Expository Preaching Blog #36 – “Expository Preaching or Counselling?”

By

Today I am going to meddle. I will offend some people. I will step on some toes. That is ok because frankly I don’t care. I want to obey God. If you disagree with me that is fine I will still be your friend. I will still even do ministry with you!

Let me also start and say I am not against counselling, Biblical counselling and pastoral counselling. You can use whatever title you prefer. I have done it from time to time.

But I am against substituting counselling for expository preaching. I believe that the largest part of a pastor’s time should be spend in preparation for preaching and teaching. It takes time and an investment of time and effort to be a good expository preacher. I believe there is no substitute for expository preaching.

I have seen pastors spend more time devoted to counselling than to the Word. It is easy to do. As a pastor I spent very little time in personal or couples counselling. I simply did not have time for it. I needed my time to “feed the flock.” (I Peter 5:2)

When I was preparing for pastoral ministry many decades ago I remember the words of a beloved senior pastor. He said “I primarily provide Biblical counselling 3 times a week. Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. Attend the services at those times and you will receive 99% of the counselling that you will ever need. If you still have something that you want addressed come see me and I will carve out an hour of my time for you.” I lived by that philosophy for over 30 years of pastoral ministry and never regretted it.

Jesus met very little with individuals one on one. He taught in small groups of 3 – 12 people. But most of his ministry was with groups of 100 or more up to 5,000+ people at one time. His disciples in the church early church in the Book of Acts did the same thing.

I have never seen an extensive counselling ministry start or grow a church. I know that some churches have full time counsellors on their staff. That is their choice. I just don’t see the need or the justification of the time and resources. I won’t argue with those that do.

I spoke at a Christian college chapel years ago and in my preaching context, I made reference to this issue. They had a counselling major at the time that they were promoting. Needless to say I was never invited back to speak again. That is fine and my feelings weren’t hurt. Their counselling major and degree brought students and money into their education institution. That is what most colleges are about anyway. You need the money and students to survive.

My church was flourishing at the time by souls being saved, baptized and added to the church. We had no formal counselling ministry in that church. We too busy ministering the Word and obeying the Great Commission.

Preach the Word! Teach the Word” Practice the Word. That is the main thing. I will die on that hill and I will never apologize for it.

 

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Expository Preaching Blog #14 – “Pastor Bill Park”

By
I have never done this before and I probably never will again but today I must. I will give my blog over to speak about a dear friend of mine who entered heaven last night after a short illness. Pastor Bill Park has been a friend of mine, my pastor, colleague, teacher, missions leader for many year years now. I first met him 40 years ago. My first pastorate was 15 miles from his church at the time, High Point Baptist Chapel. After resigning my first pastorate we attended his church in Geigertown, PA for about 15 months before we moved on to our next ministry in NY State. We felt at home at High Point there like no other church I have attended since starting in pastoral ministry. He was a father to me in ministry like I never had with my own father. My own father had died on the mission field 13 years earlier. My father’s death was one of the biggest losses in my life. Pastor Bill left this life as I was writing the first draft of this blog. My heart is breaking and aching for his fam
Read more

Expository Preaching Blog #39 – “Accuracy – Orphans and Adoption”

By
I believe in expository preaching. It is my pet peeve. It is an obsession with me. It makes it very hard for me to attend church many Sundays. This is nothing new. I have been an expository preacher for the last 50 years. The first sermon I ever preached was an expository sermon. My last one was too. Every sermon in between has been an expository sermon. Yep, I am focused. There is a reason for that. When I stand in a pulpit the authority is not in my words but in God’s Word. I want to get it right. I want people to be able to trust, rely on and depend on what I say. Not because I said it but because God said it. If I ever preach just what “I think”, then there is no reason for me to preach ever again. There are millions who do just that. I hunger to preach the Word of God. I long to do it and do it right. Last Sunday I sat in a worship and sang a well-known contemporary Christian song. A lyric caught my ear. It said “I was an orphan.” Some of you might know that song and that phra
Read more

Expository Preaching Blog #48 – “Holding Fast the Faithful Word” (BBC & CSU)

By
On July 1, 2024 it was announced that Clarks Summit University in Clarks Summit, PA was permanently closing. This is was my alma mater. When I attended there from 1976-1981 it was known as Baptist Bible College of Pennsylvania. The school began as Baptist Bible Seminary in Johnson City, NY in 1932. It moved to the Clarks Summit campus in 1968. I loved the school and deeply appreciated the education I received there. My mother, my brother and both of my sisters attended and graduated from the school. I graduated from the local high school in Clarks Summit and then stayed on for my college years. I lived in the area for a total of 11 years until I moved to SE Pennsylvania to take my first church as a pastor. I am very sad to see it close. Faculty and staff have to find new employment elsewhere. Students have to find other colleges or universities to attend. Area businesses and local churches will be effected. It is not known what will become of the 35 acre campus. I met my wife Trici
Read more