All Scripture Quotations are Taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95)

This week, we yet again come to October 31st, the anniversary of Martin Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses, which sparked the Protestant Reformation. It should turn our thoughts to the need and means of biblical reformation of the body of Christ in our own day. There are many aspects of the popular form of American Christianity that need reforming, such as unbiblical leadership, distraction from trivial pursuits of western culture, compromises with worldly methods of attraction, and unbiblical teachings.

Among serious-minded and respected evangelical thought leaders, there has been a lot of discussion and encouragement toward the practice of what’s called “preaching” in Christian assemblies. Many well-educated and influential Bible teachers, theologians, and pastors believe that preaching in church services is among the top priorities for ensuring that churches steadily grow in their knowledge, understanding, and obedience to God’s Word. Yet I propose that the New Testament Scriptures written by the apostles themselves do not set forth this kind of “preaching” as the top priority of Christ’s body on earth. Instead of “preaching,” the practice and discipline that is most emphasized as the means of spiritual growth, accountability, and instruction is discipleship and mentorship.

Biblical Preaching

Thus, I contend that Scripture nowhere even describes Christians as engaging in preaching to congregations, let alone prescribes it as a hallmark of local assemblies of believers. On the other hand, what is everywhere enjoined and exemplified in the New Testament is corporate and individual discipleship and mentoring. Now, when I use the word “preaching,” I mean the act of delivering a monologue to a congregation. You don’t find this type of practice specifically described anywhere in the New Testament. By “discipleship,” I mean the process of systematic and personal teaching of groups and individuals, coming from more mature Christians to the less mature. It is the practice of more experienced followers of Jesus teaching the less experienced toward the goal of increasingly obeying His commands and teachings.

Don’t think that I’m saying there’s no place for a proper practice of preaching for believers, but everywhere the New Testament uses the term “preaching,” or “preach,” it’s always in the context of delivering the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, and not anything else. And this preaching seems to almost exclusively be in the context of delivering the message to unbelievers.

I further contend that it’s not preaching to believers that is the greatest need for the reformation of American Christianity, but the brotherly discipleship and mentoring of Christians that is called for. Most of our Christian lifestyles lack any deep and abiding personal relationships with our brethren in Christ, even though we may receive plenty of excellent “preaching” on a regular basis.

Reformation in 2 Timothy

As a biblical example of what I mean, I’d like to show you what Paul wrote to his spiritual son Timothy about reformation in his last letter to him. It isn’t recognized by many, but 2 Timothy is really a call for reformation through the faithfulness of church leaders mentoring future church leaders, and calling other believers to do the same. The situation during which Paul wrote it was seemingly bleak. Several of his very good friends had abandoned him during his trying ministry. He was now near the end of his life, and it seemed that on all sides, believers were abandoning their faith in the face of worsening persecution. False teaching and false teachers abounded, and men “holding to a form of godliness,” but denying its power were increasingly gaining influence among professing believers. It seemed that the “church” that had been established was faltering, compromising, and losing the battle against the forces of darkness.

Paul’s first proposed solutions to the weaknesses of God’s people weren’t better preaching, sermon delivery, or better listening to sermons. Rather, his priorities were to equip church leaders to understand the teachings of the apostles, and to hand them down to others. This is precisely what he urges on Timothy in the second chapter, where he says,

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” – 2 Tim. 2:2

Paul doesn’t even start instructing Timothy on how to preach until the last chapter of the letter, where he famously writes, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (4:2). And in order to show you that this preaching isn’t preaching to believers, but to unbelievers, take note of the reason given for preaching this way –

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (4:3-4)

How could this be speaking of  believers, when Scripture says of us that we love sound doctrine, and that we turn our ears toward the truth? In these words, Paul is describing an unbelieving society, and not a believing one. This is further confirmed by the fact that he immediately calls Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist,” which at heart is the work of preaching the gospel to non-Christians.

In addition to urging Timothy to entrust his divine teaching to future teachers and leaders, Paul also instructs him in various ways of mentoring and teaching the brethren in general. For instance, he tells Timothy to “remind them of these things,” about the necessity of suffering for the Lord, and to “solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words” (2:14). On the other hand, he is to lead the brethren in fleeing “from youthful lusts and [to] pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2:22). Now remember that Paul is writing to a church leader and overseer, and yet when he refers to this shepherd’s relationship to the believers in his charge, he says nothing of preaching, but of discipline and fellowship. He calls a so-called preacher to abstain from particular sins, and to pursue Christlikeness with all who are true believers.

In Paul’s earlier letter to Timothy, there’s a section written that would have been the ideal place for him to emphasize the immense importance of preaching to believers, but it’s not to be found there. In spite of any attempt to force some kind of “preaching” or “sermon-delivering” in this passage, it clearly defines the main public services of elders without preaching:

“Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the . . . reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” – 1 Tim. 4:13-14

Notice that Paul’s first concern for Timothy’s leadership was his example-setting as a shepherd. Only once he reminds him of his first responsibility of showing others how to obey the Lord does he address his speaking to others. And none of the words he uses are referring to preaching. He simply calls Timothy to read Scripture, to exhort or encourage, and to teach the brethren.

From all that Paul tells Timothy when he’s instructing him in the reformation of the professing community of believers, I see nowhere in which he instructs him to enhance his “preaching” to believers. Instead, he is to be their example of godliness, and to teach and encourage them with the truth. Nowhere is it stated that this must be done through prolonged monologues or lectures. In fact, the New Testament doesn’t give a single clear example of such preaching to believers.

The Roadmap to Reformation

To conclude my argument that mentoring and discipleship is needed much more than preaching, please consider one of the most concise passages written by Paul on the means the Lord uses to encourage, instruct, and grow His people. This is from his letter to the Ephesians, and I consider one of the few critical descriptions for understanding the way that the body of Christ works:

“And He [Christ] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some  as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness, in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ . . .” – Eph. 4:11-15

Where in this passage does Paul say that the way in which Christ’s body is built up is through preaching? It uses the word “equipping,” yes, but not preaching. As we’ve already seen, the work of church leaders such as evangelists, pastors, and teachers, doesn’t primarily consist in delivering sermons, but in modeling, counseling, encouraging, and teaching. Further, this passage says that the direct work done to build up Christ’s body is that of “the ministry,” which is from all “the saints.” And he goes on to describe this work as “speaking the truth in love.” This is the heart of discipleship, as believers learn God’s Word, live it out, and teach their brethren to do the same. Let us pray that we will emphasize the common discipleship and mentoring of believers, and not mistakenly think that a weekly or bi-weekly monologue is what will mainly transform Christ’s body from its weakened and compromised state. Reformation comes from discipleship, and not preaching.