ON BEING A PULPIT

I AM HIS PULPIT

The Lord stood with me and strengthened me,

so that the message might be preached fully through me (2 Timothy 4:17).

Paul wrote these words in 2 Timothy 4:17 to testify of Christ’s faithfulness in preaching the gospel message through him. Ponder that a moment…the God of this universe preaching through an earth-bound human! That’s grace!

This is not the preaching that only a few select people do, but what everyone in Christ is called to do. “Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

And this is not necessarily preaching from a formal pulpit…in fact, it is more the preaching from the pulpit of one’s heart and life. I am the pulpit, and Christ is the preacher! What a gracious privilege!

And this is not preaching at others. It is a supernatural preaching from one’s heart to minister the living Christ to others. “Him (Christ) we preach…according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:28-29). We are not called to preach principles for living moral lives…we are called to preach Christ with our lives. We don’t have to be burdened to do Christian things…we have the freedom to manifest Christ in all things.

God nurtures His children to know Christ as we stand up in any circumstance, lift up our heads (often with tears), and preach from the pulpit of our lives. Three profound aspects of this nurturing are described in 2 Timothy 4:17:

1. We experience the Lord’s presence ] The Lord stood with me…

2. We experience the Lord’s power ] …and the Lord strengthened me…

3. We experience the Lord’s passion ] …so that the message might be preached fully through me.

I don’t know of anything else that better nurtures a person in Christ more than spending quiet time with Christ and then standing up to preach hope from his or her heart. I have a vision of people in churches and small groups around the world being nurtured with opportunities to speak their hearts, verbally or by writing.

May churches not be content with having one really good preacher, but may churches be filled to overflowing with preachers…or better yet, be filled to overflowing with pulpits!