Do Away With The Podium!

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on July 5, 2009 | Comments

The podium, much like the pulpit, continues to serve its purpose well in preaching the Truth to the congregation and even to small groups and gatherings. However, much like the physical barrier that it has become between God’s messenger and the people, it has also served as a silent, unmindful wall that seem to prevent ministers from opening themselves up to their audiences and really reaching out to them.

Warren expressed his frustration and disappointment with some of the people in the ministry to me last night. I listened intently as my husband enumerated a number of reasons behind his discouragement and I noticed that the focal point was on how some of the ministry leaders teach but don’t build relationships with their audience. He noticed how they speak with their mouths but don’t reach out with their hearts, which sometimes drive him to ask, “Are they using these small groups of people as ‘guinea pigs’, as practice field, to hone their speech and teaching skills in preparation for speaking behind the pulpit?”

Since we started in the ministry, it has become our main mission to know the hearts of these people we are ministering to. We have seen the importance behind building stronger, deeper relationships as one of the first steps needed in effectively getting the message across. How can you be an effective minister to someone you don’t know? How would you know what to say and which biblical Truths to teach if you do not know what their concerns and struggles are? Yes, we are dealing with lost souls, souls who are still enamored and chained to the world, and that each time we go out to preach the Word we actually go out into the battlefield. But then, it is still important to be human in the midst of the warfare. It was never God’s design for His people’s hearts to be made up of stone, we are to be compassionate, merciful and gracious, much like the God we serve.

It is our prayer for our ministry leaders to seek into and use their hearts in reaching out to the lost. Really reach out. May they do away with the podium and extend their hands across and start building true relationships.