Problems with Preachers
Text: (no single text — homiletics/ecclesiology instruction)
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Identify the four categories of preacher-related problems addressed: local, doctrinal soundness, employment, and evangelistic.
- Explain the elder-preacher relationship intended — what the preacher's proper role is and where the problem of "running the church" begins.
- Distinguish the six types of problematic preachers identified and describe what makes each one problematic.
- State how long a preacher should stay at a place and what is implied about salary expectations.
- Identify the problems the outline sees with preachers in politics, and explain his view of the preacher's proper sphere.
Thesis
The problems that multiply with the number of preachers are not primarily doctrinal in the obvious sense — they are structural and character problems that arise when the preacher's role is not well understood or well executed. A church with a clear understanding of what a preacher is for, what authority he does and does not have, and what soundness requires will be better equipped to address these problems before they become church-dividing crises.
Burden
The outline notes that "churches one hundred years ago had no problems with preachers." The observation is not nostalgic; it is diagnostic. The problems he catalogues are the result of the professionalization of ministry — preachers who want to run churches, who compromise for popularity, who create dependency, who enter politics, whose personal financial management is a liability to the congregation. The burden is clarity: clear roles, clear expectations, clear standards.
Introduction
"As the number of preachers increases, the problems multiply." This is not a pessimistic statement — it is an epidemiological one. The larger the pool of preachers, the more likely that any given congregation will encounter the problems the describes. The goal of the sermon is not to discourage churches from having preachers but to equip them to think clearly about what they are doing when they do.
I. Local Preachers
The first set of problems is structural — the relationship between the local preacher and the congregation and its elders.
Churches follow denominations. The denominational pattern for ministry places the preacher as the chief decision-maker of the local congregation. Congregations that have unconsciously adopted this pattern create problems by giving the preacher authority that belongs to the elders. This is not a criticism of preachers who operate under that expectation; it is a criticism of the expectation itself, which mislocates authority in the church.
Preacher wants to run the church. The desire to have decisive authority over the congregation's direction is natural to any person who cares deeply about where things are going. But the church is governed by elders (Acts 20:28; I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), not by preachers. The preacher who wants to run the church has confused his role with the elder's role.
Preachers and elders. The relationship between the preacher and the eldership is the structural question that underlies the entire section. The preacher who serves under a functioning eldership — who presents, instructs, and advises, but does not govern — occupies the right position. The preacher who operates in the absence of elders or around them has a structural problem that will eventually become a relational one.
What should a preacher do? Preach, teach, and evangelize. The preacher's primary function is the word — the public proclamation and private instruction of the gospel. The functions of discipline, governance, and pastoral care that belong to the elders are not the preacher's primary assignment, though the preacher contributes to them through the proclamation of the truth.
How much work should he do? The question is not as obvious as it appears. The preacher who is paid to preach full-time has a different workload expectation than the tent-making preacher. What the resists is the assumption that the preacher's presence should substitute for the congregation's own engagement in the work of teaching, visiting, and evangelizing. The church made dependent on its preacher for everything a Christian should be doing is an immature church.
Should a preacher do the work of elders or members? No — both for structural reasons (this is not his role) and practical ones (this enables the congregation to remain passive while the preacher performs the functions that belong to the body).
II. Unsound Preachers
The second category is doctrinal — but the taxonomy of unsoundness is more nuanced than a simple correct/incorrect binary.
When is a preacher unsound? The question has a doctrinal answer (when he departs from the revealed truth of Scripture) and a character answer (when his life contradicts what he preaches). The outline intends both.
Different kinds of preachers: "Soft" preachers avoid the truths that create friction — they preach around baptism, around repentance, around judgment, around the exclusivity of the church's identity. They are popular because they have removed the offense of the gospel while retaining its vocabulary. "Plain" preachers speak clearly and fully — "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27) without omission and without apology. The term is the characterization of the faithful preacher as opposed to the accommodating one.
Preachers teaching false doctrine. The most obvious form of unsoundness: departing from what the New Testament teaches on a specific question. This includes the full range from small theological adjustments to major doctrinal departures. The congregation needs to know both what the truth is and who has authority to speak it.
Worldly preachers: the preacher whose lifestyle is indistinguishable from the world around them — whose use of money, time, entertainment, and social relationships does not reflect the call of the gospel. The worldly preacher has not only compromised his own discipleship; he has preached a visual sermon every day that contradicts the verbal one he preaches on Sunday.
Compromising preachers: preachers who trade doctrinal clarity for social comfort — who soften positions in the presence of those who object, who adjust the sermon based on who is in the room. The compromising preacher is not necessarily dishonest; they may simply be more afraid of disapproval than committed to truth.
Popular preachers: popularity is not necessarily a problem, but when it is sought rather than incidentally received, it becomes one. The preacher who calibrates his message to maximize his audience has made the audience's approval the measure of the message's success — which is the precise inversion of the preacher's actual responsibility.
III. Employment of Preachers
The third category addresses the practical questions of the preacher's relationship to the congregation as an employer.
Who should employ or dismiss preachers? The eldership, in consultation with the congregation. The preacher who is employed by a powerful individual or family has a structural loyalty problem. The preacher who can only be dismissed by the same body is a protected position that may not serve the congregation's welfare.
How much salary? Enough to support the preacher and their family so that they can give themselves to the work. "The laborer is worthy of his wages" (I Tim. 5:18; Luke 10:7). the does not specify a number — the principle is adequacy without excess, support without indulgence.
Preachers and their debts. A preacher whose personal finances are in disorder is a liability to the congregation's witness and to the gospel's credibility. The financial standard for the bishop (I Tim. 3:4 — "manages his own household well") applies to the preacher by principle. A man who cannot manage his household cannot manage the word he has been given to preach.
How long should a preacher remain at a place? Long enough to do genuine good; not so long that the preacher becomes the institution rather than an instrument of the institution. the does not specify — the principle is effectiveness, not tenure.
IV. Evangelistic Preachers
The fourth category addresses preachers who work primarily in an itinerant or evangelistic capacity rather than as settled local preachers.
The evangelist and local preacher. The two roles are distinct. The evangelist plants churches, preaches in new territory, and moves on; the local preacher serves a specific congregation over time. The problems arise when the two roles are confused — when the evangelist tries to settle the churches he plants, or when the local preacher operates as though his primary responsibility is to the brotherhood rather than to the congregation he serves.
Special sermons of preachers. Gospel meetings, lectureships, debates — these are the occasions when the visiting preacher brings a message calibrated to a specific evangelistic or instructional purpose. The quality of these occasions depends on the quality of the preparation the preacher has done, not on novelty or performance.
Preachers in community work. The preacher's participation in community activities — civic organizations, charitable efforts, social programs — is appropriate when it does not compromise his primary function and does not give the impression that the church is a community service organization rather than the body of Christ. The problem arises when community engagement becomes the preacher's primary identity.
"Preachers' meetings." the quotation marks indicate ambivalence. The gathering of preachers for mutual encouragement, instruction, and coordination is legitimate; the gathering of preachers to form a de facto governing body for the brotherhood is not. The church is not governed by preachers any more than by denominational structures.
Preachers in politics. The preacher who enters political life — who campaigns, endorses candidates, or uses the pulpit for political advocacy — has divided his allegiance and compromised the universality of the gospel's appeal. The gospel addresses all people across all political affiliations; the preacher who makes political choices from the pulpit has narrowed the audience the gospel is meant to reach.
Preachers' wives. The wife of a preacher is not a co-minister by default. She is a Christian woman whose husband's role has specific demands on their household. the does not elaborate here — but the mention reflects the reality that congregations sometimes place expectations on the preacher's wife that are properly placed only on the preacher himself.
Application
Two applications for the congregation:
Know what a preacher is for. The preacher is for the word — public proclamation, private instruction, evangelism. He is not for governance, administration, pastoral care exclusive of the elders, or the performance of the functions that belong to the whole body. A congregation with clear expectations will produce clear relationships.
Know what soundness requires. The "soft" preacher is not a safe preacher — he is a preacher who has decided that your comfort matters more than your soul's welfare. The faithful preacher will preach the whole counsel of God, including the parts that are uncomfortable. That faithfulness is the thing to look for and to protect.
Conclusion
"Churches one hundred years ago had no problems with preachers." The observation at the opening of the sermon is not an argument for turning back the clock; it is an argument for recovering the clarity that made those churches functional. The problems the catalogues are the problems of a movement that has forgotten what preachers are for — and the solution is to remember, clearly and specifically, what the New Testament says about the role.
Invitation
The preacher's commission ends with the hearer's responsibility. If the preacher is obligated to preach the whole truth, including repentance and baptism, the hearer is obligated to respond to the whole truth — not a filtered version arranged for comfort.
Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Repent. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). The faithful preacher has delivered this truth; the response is yours to make.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feed the flock | poimainein | to shepherd | to shepherd | the verb encompasses leading, protecting, and providing for; it is the elder's commission, not the preacher's; the confusion of these roles produces the "preacher wants to run the church" problem identified here. | Acts 20:28 |
| Sound | hygiainousēs | healthy | "sound doctrine" is healthy doctrine, the kind that produces spiritual health in those who receive it; the "unsound" pre | "sound doctrine" is healthy doctrine, the kind that produces spiritual health in those who receive it; the "unsound" preacher produces spiritual illness — not necessarily immediately, but inevitably; soundness is a medical metaphor applied to the health of the congregation's doctrinal diet. | II Tim. 4:3 |
| Debtor | opheiletēs | one who owes | one who owes | the preacher's relationship to his hearers is one of obligation, not voluntarism; the congregational relationship that creates that obligation is not a contract but a commission; the preacher who forgets this and begins to serve his own interests has violated the terms of his role. | Rom. 1:14 |
| The whole counsel of God | pasan tēn boulēn tou theou | every aspect of God's revealed will | every aspect of God's revealed will | Paul's claim is comprehensive; the "soft" preacher who omits the offensive parts has not preached this; the congregation that wants the omissions has asked for a reduced gospel. | Acts 20:27 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Elders to feed and govern the flock | I.3 | Acts 20:28; I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9 |
| "The laborer is worthy of his wages" — salary | III.2 | I Tim. 5:18; Luke 10:7 |
| Manager of his household well — financial standard | III.3 | I Tim. 3:4-5 |
| Four-link transmission — pass it on to others | IV.5 | II Tim. 2:2 |
| "I did not shrink from the whole counsel of God" | II.1 | Acts 20:27 |
| Baptism for remission of sins — full truth the preacher owes | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 126. Primary text: none stated (ecclesiology/homiletics instruction). OCR corrections: "INTRODUCTI ON" → "INTRODUCTION"; "lJ." → "II."; "lll." → "III." Doctrinal audit: elder authority over church governance affirmed (Acts 20:28; I Tim. 3; Titus 1:5-9); "soft" vs. "plain" preacher developed as the accommodating vs. faithful distinction; preachers in politics identified as a problem because it divides allegiance and narrows the gospel's universal appeal; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
