MARK 16: 15 (KJV)
… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature.
The above is Jesus’ command or commission to all His disciples. From this commission, we could see that all true disciples of Jesus are supposed to be preachers in the social system. The Greek word translated to “world” in the above scripture is “kosmos” and this Greek word indicates the social system where there are human relationships and interactions.
Now, what is preaching? What true preaching really entails in the context of Jesus’ commission to His disciples on preaching could be seen in the way Jesus did His own preaching at the time of His earthly ministry.
Jesus’ preaching at the time of His earthly ministry primarily involved verbal communication of the divine Word of God to people. For example, the Bible says that “… Jesus began to preach, and to SAY, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17, KJV). Note the word “say” that I have emphasized with capital letters above. The word “say” indicates that Jesus’ preaching involved practical verbal communication that was done personally by Jesus Himself.
So, every Christian as a disciple of Jesus who is supposed to do the kind of works that Jesus did (John 12:14) should follow the example of Jesus on preaching, by doing his preaching primarily through personal verbal communication. Although, the gospel can also be spread through things like books and tracts, verbal communication of the gospel should be done compulsorily by every Christian as far as possible.
Jesus was a serious and effective preacher at the time of His earthly ministry, and we as disciples of Jesus are supposed to be serious and effective preachers like our Master. The reasons we should be serious and effective in our preaching include the following Bible truths:
(1)According to the central Bible reference above, the disciples of Jesus were the only persons who were primarily commissioned to be the preaching beings of the world or social system. This means that true preaching is supposed to come primarily from Christians only. I know that some unbelievers are morally good people who campaign for good character in the society, but they cannot do true preaching. The spiritual state of their hearts cannot make them to do true preaching. They are not qualified and commissioned to preach. Christians are the ones who are qualified and commissioned to do true preaching. So, the quality and quantity of preaching that should be in the social system will not be there, if Christians don’t do their preaching work the way they should do it.
(2) If preaching is done in the right dimensions in the social system, the Word of God will prevail in the social system (Acts 19:20). Since God and the Devil are seeking to rule the social system through the hearts of men who agree with them and hence become their hosts, the will of God will dominate in the social system, when the Word of God prevails in the social system. And if the Word of God prevails in a society, there will not be the atmosphere that will support evil things like robbery, murder, and ungodly dressing, in the society.
(3) As shown in the central Bible reference above, Christians are primarily commissioned to go and preach in the social system, and not to go and take up secular jobs, marry, or do other things to satisfy personal desire. Preaching is the primary work of the commission Jesus gave to His disciples in our central Bible reference above. Any other thing that Christians do in the social system is supposed to be used as a tool through which preaching could be done. So, secular jobs, marriages, and the like, should be tools through which preaching could be done and enhanced. Our priorities will always be wrongly set, if we place these other things above preaching.
(4) Godly character is supposed to be a complement and not a substitute for preaching. Some Christians seem to believe that since they are the epistles of Christ read by men (2 Corinthians 3:2-3), their godly behaviour observed by people in the social system will always be enough to make people to accept Jesus. However, preaching is needed to unfold and proclaim the truths of the gospel to people. So, godly behavior is not just enough to make people to accept Jesus. Godly character is supposed to be a complement and not a substitute for verbal communication of the gospel.
(5)Preaching is the means through which the gospel will reach all the people of the nations of the world (Matthew 24:14, Romans 10:14). As I have said earlier, although the gospel can also be spread through things like books and tracts, verbal communication of the gospel should still be compulsorily done by every Christian as far as possible. In fact, the spiritual, educational, and social circumstances of some unbelievers are such that will never make them to accept Jesus through any method of communicating the gospel, except through verbal communication done by a person who is physically present with them.
(6) Preaching that is done in its right quality and quantity will make unbelievers to be persuaded to accept Jesus, and this will prevent them from experiencing eternal damnation. Preaching that is not done in its right quality and quantity could contribute to what makes some unbelievers hear and don’t believe the gospel, and there is the danger of eternal damnation when people hear and don’t believe the gospel (Mark 16:16).
So, as Christians, let us be strongly determined to operate as no-nonsense preaching beings in the social system every time. May the Lord help us to do this in Jesus’ Name.
