Redefinition Series: You’re Preaching to the Choir!
According to scripture, we are living in perilous times. We were warned that false prophets and teachers would rise and deceive many. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church stated that there would be a great “falling away” or apostasy. This apostasy was not a condition of the unsaved, but rather the professors of Christianity. John said in his letter to the Church:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Gone out into the world from where? John answers this:
“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” 1 John 2:18-19 NASB
He informed the Church; the antichrists were going out from within the Church. But how can this be if the Church is governed by the Holy Ghost who leads us into all truth?
It is because many of the ministries have leaned into their own understanding about the work, and erroneously taken out of context when and where to preach and teach.
Preaching and Teaching-What’s the Difference
Let’s first establish that there is a difference. In Matthew 4:23 there is a clear distinction in the work of Christ concerning preaching and teaching:
“Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.”
We can immediately see that not only were the two distinctly different, but the setting of the two were as well. Teaching was done in the synagogues and preaching was done amongst the people outside of the synagogues.
The Greek word for “teaching” is διδάσκω didaskō.
And for “preaching” it is κηρύσσων kēryssō.
When we conduct research of any concordance or Bible word study, in all instances, we find Jesus or his disciples preaching in the presence of the lost or unsaved. This is what preaching is, the proclamation of the gospel of the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. It is infused with an invitation to come to salvation.
Paul engages us with a question in Romans 10:14-15:
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Preaching is supposed to be conducted in the presence of unbelievers; the Bible is clear on that. Therefore, signs and wonders FOLLOWS them that believe. The commission commands us to GO not sit. When we go OUTSIDE of the building to reach the lost, the authority to operate in signs and wonders is available to us because, when necessary, this power will confirm and validate the gospel.
Once an unbeliever is saved and becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ, they must now be taught.
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…” Ephesians 4:11-14 NKJV
Verse 14 gives us the purpose of teaching, so the babes in Christ will no longer be immature. This immaturity is an instability that leaves them vulnerable to being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Without a firm foundation that only teaching can produce, these babes will devoted themselves to seducing spirits and the doctrine of demons.
In this age, many leaders have spoiled the fruit with an oversaturation of sensationalist and emotionally charged preaching, withholding the proper nourishment and stabilization in the fundamentals. What happens is that they develop with great zeal but unable to defend the faith or rightful handle the word of truth. Because they are built for godly development when they do not receive the meat of the word, they become restless and develop “itching ears”.
The great apostasy (or falling away from the faith) isn’t attained by some great trick of the enemy, but rather irresponsible leadership failing to teach the flock, opting to feed them theatrics and entertainment until they no longer have an appetite for truth.
We have to stop preaching to saved folk and start teaching them. Stop trying to put on a great Sunday performance and begin equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. There are too many malnutritioned, under developed and stunted potential all because we fail to understand the definition and difference between preaching and teaching and the audience they belong to.
