What to Call the Preacher

We hear people use different terms to identify those who preach – preacher, minister, pastor, etc. In this article we will address two things: what the Bible calls those who preach the gospel and what the religious world calls those who preach.

Why is this important? Names mean something. The terms that are used to identify those who preach are used for a reason. They help describe the work or the perceived work. It is good for us to call Bible things by Bible names and for those who preach to do the work they ought to be doing.

This list is not exhaustive, but it addresses some of the more common names used today.

Preacher

The Greek word which is translated “preacher” (kerux) means a herald of divine truth. It is from kerusso which means to herald, proclaim, and publish. It describes the work of proclaiming the word of God.

The work of a preacher is simply to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). In doing this, he is obligated to preach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, NKJV) without making changes to it (Galatians 1:8-9). Preachers have a critical role in God’s plan of redemption. Paul wrote, “For ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:13-14). This also shows the importance of supporting such men in this work (Romans 10:15; 1 Corinthians 9:14).

Evangelist

The term “evangelist” (euangelistes) is derived from the word euangelizo which means to announce good news. The gospel (euangelion) is the good news. An evangelist is one who proclaims the gospel.

This is similar to the term “preacher.” One who preaches the word is also one who proclaims the gospel. Both terms describe the same person and work. After telling Timothy to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2), he says, “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5). Elsewhere, the evangelist/preacher is differentiated from the pastors (Ephesians 4:11). This is significant. We will discuss this more when we consider the term “pastor.”

Minister

The Greek word for “minister” is diakonos. It is where we get our word deacon. It basically means a servant. One can serve as a minster of the gospel by preaching (Ephesians 3:6-8) and proclaiming (Colossians 1:23) the word of God.

A minister of the gospel must have a selfless attitude about his work. Paul said, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). Preaching is not about the preacher. He is simply a servant (minister) pointing people to Christ. In addition to being selfless, a minister must also have a sacrificial attitude. Paul also told the brethren in Corith, “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15).

Of course, there are other kinds of ministers besides ministers of the gospel (1 Peter 4:10-11; Philippians 1:1; Romans 16:1; Acts 24:23). A minister of the gospel is just one of many and each one has an important function in the “growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). Therefore, a preacher/minister must not view himself as being more important than others in the body of Christ.

Pastor

The Greek word for “pastor” is poimen. This word means a shepherd. This is not referring to a preacher necessarily (more on this point in a moment), but to an elder in the church. Peter instructed the elders: “Shepherd the flock of God among you” (1 Peter 5:2). The word shepherd or feed (KJV) is the verb form of our Greek word poimen. The elders’ work is to pastor the flock.

When Luke records Paul calling the Ephesians elders to meet him in Miletus (Acts 20:17ff), he uses three terms to describe these men and their work: presbuteros (elder, v. 17), episkopos (bishop/overseer, v. 28), and poimen/poimaino (pastor/shepherd/feed, v. 28). These were not separate offices, but were different terms for the same office. A pastor is an elder in the local church.

However, elders/pastors may also be preachers. Paul tells Timothy, “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17). So while there are some cases in which a pastor (elder) is also a preacher, most preachers are not pastors.

Missionary

A missionary refers to one who is sent, usually to a foreign country, to preach the gospel. It is a common word, but yet is not found in the Bible (except possibly in headlines that have been added by publishers). We often hear of Paul’s “missionary journeys.” These were simply preaching tours as the emphasis of his work was clearly on preaching.

Religious people today go on “mission” trips in which they preach the gospel (or their version of it), feed the poor, build hospitals, etc. When men were “sent out” in the New Testament, it was simply to preach (Acts 13:2-5). Interestingly, these men (Paul and Barnabas) were not called missionaries, but apostles (Acts 14:14). Of course, Barnabas was not an apostle in the official sense. But an apostle (apostolos) simply means a messenger, or one who is sent. In this sense, Barnabas was an apostle as he had been sent out by the church in Antioch to preach the gospel (Acts 13:3).

Churches may send out men to preach/evangelize today. While there may be nothing inherently wrong with the term “missionary,” we ought to be careful if we use it since it has come to mean many different things to those in the world.

Reverend

We may be somewhat tolerant of the use of the non-Biblical term “missionary.” But this term – “reverend” – is wrong to use. This is a word that ought to be reserved for God alone. The psalmist wrote: “Holy and awesome [reverend, KJV] is His name” (Psalm 111:9). This term denotes godly fear. We do not fear men, but God (Matthew 10:28). We serve God “with reverence” (Hebrews 12:28).

We find no use of this term (“reverend”) or this concept (revering a preacher) anywhere in the New Testament, either stated or implied. To call a preacher “reverend,” or for a preacher to refer to himself as such, suggests an inappropriate superiority of the preacher over others. Paul wrote, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:4-7). The unscriptural term “reverend” is the opposite of the Scriptural term “minister.”

Conclusion

In all of the Scriptural terms and the New Testament descriptions of the work of the preacher/evangelist/minister, the emphasis is on preaching the word – not on being “entertaining,” telling stories, cracking jokes, etc. Why? It is because “the gospel…is the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16). Therefore, those who preach must diligently “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2) in its simplicity and purity, even if such an approach is not popular (2 Timothy 4:3-5).