Is Everyone To Preach The Gospel? Or Only Teachers Or Pastors Or Evangelists...?
- Thread starter aha
- Start date
As Christians, we recognize need in our communities, and find ways to address it. Sometimes we have to be pretty creative in addressing all kinds of need. Where there is need for food or shelter, we offer it. Where there is need compassion and community, we offer it. Where there is need for the transforming power of Christ, we offer it, and I think that need is evident everywhere.
1 Cor 9:19-23
...I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
2 Cor 5:14-15
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So are we obligated to preach the gospel?
We are compelled by Christ's love to live for Him and not ourselves, which means doing all things for the sake of the gospel.
If we observe our communities and see that there is a need for Christ's transforming power in people's lives, shouldn't we be willing to allow ourselves to be compelled by Christ's love to offer that gospel to those who need it?
I Peter 2:9 __ "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people: that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light."
We have been chosen to be priests of the Most High God: and we should exhibit His virtues. Even as we were called out of darkness, so should we call those in darkness into His marvelous light. I do not say that we should call anyone into the light of our minister, church, or denomination. For though they may have a flicker of light, only the Lord can bestow the light that "...lights every man that comes into the world."
We have been chosen to be priests of the Most High God: and we should exhibit His virtues. Even as we were called out of darkness, so should we call those in darkness into His marvelous light. I do not say that we should call anyone into the light of our minister, church, or denomination. For though they may have a flicker of light, only the Lord can bestow the light that "...lights every man that comes into the world."
In his sermon my pastor told all us in the congregation we are all to preach the gospel to those who give us the opportunity to do so, or the situation arises for us to come forth and plant the seed of the gospel of our Lord. By preaching he doesn't mean to get on the pulpit and for us to give a sermon, but he says that we are all disciples of the Lord's gospel and when leaving the church building to go out and spread His message of hope and promise to all. We are all His foot soldiers... <><
Very good, Beloved. "Whosoever shall direct his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of God."
Re
Revelation 4:4 Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.
Matthew 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Revelation 4:4 Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.
Matthew 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus Freak
Previously DanaCovert68
Mark 16:15
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
From this verse, I say all of us are to preach the gospel to all the world. And not just teachers , scholars, people with heavy knowledge. By heavy knowledge, I mean knowing every single thing about it that us layman know.
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
From this verse, I say all of us are to preach the gospel to all the world. And not just teachers , scholars, people with heavy knowledge. By heavy knowledge, I mean knowing every single thing about it that us layman know.
Yes, everyone can preach Matt 28:19.
The problem though with good teachers is that many go solo and get a following, then set up churches whilst never coming under any authority / in submission to qualified and respected elders. Teaching and leadership at a church / congregation should be given to a respected pastor / priest entrusted by elders who are / should be ever present / if not running things. 1 Tim 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching Acts 14:23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (plural), to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Qualifications of elders = Titus 1:6-9; 1 Tim 3:1-16
Last edited:
You are so very right my brother! We see it here on this site all the time when the word "Denomination" is used.
Because a man does not aligh himself with a Bible believing group, he does not have to learn, and conform to the Word of God , but instead teaches his people to conform to HIS understanding instead of the Word of God!!!
When there is no authority to direct, advise and guide, the result is what you see on Christian web sites all over the land. The Word of God is changed to fit the person and not the person to fit the Word.
Hence there comes teaching that we must WORK to be saved. We must be baptized to be saved. We must speak in some kind of tongue that no one understand to prove we are saved. And so on and so and so on...........
Be ready to give an answer to any man for the faith that has been planted in us...1 Peter 3:15 calling all believing diaspora Jewish members of the church...not just pastors and teachers who are people with a calling...so yes we are to share the gospel at every opportunity and not always by speaking....also some can be the gospel in their lifestyle attracting others to ask "How are you so happy?" or "How can you have such peace amidst such trials?" etc.,
All members of a body are not the same. Some are mouths (which can articulate, defend, teach, etc.,) but others are hands (being the gospel in service to others), or even feet (carrying the word to other places with their tithes, talents, and other assets...)....Joshua nor Aaron were Moses....we see the deacons and other members of the 70 also going out
All members of a body are not the same. Some are mouths (which can articulate, defend, teach, etc.,) but others are hands (being the gospel in service to others), or even feet (carrying the word to other places with their tithes, talents, and other assets...)....Joshua nor Aaron were Moses....we see the deacons and other members of the 70 also going out
There are many churches and whole denominations who teach unsound doctrine like, "we must WORK to be saved. We must be baptized to be saved. We must speak in some kind of tongue that no one understand to prove we are saved." Yes there are churches that believe sound doctrine, but unless a person is saved and being guided by the Holy Spirit they won't know which ones are giving sound doctrine and which ones are preaching false doctrine.
Hi Olivia (no I'm only a beni-Elohim) but how does this answer the OP...can you clarify? Thanks...
One thing i see here in NY where i live is that there are so many ''churches'' that spring up from what seems the night before. My pastor asked the question and it has stuck in my mind since and that is so many call themselves with many titles, and they will go to a school which will give them a degree in ministering, then open up a church in a rented store with various names and that church starts... my church pastor asked who is looking to see what they are teaching to the ones that do attend...? Who monitors their behavior and their sermon that what they read in the Bible and then preach to the congregation is the intended message of our Lord ...? Very little expenses, salary goes up as he/she gets more to come in and then another place is bought or rented and there is expansion ( i remember my ex-husband who used to admonish his mother because she was poor yet she persisted in giving 10% of her money to the preacher of a certain denominational church -not Protestant or Catholic, and he would show her how they all came in rags and left in mercedes) . Please, understand, i am NOT bringing this out to say that they are all not of God or that in any way they are all not teaching God's message. It just seems like one wants to be the owner of a restaurant and that just because the person gets the idea and thinks they can cook, they may or may not go to a culinary school or have any real knowledge of food, and present their dishes, their style of cooking to the people, and they may season the originsl dish in many different personal ways they want and feel it should be. Not to say it does not taste good but it is not the original dish nor the original intended flavour.
What is the sacrifice or what are they dedicating to God to become the mouthpiece to our Lord Jesus...? Is that completed course with which they get a degree their license of practice in the Lord's ministry ( i googled and saw that one can even become a pastor with an online degree ), and is that all they give up to be a leader of our Lord's gospel ...?
Initially, faith is of God: it's God calling man to Himself. "...and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God...". Jesus believed in us!
Faith then enters the heart: it is conceived by the word of God through the preaching of the Gospel. It first brings forth the fruit of repentance; which is, believe that God is righteous and that one is a sinner, and that one needs a Savior. "I preach unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven for His NAME'S sake".
Faith, when it begins to mature, also begins to reach man's understanding (mind/soul) and begins to "...transform...by the renewing of your mind...:. So man begins to "think" differently; and even "walk" differently, as in a different direction. Like Abraham, we are called to continue walking until we are told to stop...man begins to obey! And man will obey the Spirit of the Lord, except he listens to "...another gospel...", and even begins to walk by his own logic...
Except a believer submits to God, he will cannot be able to "...cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God...". For THAT is where the battleground is. Whosoever wins the mind, will win the body. And how can we tell who is winning the battle? By either the obedience or disobedience of the body.
Faith then enters the heart: it is conceived by the word of God through the preaching of the Gospel. It first brings forth the fruit of repentance; which is, believe that God is righteous and that one is a sinner, and that one needs a Savior. "I preach unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven for His NAME'S sake".
Faith, when it begins to mature, also begins to reach man's understanding (mind/soul) and begins to "...transform...by the renewing of your mind...:. So man begins to "think" differently; and even "walk" differently, as in a different direction. Like Abraham, we are called to continue walking until we are told to stop...man begins to obey! And man will obey the Spirit of the Lord, except he listens to "...another gospel...", and even begins to walk by his own logic...
Except a believer submits to God, he will cannot be able to "...cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God...". For THAT is where the battleground is. Whosoever wins the mind, will win the body. And how can we tell who is winning the battle? By either the obedience or disobedience of the body.
Oh man, I grew up on a Bible college campus, and I can't tell you how many times I wondered that same thing. At the time, what I thought I was observing was a lot of different people training to be pastors, all believing different things and being unable to resolve disputes among them, but then going out into the world waving their "official qualifications" about, looking for "flocks" to indoctrinate with their own brand of teachings.
Of course, it turned out, that wasn't how churches actually worked. I've been a part of lots of churches, and one thing I've observed is that the people with the official titles are rarely the most influential leaders in churches. Congregations which have at least a few spiritually mature "unofficial leaders" are usually more than aware of their responsibility to keep an eye on what's going on behind the pulpit, so to speak. What's taught in sermons in formal meetings rarely represents what's actually being taught by the most influential leaders in a church. "Keeping an eye" on what happens in formal church meetings is good, but formal church meetings are not where the most influential, life-changing things are taught or learned.
But if leaders, official or not, watch over the flock in churches, it is a legitimate question: who watches the watchmen?
I spent quite a bit of time with Mennonite churches in Canada, and I learned a lot about the way the body of Christ should work by the way they organize authority. Basically, individual Mennonite churches don't answer to a central authority on spiritual matters, but each church leadership is responsible to know what's going on with all the other local-ish church leaderships, and each leadership is responsible to submit to all other leaderships. I thought that was really beautiful, and, not that there were never problems, but it's an impressive declaration with a lot of wisdom to it: leadership is submission.
I think God has a certain flair for using the weak, lowly, and least of all among us to humble the wisest, strongest and most revered among us. Where the top serves and submits to the bottom, there you have a church that's the most likely to be consistently producing sound teaching, both inside and outside of formal meetings.
Last edited:
Here ya go... plain and simple.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV) And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Hello Paul,
It's always important to think about what we confess about ourselves. So Paul, as I am sure you see this is a response to another post, you must definitely know why I wrote it. However, since you are offended that I didn't respond to the opening post (I assume that is what op means), I will do so. As a side note first I will say (since I believe this is why you wrote this response to me, but you can correct me if I am wrong), I understand your position on baptism is not as mine. You believe that it is necessary for salvation. I believe that baptism or any work for that matter is not. If you want to continue the baptism discussion with me you can re-open a thread regarding it (although the last one was closed and may get the same outcome again) or you can discuss it with me in a private conversation if you feel it is necessary if you are offended by my comment. My comments are not ever with the intention to insult someone, but they are to cause division (that is rightly dividing the word of truth).
Nevertheless in response to the op, we are to expound the gospel at every chance we can and we should create as many chances as we can. Someone who is truly saved knows everything they need to for imparting an understanding of salvation to another. Every believers main goal in life should be spreading the good news. If you know someone could be damned for eternity, how can you not do so? Christ puts love in the believers heart that causes an overwhelming desire in them to see people saved.
Some bible verses include:
Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We need to be those workers.
Ezekiel 3:18 says, "When I say to a wicked person, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood."
Paul references the Ezekiel verse in Acts 20. verses 20:25-27 say, And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 26Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Maybe you are the only chance for someone to ever hear the gospel. Do you want to know that you didn't take the opportunity.?
I think we say a lot to each other that we preach and declare the gospel in our daily lives, but it is so true that those who are lost, watch us very closely. We claim and declare we are the children of God, yet we are so full of errors oft times? But in grace, even the unsaved can see Gods hand upon us, that He is a kind , gentle and full of mercy.... In legalism all they can see is our hypocrisy.
It is true that when a believer is walking in God's Spirit, others often know they are a believer before anything is even said.