How will they hear without a preacher?
The title of my post comes from Romans:
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:13-15 ESV)
What context did Paul have in mind when he asked the question, “And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” If we read the question in context we understand that Paul is talking about “preaching” to those who have not called on the Lord, who have not believed in him, and who have not heard of him.
What does this mean? The audience for the “preacher” in this passage is not composed of the church or believers. Instead, the “preacher” is sent to those who are not yet believers – that is, to unbelievers. (If we read the broader context of Romans chapters 9-11, we’ll see that unbelievers are Paul’s focus.)
In other words, Paul is not talking about what takes place every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night in so many churches… what we call “preaching.” Instead, Paul is talking about “preaching” (that is, proclaiming or announcing) the gospel to those who are not believers.
It’s past time for us to start using words properly, and stop confusing definitions and biblical mandates.
Agreed!
It’s past time for us to start using words properly, and stop confusing definitions and biblical mandates.
Amen!! Thank you for saying this so plainly.
But there are unbelievers in the church right?
So how are those unbelievers that come to our church going to hear, unless our preacher preaches to him? The Reformers are shifting in their graves right now, some may be ready to drown a heretic in NC!
Lionel, I think Paul answered that question in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. Although I get the impression you are asking the question with tongue in cheek 😉
Argh, you beat me to it! I had a post queued up on this very thing. Ah well, I am posting it tomorrow anyway.
8) @ Steve
Lionel,
Thanks for inspiring my next “Scripture… As We Live It” passage. 🙂
-Alan
Oops… I already did that “Scripture… As We Live It”: http://assembling.alanknox.net/2008/08/scripture-as-we-live-it-13/
I’m glad that I checked.
-Alan
Alan,
All I can say is “Hear! Hear!”
I understood that passage of Scripture, in exactly the sense you describe, over 50 years ago. It was the catalyst for entering, what in those days was called, by the terribly misleading misnomer, “full time ministry”. I was so moved by it that I wept over those who hadn’t heard, and determined to teach others to be “preachers”.
How are you Aussie J? God bless and Happy New Year!
Great post Alan…
Alan and others,
I appreciate this blog. Very interesting. I like this post. It is true that the audience in Romans 10 was those who had not yet believed Christianity. It seems interesting to me that the end of the passage quotes Ps 19, and that passage is about the voice of the creation, not a man.
On another angle, there must have been a way that the servant of God spoke to the people of God as well, for Paul put Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete for the maintenance of the flock.
Comments about that?
Rich
Rich,
I don’t think Scripture tells us that “the servant of God” should speak to “the people of God”. I think the work of edification – the process of growing toward maturity – is a responsibility and function of the entire church. In other words, God can choose to speak through any of his children, not just a specific “servant of God”.
-Alan
Alan,
I need to clarify my comments. I do believe there is to be mutual edification. No question. Many posts here about 1 Cor 14 show that to be the case.
My post is meant to ask the question of where the person with the position of Paul or Timothy or Titus fits in.
It seems to me there is a place for him/her. Perhaps not in the way we see it done – the preacher in the pulpit, no real connection to the flock.
What would that place be or look like?
Rich
Rich,
Thanks for clarifying! I think the church will always need mature brothers and sisters to help them. I would suspect that this need would be more significant when the church is filled with new/immature believers. This seems to be the role of Paul, Timothy, Titus, etc.
-Alan
Preach on, Bro. Alan…You must be eavesdropping and quoting me without my permission! 😉
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t preach this sermon…”It’s past time for us to start using words properly, and stop confusing definitions and biblical mandates.”
Ten Amens.
Lo lamentable es que se usa el púlpito para autopromoción personal, el púlpito es una linea divisoria entre clero y laico
Guy,
It just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it. Maybe I should write a sermon series based on that statement…
Juanjo Gómez Serrano,
SÃ. En su lugar, todos debemos predicar el evangelio.
-Alan
I agree whole-heartedly!
Out of curiosity, have you found what takes place every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night in so many churches… what we call “preaching†anywhere in the Bible as an activity of the church?
That kind of preaching is not just absent in the Romans passage you cited, but in the entire New Testament.
Blessings – Stan
Stan,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I’ve found quite a bit in Scripture about the purpose for the church gathering together. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I started this blog.
-Alan
I was actually referring to “preaching” the way it is done today. Sorry for not making that part of my comment clear. There is no doubt the followers of Jesus gathered together, but there is no Scriptural evidence that a “preached sermon” to a gathered group of believers was a New Testament practice.
Stan,
No, I haven’t found any evidence of preaching to the church in the NT either.
-Alan
Agreed! Thanks Alan.
Thank you, Alan, for keeping the language clear, as well as the thought behind the words expressed in scripture. My friend Jon Zens has a whole new book on this and closely related subjects, “The Pastor Has No Clothes”: http://www.jonzens.com/?page=shop/flypage&wt=1.00&product_id=311&CLSN_2419=1313100007241916b4c0ff8219bcb13d
Funny. I just finished reading a book this a.m. that says Romans 10 is referring to giving sermons. I’m writing a review today on the book and point out that he has that wrong, mostly.
Preach it!
It’s amazing how simply obvious things like this are in scripture, and yet how non-obvious they are to much of today’s church. Our methodology has become our theology, and it affects the way we interpret God’s Word.
thanks for re-posting Alan
ohhh if only we used words properly!!
Thank you for this! 🙂