Every movement or circle has its unique characteristics. The trait that might stand out the most in those associating with the Baptist Times is preaching. Many would say ours is a “preaching” movement. No doubt the Global Independent Baptist Fellowship (GIBF) has some strong preachers, and the GIBF meetings always involve strong messages that form the character of that particular meeting, along with the personality of the church and hosting pastor. I’m not aware of any segment of this “circle” that believes this emphasis should change. Rather, we are protective of our preaching.
We protect it, in part, because it is becoming an endangered methodology. The biblical character of preaching demands that it be passionate and persuasive, and especially authoritative. Part of the playbook many church planters and pastors are following these days reduces preaching either through quantity or authority or both. The number of services that contain preaching is being reduced, as well as how accurately the message represents the biblical text. Because we don’t see this as healthy or in line with the value Scripture places on preaching, we are protective of this divine non-negotiable.
If you’ve read many of my articles, you know that I am always on the lookout for ditches on both sides of the road. I have learned that where there is great passion there is great opportunity to end up in a ditch. Our passion drives us to be on constant guard as we back away from the ditch our passion so easily reveals to us. That often leads to stepping backward into a ditch we weren’t looking out for. We can take pride in avoiding the ditch we could most easily see, but end up standing in a ditch on the other side of the road, ignorant that we are in a ditch.
As one who fellowships in the GIBF, I am personally persuaded that we are not in a ditch when it comes to preaching. The messages at the meetings are extremely helpful, and the majority represent an honest attempt to deal properly with a text. I seldom hear a message thinking someone had an agenda to push his hobby horse. I love and appreciate the preaching I generally hear in anything related to GIBF.
Because of how the principle of ditches works, though, what I do believe is that while we are not in a ditch concerning overemphasizing preaching, the ditch we have to watch out for involves underemphasizing teaching. If we are going to emphasize preaching because it is clearly called for in Scripture, we have to emphasize teaching for the same reason. Jesus didn’t just preach. He taught. He preached a lot. He also taught a lot. In fact, it seems that His communication with His disciples mostly involved teaching, while His relationship with those He was still trying to reach mostly involved preaching.
We are told to preach because it holds great power, especially when filled with the message of the cross. We are told to teach because we need faithful men to be involved in helping train others.
We are told to preach the Word and be ready to do so at any time and in any place. We are also told to be apt to teach, inclined to insure that the hearers clearly understand what they are to do and why.
Preaching makes us want to do something. Teaching shows us how. Preaching excites us. Teaching instructs us. Preaching often emphasizes emotion, while teaching often emphasizes the intellect. Preaching brings us to a decision. Teaching elaborates on the details.
A healthy church is not just a motivated church. It is a grounded church. Preaching obviously comes from a good preacher. Teaching comes from a good pastor. A solid church needs both. A church will inevitably have difficulty if its pastor is primarily a good preacher on whom the members rely to keep them motivated. What is greater is a pastor who knows how to ground members in the details of what he has preached so that they are capable of understanding the what and why through his teaching.
I am grateful for a number of people in my life who didn’t just tell me I was wrong and challenge me to do right. My gratitude extends to those who taught me what I needed to know so that I could grow further and deeper as I matured.
The GIBF is not in a ditch when it comes to overemphasizing preaching. However, we need to be very careful that we don’t end up in the opposite ditch of underemphasizing teaching. We cannot, and will not, model Christ until our passion is to master both.