Mission: What are we teaching national preachers?

I received an email from preacher who was trained at a preacher training school in Latin America: “I want to preach but I cannot find a sponsoring church in the United States to pay me.”

What? What did this brother learn in preaching training school? Perhaps we need to restudy the New Testament. Does the call to preach depend on finding someone to pay us to preach? Paul supported himself while he preached. Have we developed a faulty view of the call to preach? I fear we have let ministry concepts replace preaching and evangelism. Especially in mission work, we need to rethink the difference between preaching and ministry.

What is the work of a preacher? Quickly—how would you respond? Do we answer with visions of church planting and church development, or do we focus on a pastoral concept of ministry? Isn’t the work of the preacher to preach, to evangelize? The work of Titus on Crete was to appoint leaders, first correcting that which was deficient; but it seems that was for a specific, unique situation, and that the goal was to develop leaders do the lion’s share of the pastoral work.

The church needs more preachers, ministers, and missionaries who are trying to work themselves out of a job by strengthening churches and establishing local leaders who will advance the cause, lead the congregation, and encourage the member to support the work of the local church with their time, activities, and money (which may include a local minister).

Few who have genuinely received the call to preach and evangelize are going to be happy if their work is primarily in the mold associated with “local ministry.” Paul’s words to Timothy provide a helpful reminder: do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your service (2 Timothy 4:5). For Timothy, preaching and evangelism was his ministry.

P.S. I wrote back to the brother and suggested that if he wanted to preach, he should preach. Find a congregation to work with, help build up the local church, volunteer to teach and preach at every opportunity and do it well. Do not worry if you have to work vocationally in order to preach: Preach the Word!

How would you have responded to this brother? How can the church more effectively train national preachers?