A new preacher won’t fix it
Are you aware that many Christians think the next preacher will be the answer fixing all the problems in the church?
He begins. The sermons are inspiring, enthusiasm is high, and expectations soar.
But before long, disappointment often sets in.
Why does that happen so consistently?
In this episode, we explore a biblical principle that's both challenging and liberating: Jesus never intended one person to carry the church.
Discover why healthy churches grow when every member embraces their God-given role—and how that single mustard seed of truth can transform the way you view your congregation.
I’s sitting with a family during a relative’s surgery. They told me about their new preacher.
He was great.
He preached outstanding sermons.
He was friendly.
He was visiting.
He was perfect!
Then one person said, “I know we’ll be disappointed. We always are.”
You’re correct. That’s normal — if I expect a new person to solve all the problems in our church, I will be disappointed.
No one person can solve all the problems in a group.
A new coach can’t do it.
A new president can’t do it.
A new boss can’t do it.
A new preacher can’t do it.
A new elder (or eldership) can’t do it.
If I expect that, I’ll be disappointed, you’ll be disappointed, and both of us will be disappointed that the other is disappointed.
A new stereo with the latest apps won’t make a rusted junkyard car run great and get good gas mileage.
Filling a decayed tooth won’t repair a broken arm.
A heart transplant won’t cure cataracts.
All these adjustments may be helpful, and a few may be necessary, but none of them will fix the whole body.
A great new preacher won’t fix everything. The key to letting the church grow is for every member to work as they should.
If a chronic symptom upsets you, it’s because you like it the way it is more than what it would take to change it. One person cannot make the church grow.
The best way to find a good preacher is to become the kind of congregation a good preacher would go out of his way to work with.
If I’m waiting for everyone else to reach an acceptable level of function (by my definition of acceptable) before I’ll do what I can, and everyone else has the same attitude, no one will grow, and the church will continue to decline.
Joshua had the right approach:
Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14, 15, NKJV).
Notice the points Joshua makes.
- Here’s what I believe you need to do.
- You may think what I think is the right thing is the wrong thing.
- You have many choices.
- You choose.
- Here’s where I stand.
My goal as an interim preacher isn’t just to help the church find a good preacher. It isn’t in my job description to fix the leadership or the followership. My goal is to help us all grow more into the image of Jesus so others may want to be around us and walk with us to the destination.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. —2 Corinthians 3:18
In Ephesians 4, Paul explains what Jesus wants to give the church to help it grow according to his will.
He gives us gifts so that we
may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. — Ephesians 4:15, 16
Every part of the body is useful and necessary.
My hand can’t see.
Neither one of my big toes can swallow.
My hair can’t digest my food.
My ears can’t walk.
When any member does what they can, with what they have, where they are, that Christian is contributing to the health of the body.
How can we protect ourselves from the false expectation that someone will rescue us and fix all our problems so we can live happily ever after?
Read the Bible, learn from Jesus, receive and use the gifts that he gives us. This will glorify the Father and strengthen the entire church of Jesus Christ.
