Were All Early Christians Preachers?

OHappyDay

Reading the book of Acts and the letters of Paul do not bear out the dogma that all the early Christians preached. There are no "service meetings" in the New Testament that prepare the average Christian for a public ministry. Reading accounts from contemporary First and Second Century Christians indicates that it was the example of Christians, not the preaching by all, that primarily drew nonbelievers to Christianity.

It is significant that the instructions to preach that are in the New Testament are addressed to "elders" and "overseers" like Timothy. Preaching done by anyone else was "informal witnessing" at best. There is no indication of any organized, formal, day-by-day or week-by-week preaching done by Joe and Mary Christian. Most of the instruction in the New Testament is about conduct, not about preaching. Not one book in the New Testament reads like Our Kingdom Ministry publication. No preaching instructions, no sample presentations, no campaigns, no quotas, no encouragements to "auxiliary pioneer" or "regular pioneer."

Finally, when the New Testament does mention evangelizers in the Church -- literally, "preachers of good news" -- it says specifically that God gave "some as evangelizers," just as He gave some as apostles, prophets, shepherds and teachers. Not all in the Church did those things; some did. Jehovah's Witnesses try to interpret the "evangelizers" mentioned here as missionaries, but that's not what the word means. "Evangelizers" means preachers of good news, and Ephesians 4:11 makes it plain that some Christians, not all Christians, did this. The context of Paul's writings indicates that the some who had the responsibility to preach were the elders and overseers.

Yerusalyim

Chappy,

All this is quite true, not all are called to ANY specific ministry other than letting their lives be a witness.

metatron

I recall Celsus' remarks that the most "foolish" of men were zealous preachers of the Gospel, but again that was likely

informal. Early Christians didn't have to preach as Witnesses are forced to do because people were simply attracted

to Christianity - Rome was a cruel, nasty place.

metatron

rocketman

Very interesting thread HappyDay. I have often wondered about 'joe average' Christians and what they did in the 1st Century. Even of the original 12 apostles, only Peter and John are mentioned with any real frequency, and there's mention of a couple others here and there, but it seems as if some of them spent what may be considered a pretty average life.

Your use of Ephesians 4:11 is interesting too. Just as not all were teachers, etc., why would they all be evangelizers? Also, thinking back to Jesus' preaching instructions as he sent his disciples out in Matthew 10, he only is recorded as giving such instructions once. There is no evidence that he gave instructions to use new presentations every couple of weeks.

JWs say that the Service Meeting follows that pattern of Matthew 10. If that's really true, there would seem to be no need for a Service Meeting most of the time. But, jws are constantly changing presentations, etc., and the whole thing just seems a way to keep them busy.

A Paduan

Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words

Joker10

Jesus sent them in pairs didnt he?

ozziepost

Jesus sent them in pairs didnt he?

And..........................????????? That's a typical WTS argument that runs like this: A is white; B is not black. Therefore A and B are both white. See what I mean? Ozzie

shamus

Excellent Posting Topic!!!

I have wondered this, too. Who else would preach this good news? Well, they all didn't do it! They certainly were not freaks about it even if they did go into the ministry, I'm sure. So why do JWs do that? C'mon. They're nuts.

DJ

O happy day,

I'm 100% with Yerusalym on this one. I think it is in Timothy (lol) where Paul speaks about the duties of a wife ie: caring for the home and husband, kids.. It does noy say and go door to door. That would have been there if it was necessary. The same goes for men... We as Christians are to be witnesses for Christ through word and deed daily.

onacruse

Very interesting topic. Off the top of my head (not much hair in the way, so things fly off the top easily ) I'd say that the 1st-century Christian community was pretty much based on "each does what they can, as the Holy Spirit empowers."

Your example of the "gifts in men (and women)" is a good one. Insofar as "preaching" is concerned, that action needn't be interpreted as doing anything more than simply sharing your convictions with someone else. But in the "official" sense of "an appointed public announcer of a message," then, no, not every Christian did that.

Craig

Were All Early Christians Preachers?

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