Articles
Answering the Need
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has be-lieved and has been baptized shall be saved.” (Mark 16:15-16) This was the command Jesus gave his disciples. And they went, two by two, and sometimes traveling alone, spreading the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. They taught their family and their neighbors, and they took the gospel to foreign lands. They often found themselves in difficult situations. They sometimes were faced with resistance. They suffered persecu-tion. Some even lost their lives trying to spread the word.
The command to preach the gospel was not given just to those who were disci-ples at that time. It was given to all who follow the teaching of Jesus. Yes, today; even to you and me.
There are Christians who have taken an additional step in spreading the Word. They have decided to earn a living teaching and preaching the gospel. They depend on financial help from other Christians, those who they worship with and sometimes other Christians who are able to provide additional support. Sometimes these men find themselves in difficult situations. Sometimes the church they work with is small, and the Christians there are unable to provide adequate income. Sometimes, unfortunately, the members there don’t even see the importance of supporting a preacher full time, and so he is forced to find other financial help, sometimes even a secular job.
Through the years there have been preachers with no insur-ance, no security, no cost- of- living raises, no chance of im-provement. Some churches have no elders, making it often more difficult for the preacher to receive pay increases. Preachers have families to raise and bills to pay. Sometimes they have little support from the local congregation in spreading the word. Too often the members rely on the preacher alone to teach. They neglect their responsibilities to spread the word. And yet the preacher labors on, ful-filling his responsibility to teach the saving power of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes support for preaching the gospel comes from sources other than the congregation where the preacher labors. A small local church recently decided to sell the church building and the grounds and worship with other near-by congregations. The money from the sale of the structure and the land was used to support gospel preach-ers and other Christians with a particular financial need.
For example, one preacher who was unable to pay his and his wife’s past medical expenses received help. Another received help with household essentials. Financial help was sent to a preacher who actually needed money to travel to and from the building where he preached. He is using public transpor-tation. The Christians were able to help several preachers who worked with small congregations that simply could not pro-vide adequate support. The preachers said that they just “barely got by.” One congregation needed money to repair the building damaged inside and out as a result of a serious storm, and still another needed help, for their building lacked both heat and air conditioning.
Some preachers used money from “their own pockets” for teaching materials, because the church couldn’t afford to pur-chase them. They received help.
A particularly sad situation was a preacher and his wife having to leave their home when mold, as a result of a hurricane, completely engulfed their house and all of their belongings. They received help as well.
As Christians we all have a responsibility in helping others learn about Jesus. We have an additional responsibility in helping the needy. And we have a further responsibility in helping gospel preachers, men who have dedicated their lives to sharing the “good news.”
