I recently had a conversation with a pastor who was developing some training material for pastors in Africa. He had asked me to review the material, and when I asked him why there was such a low emphasis on preaching, he said to me, “I don’t buy into this ‘preaching is everything’ mentality.”

He went on to explain that some pastors act as if all one needs to do is preach and teach the Bible to grow a congregation in a healthy way. He believed there were more important priorities that pastors need to focus on, such as fellowship and evangelism.

As he was still looking for feedback from me, I had three responses:

1) First, I don’t know of any pastor who only preaches and teaches the Bible. All Christians should engage in fellowship and evangelism. Since pastors are Christians, they should naturally be involved in activities that all Christians are called to do.

2) Second, there is a severe underemphasis today on the importance of preaching the Word.  Preaching and teaching are essential shepherding activities.

If someone says their pastor is a good pastor but he is not a good preacher, they don’t have a right understanding of what pastoring involves. A pastor is a shepherd of people. If a literal shepherd of sheep nurtured his sheep, hugged them, combed their wool, protected them from wolves, but never fed them – would anyone think that he was a good shepherd?  How is it that we could think a pastor who does not feed his flock well from the Word is adequately doing his job?

3) Third, the phrase “preaching is everything” can be helpful because it reminds pastors of their God-given responsibility to faithfully proclaim the Word of God. However, for those uncomfortable with that phrase, perhaps they could at least embrace this one instead:

Preaching affects everything

The preaching ministry of a pastor is directly related to every other ministry he is involved in. Consider preaching’s impact on the following six areas:

Fellowship

If there is a lack of genuine fellowship in the church, what means should a pastor use to promote fellowship? The best way to encourage true fellowship is to preach through passages from God’s Word that help people understand their responsibility to other members of the body of Christ. It is significant to note that that in Acts 2:42 when the early church was “continually devoting themselves” to “fellowship,” they were also devoting themselves to the “Apostle’s teaching.” The two go hand in hand.

Counseling

Counseling others from the Word is related to preaching. A pastor who has studied, understood, applied, and proclaimed a passage of Scripture is well-equipped to share it with individuals who need to understand and apply its principles as well. In Acts 20:32 it is God and the “Word of His grace, which is able to build you up.”

Holy Living

True preaching involves sincere study with personal application before the text is preached. The more a pastor prepares to preach the Word, the more the rough edges of his life will be chiseled away by the sanctifying power of the Word. It is no coincidence that passages which speak about progressive sanctification are within the context of gaining a better understanding of God’s Word (cf. Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). As the preacher helps his congregation understand the Scriptures better, the process of sanctification is at work in his life and in the lives of the hearers (1 Peter 2:1-3).

Guarding the Flock

The primary way a pastor can guard his flock from error and temptation is through the proclamation of the Word. When Paul instructed the Ephesian elders to “be on guard for themselves and for all the flock” (Acts 20:28), he did so right after stating, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27). Guarding the flock is directly related to preaching.

Evangelism

The work of evangelism is more than merely sharing the way of salvation. It also involves discipleship. The Great Commission places an emphasis on making disciples, which implies training and instruction in the Word of God (Matthew 28:18-20). When Timothy was instructed to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5) it was within the context of pastoral ministry. Just a few verses earlier, he was charged to "preach the Word" (2 Timothy 4:2). Evangelism is encouraged and even modeled in a pulpit ministry.

Prayer

All Christians should pray, but pastors should especially pray for the congregation that the Lord has put them over to shepherd. The way that a pastor prays for his flock is often related to his preaching. He prays for them to grow in knowledge and discernment (Philippians 1:9); He prays that the eyes of their hearts might be enlightened (Ephesians 1:16-18a); He prays that they will know the hope of their calling (Ephesians 1:18b-19). Each one of his prayers is related to the preaching of the Word.

I could go on, but the above examples are sufficient to demonstrate that preaching affects everything.

If we downplay the importance of preaching in the church, everything else is affected negatively.  In Mark Dever’s Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, he said it this way:

The first mark of a healthy church is expositional preaching.  It is not only the first mark; it is far and away the most important of them all, because if you get this one right, all of the others should follow (p. 39).