Commenting on an essay he wrote in honor of John Piper, included in "For the Fame of God's Name," Greek scholar William B. Mounce wrote the following on his blog:
"My contention is that a "preacher" who
spends the long hours in the study, reading, writing, practicing, focused on
Sunday morning, can be just as loving as the "pastor" who is always
available, visiting, consoling. A preaching pastor loves his people
differently, by taking the time and energy to seriously prepare to
"proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light" (1 Pet 2:9, ESV)"
Below is an excerpt from Mounce's essay.
... As the stereotypes often go, the “pastor” is viewed as a friendly
person and the “preacher” as not friendly.
After seven years in pulpit ministry I understand how this
happens. There is so much to do, staff to manage and encourage, elders to
train, people to visit, parking lots to plow, and lawns to mow. The pastor
spends his energies loving people one-on-one, and come Saturday night he takes
long hot baths trying to think of something to speak on the next day (true
story I heard).
The “preacher” on the other hand is committed to his craft,
spends time in his study, rehearsing Greek paradigms, reading generally, staying
up on culture, pushing his way through exegesis, crafting the sermon, and
trying to determine how he is going to be misunderstood so he can massage the
message and avoid foreseen pitfalls. But then the assault on his time comes.
He’s not available as much for counseling. He is focused on his sermon between
services, and so he is criticized for not being friendly. He wouldn’t sit by
the bedside of a person nursing the latest hangnail. And he doesn’t have time
to argue about the color selection for the bathroom. And when he suggests that
a person go to his or her small-group leader for support and encouragement, the
preacher is labeled uncaring and the gossip starts.
But I would like to suggest that the preacher is as loving
as the pastor, and my hope is that this will encourage you to study. What is
the most important thing you can do? What are the most significant obstacles
that need to be overcome in people’s lives? I submit that regardless of the
size of a church, the mission of the pastor-preacher is to “proclaim the
excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1
Pet. 2:9). Nothing is as important as that.
... when you stand before your
people to preach, there is nothing more important than what you did in the
quiet of your study. All of the preparation, from the first day in Greek class
to your rehearsing the sermon to an empty room Saturday morning, all your hard
work comes to the forefront, and with confidence and humility you stand before
the expectant people and proclaim the glory of God. At that moment, you aren’t
the church’s plumber. You aren’t the person who has to go to the store to buy
more paper for the copier. You are the herald of the king, proclaiming clearly
and truthfully the wonders of God. If you have done your work, and if God’s
Spirit is so inclined to move, your words will encourage the downtrodden and
chasten the sinners. If you are faithful to your king’s decree, you will love
your people the most important way, because there is nothing more important
than the clear, powerful, rooted-in-truth, Spirit-inspired proclamation of a
vision of the glory of God. Nothing. Preachers love their people every bit as
much as do pastors. Their love is just shown differently, but it is just as
real and just as powerful.
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