The Desperate Need for Preachers
I recently spoke with the dean of theology at a major Christian college. I asked him how things were going in the world of Christian education. He said things were going fine at his specific college, but he lamented that the number of students pursuing ministry had dropped significantly over the past few years. That trend is not surprising since church attendance has also been increasingly dropping in America. When a nation becomes secularized, the pool of qualified candidates for tomorrow’s preachers simply becomes smaller.
But make no mistake, there is a desperate need. With so many pastors exiting the ministry and so few candidates coming in, we are looking at a myriad of pastorless churches in the future. Many are closing down. Quite frankly, due to doctrinal heresy, many should close down. But even amongst orthodox Christian denominations, the number of pastors is dropping. Secularization simply continues to eat away at the base.
Warrior-Preachers
Suffice it to say there is a great need for an army of young men to take up the mantle of preaching. We need shepherd-leaders who are warrior-preachers. Not ‘warriors’ in the sense that they are angry, but in the sense that they are preachers who will die for the truth and defend it at all costs (1 Tim 4:13; Titus 1:9). They shepherd God’s people by diligently feeding them the unfiltered Word of God (2 Tim 4:1, 2). They go on the offensive by doing the difficult “work of an evangelist” (2 Tim 4:5). They “suffer as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:3). Warrior-preachers who are willing to unapologetically say, “The Bible says,” and “Thus sayeth the Lord.” And they do it all for the sake of Christ’s honor and the good of Christ’s sheep (1 Pet 5:2).
More than anything else, these men must be men of God (1 Tim 6:11). Perhaps I should pause here to remark on the current state of preaching in America because the dismal state of both preachers and preaching is truly lamentable. No doubt, the lack of qualified men of God contributes to the absence of future pastors and preachers. Why would any capable young man desire to be a pastor when the models they generally see are so pathetic? The worldlines of the American pulpit shines more like the marketing schticks from Madison Avenue than the holy streets of Heaven. I think the issue really is a lack of godliness. To be godly, you must spend time in God’s presence. There is no faking it. There are no substitutes. Great preachers of old devoted themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). These men of God were marked by humility because they saw how small they were in light of God. But they were also marked by boldness because they feared no man after spending time in God’s presence (Matt 10:26-28). The presence of God was with them in a unique way, but it all flowed from the aloneness spent with God. No wonder it was our Lord’s custom to spend the evenings and early mornings alone with God in prayer. “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35). Full of God’s presence, the man of God proclaims God’s Word “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess 1:5).
Taking up the Call
What is the course forward if we are going to be invested in raising up these types of preachers for the future church? Let me give some practical points that I think we can all do to invest in raising up a new generation of preachers.
Model Warrior-Preaching. I thank God for men in my life, such as my father-in-law, Carl Broggi, who has modeled this type of ministry for me. Paul called Timothy to follow him as he followed Christ. My father-in-law has served as my model in many ways for pastoral ministry (1 Cor 11:1). I honestly do not know where I would be without his example. Moreover, men of God such as John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, Steven Lawson, Derek Thomas, Tommy Nelson, Sinclair Ferguson, and many others have served as faithful guides. But all of us in the pastoral ministry are responsible for modeling faithfulness. We must all be warrior-preachers.
Pray for fruit. Ultimately, only God can make a preacher. We can plant. We can water. But God must give the growth (1 Cor 3:6). So we must pray for God to do this work. We have not because we ask not (James 4:2).
Begin discipling men for ministry. Paul said that he imparted the truth to “faithful men,” whom he believed would be able to teach others also (2 Tim 2:2). I heard early on that John MacArthur began training men in theology in his church and then started The Master’s Seminary. Tommy Nelson has trained hundreds of preachers through his Young Guns program. If we want to see preachers raised up, we must act and work to raise them up. We must actively invest in raising the next generation of preachers.
Give ministry away. I praise God that when I was a senior in high school, my pastor, Dr. Duane Brooks, laid hands on me, licensed me as a “preacher of the gospel,” and sent me into the nursing homes to preach every Sunday afternoon. He also allowed me to preach some of the Sunday evening services (one of the benefits of having a Sunday night service!). He brought me alongside him as his intern. He put me in the stream of ministry. Dr. Hershael York did the same for me in Kentucky. Afshin Ziafat did it for me in Texas. There is something about how Barnabas insisted on investing in John Mark (Acts 15:37) and how Paul considered his future legacy as being in Timothy and Titus.
Answer the Call. Of course, pastors can do all of the above, but we also need young men to answer the call. We need men knocking on our doors saying, ‘Here I am send me.’ We need young men of God who will answer what I think is the highest calling in the world—to be a herald of the gospel. As Spurgeon once said, “I wouldn’t stoop to become a king.” Pastoral ministry is devastatingly challenging at times, but I also believe it is the most wondrous calling in the world. There is nothing like proclaiming God’s message in the power of God’s Spirit. So if you desire this life, answer resolutely, answer God’s call, and don’t look back (1 Tim 3:1). Tell your pastor. Begin diligently reading your Bible (you should be already). Study systematic theology. And evangelize everyone who will bend you their ear.
Lastly, if you are a young man with whom this message resonates, I would encourage you to let me know. I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to invest in you as you follow God’s calling upon your life.
