The Priority of Preaching

In 1 Timothy 4:13, Paul told the young pastor Timothy, "Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching." In other words, Paul called on Timothy to give priority to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God when the church came together for worship.

I must confess that I am somewhat preturbed by a trend that I see among leading churches in our generation. It seems that worship has become more associated with singing and music rather than the systematic teaching of God's Word. I love Christ-honoring music as good as anyone--choirs, praise and worship, hymns, etc. I love the rich theology that so many of the church's hymns have, while at the same time, I also enjoy the truth that many simply choruses and songs set forth. Yet you and I must be careful that when the church comes together for worship, we must not neglect or devalue the teaching of doctrine. The authority of Scripture can be subtly undermined whenever people desire the emotional over the spiritual. Case in point--testimony time. Have you ever been in those services where people, one by one, testified of what God is doing in their lives? I appreciate those testimonies. I'm thankful for the activity of God in the lives of His people. However, whenever it infringes upon or replaces the teaching of doctrine, as Paul writes here in this verse, it subtly undermines God's Word.

I say that we need the soul-stirring, Christ-honoring music in our worship services. I say we need freedom in our worship services for men and women to testify and stand up and brag on Jesus for what He is doing in their lives! But folks, we also need systematic, sound doctrine declared from the pulpit of our churches. This is Christ's design for His church. Let's be careful that we not become unbalanced and unhealthy, like the church at Corinth.