different reasons for this. Very poor health, and a family struggle, are just two reasons why. You may be seeking a ministry but haven’t found one yet. It may be that you have had to go through a terrible experience in ministry and are wanting to be healed. You may be waiting on the Lord for direction. It may be a time of study and preparation. And of course, there are other reasons. I can’t speak to every situation and wouldn’t attempt it. With this said, I want to exhort preachers who are currently not serving in a local church to begin to do so.
Brothers, we need preachers. We need pastors. If God has called you to preach, to open up God’s Word – that Word that was given to us by holy men and preserved through blood – why are you doing other things? Churches are dying. Souls are lost. Do you have a burden for them? Does the charge you received from the Lord mean something still to you?
I know you can be a witness at work, but that’s what every Christian is to be. Are you not called to more? To be clear I’m not talking about bi-vocational ministry. Bi-vocational ministry is to be honored. I am talking about those who are satisfied working a normal job and not serving in the local church.
You may respond by saying that it’s God’s will for you not to serve in a church at this time. I have no doubt that that can be the case. I do doubt, though, that this will describe most preachers reading this. When houses are on fire, lives being engulfed, and few to help, I suppose there could be good reasons for a firefighter not to get involved. But they better be very good reasons. Preacher, if you died today, what would the Lord say to you? I leave each man to his own conscience and to the Lord to decide where and what you should be doing at this time.