What about the pastor’s preaching? Should it be funny? Is the pastor to be looking for the ultra-relevant sermon style in order to connect with his modern audience? Is it his job to entertain people—causing them to leave feeling good each week as they have been presented with a helpful moralistic speech filled with relevant stories for application? Actually, none of these approaches to the pulpit accomplish what God has in mind for the church of Jesus. God’s will is for preaching to have an authoritative tone.
All through the Scriptures we see shepherding analogies. We find the relationship between God and his people described in such terms. As it pertains to the church, the people of God are called God’s flock. It is Christ who is described as the good Shepherd who actually lays down his life for the sheep.
Building on this analogy, pastors are called to shepherd God’s flock. The office of elder in the local church is a spiritual leadership office designed to shepherd souls by faithfully leading and overseeing them through God’s Word. God’s people, like sheep in the field, need faithful shepherds to lead and guide them.
So, what about the pastor’s preaching? Should it be funny? Is the pastor to be looking for the ultra-relevant sermon style in order to connect with his modern audience? Is it his job to entertain people—causing them to leave feeling good each week as they have been presented with a helpful moralistic speech filled with relevant stories for application? Actually, none of these approaches to the pulpit accomplish what God has in mind for the church of Jesus. God’s will is for preaching to have an authoritative tone.
In Titus 2:15, we find these words from the apostle Paul to Titus:
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Authoritative Preaching Defined
We live in a world filled with privacy fences. People in our culture enjoy a rugged individualistic approach to life—especially in the American culture where I live. Many people are resistant to authority and do not appreciate other people speaking into their lives. Yet, God knows the human heart and the propensity to sin far better than the most skilled theologian. That’s why he designed preaching to be authoritative.
The word translated authority in Titus 2:15 is the Greek term, “ἐπιταγή” which has in mind an authoritative directive, command, order, or injunction. Out of the seven times this term is used in the NT, it’s translated “command” or “commandment” six of the seven times. Only here in Titus 2:15 do we see it rendered as authority. The idea is that the pastor should be preaching with a commanding authority.
This term is connected to another Greek term which is common in the NT—“ὑποτάσσω” which is often translated “submit.” It’s often used in connection to wives being subject to their own husbands or the church of Jesus submitting to Christ.
All true biblical preaching is authoritative. When the crowds heard Jesus’ preaching—they were astonished. He preached as one who had authority (Matt. 7:28-29). You cannot preach the Bible without preaching with authority. This is why Paul does not permit women to teach or preach in the context of the church because she would be exercising authority over a man which is a violation of God’s design for the hierarchical structure of authority in the life of the local church (see 1 Tim. 2:12).
Authoritative preaching is not centered on the office of the pastor. The pastor does not have any ecclesiastical authority due to his position. The Roman Catholic Church has made this error throughout history. They have developed an ecclesiastical power system that includes the papacy and papal Infallibility among many other structural power grabs. This is not the authority that God has in mind when it comes to his church.
