The Trembling Pastor

I want to address this to those currently as pastors, teachers, evangelists, or those aspiring to such an office within the church. This is a call to any man who steps into the pulpit to preach the sacred, divine, Words of God to the people sitting before him. This is meant as a warning, but also as an encouragement, as the grave sanctity of the pulpit is discussed.

There are many ways to serve God and serve the people of God, but none bear as much spiritual responsibility as the ways of evangelists, pastors, and teachers.  Indeed, we are warned in James 3:1: “Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.” Consequently, we must guard ourselves and make sure that we approach these offices with the reverence they deserve as they deal directly with “the equipping of the saints” and the “building up of the body of Christ.” When we step into the pulpit to deliver the Word of God to God’s people it should be done so with fear and trembling for who God is and the responsibility He has blessed us with to share His Word. In this context, the words of John Knox are fitting: “I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit.”

I remember recently at a local conference, while I was talking with my brother Claude Ramsey before he was to speak, someone approached him and asked how he was doing. He responded that he felt nauseous and nervous. This was not because he was afraid of speaking in front of people. It was because he understood the magnitude of the responsibility to share the word of God and to speak with authority the words of God. I commented that the moment a preacher or teacher steps into the pulpit and does not feel at least an ounce of anxiety or nervousness due to the responsibility of preaching God’s Word, then they have failed to grasp the magnitude of the pulpit.

Unfortunately, too often are these offices attempted to be filled by unqualified men. Many have lost this fear of God in their lives and step into pulpits across the world every week to deliver feel-good speeches that tickle the ears of the congregation and leave them without any knowledge of The Gospel and Who Christ is. Many fail in their weekly preparation and steal another’s message, or scribble something hurriedly on a napkin that they can talk about, or, now, may even use AI capabilities to create their sermon and do nothing to study and rightly divide the word of God, failing to meet the mandate of 2 Timothy 2:15 which commands: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

Part of our reverence for the pulpit includes diligent study. We cannot rightly teach the Word of God if we do not spend time in prayer and study over what God has given us. We cannot teach if we do not spend time understanding the context, the audience, the author, and, most importantly, how the text points to Jesus Christ. We must spend time in the study of God’s Word if we are to even begin to endeavor to teach it.

Make no mistake: there is power in the rightly divided Word of God spoken from the pulpit. If you want to change your community, the Gospel must be unashamedly preached from the pulpit. If you want your family to be safe, the Gospel must be unashamedly preached from the pulpit. If you want to see change in your government and politics, the Gospel must be unashamedly preached from the pulpit. We must echo the words of Paul in Romans 1:16-17 which declare “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous will live by faith.’”

We are blessed with the privilege to preach the grace of God. Every message we preach from the Word of God, whether joyous in its tone or somber and sorrowful in conviction should always convey the rest and peace we have in The Gospel and Grace of Jesus Christ. Preach the conviction of sin, preach the commandments of God, and preach the rest and assurance He has so graciously provided us. All of Scripture, Old and New Testament, points to Christ and The Gospel. Enter the pulpit with trembling and leave with the assurance that Paul wrote to the Philippians. “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

STEPHEN BELK
Westminster Covenantalism | Amillennialism
Stephen Belk resides in Tullahoma, Tennessee, with his wife, Jessica, and presently works in IT at Williamson Health. Stephen’s spiritual journey has led him through various churches and denominations, but it was in 2017 that he embraced the doctrines of grace, turning away from a trajectory toward deconstruction and progressive Christianity. Instead, he came to a profound understanding of God’s sovereign grace as revealed through the work of the Holy Spirit. As the host of The Reformed Fire podcast, Stephen is passionate about sharing the Word of God and seizing every opportunity to preach the Gospel and encourage Christians to find our rest and assurance in the perfected work of Jesus Christ.