Read the Word
Sometimes as a pastor, I find myself asking questions like these, “What am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to say? What should I preach next? How can I care for God’s flock? Why in the world would God make me the pastor of this church?” In the everyday pressures of pastoral ministry, some of us weaker brothers can find it difficult to know what is best for our church and when. Everyone seems to have the “secret sauce” to doing church right. There are headlines like, “Five steps to growing your church” or “The easy path to an evangelism explosion.” Everyone else offers the answers for what is best, but no one seems to agree. Praise God He instructs us in His Word concerning His church.
1 Timothy is a letter written by Paul to a young pastor that I imagine had some of the same questions I mentioned earlier. Timothy was a young pastor of a church facing all kinds of pressure: false teaching, persecution, sin, and the like. And Timothy was facing the everyday pressures of shepherding God’s flock. There is no question that young Timothy needed help and wisdom as he pastored in the pressure. And to increase the pressure, Timothy’s mentor, Paul, was far away and unable to come to Ephesus at the time. But in the meantime, Paul sent Timothy a letter. In 1 Timothy 3:14-15, Paul tells Timothy why he wrote this letter,
“I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”
Paul did not want Timothy to be left in the dark when it came to “doing church.” Paul cared about what happened in the church in Ephesus, and Paul wanted Timothy to care about what happened in the church in Ephesus because God cares about what happens in His church. As we are considering how God wants us to worship together on the Lord’s Day, Paul’s instructions to Timothy are helpful. After Paul encourages Timothy to teach the church exactly what he had been taught, Paul says,
“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture…” – 1 Timothy 4:13
One thing we ought to do when we gather on Sunday is read the Word. God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. His word is a lamp to our feet and light for our path. God uses His word to mold us and shape us into the people He wants us to be. When Timothy was facing all kinds of pressure, when he wasn’t sure what to say, Paul reminds him to devote time to simply reading Scripture out loud.
Mark Dever makes a good point,
“Carving out time in our Sunday morning services to read Scripture aloud, without comment, every week makes a statement about the value we place on God’s Word. It says we are eager to hear the Word of the Lord – we desire it. It acknowledges that the life and growth of our local churches depend on the power of God’s Word, and that we really believe that “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).
Reading the Bible out loud on Sunday morning as we begin service or before the offering may seem like a small thing; but God is always working through His word. Despite my own insecurities and failures in pastoring the church, I know that devoting ourselves to the public reading of Scripture brings glory to God and good to our church.
May our worship be pleasing to Him!
Pastor Mark