Defining The Pulpit

When the average Christian thinks of the pulpit, they think about the place where ministry takes place. Ministry is something that happens on Sunday and is reserved primarily for those who hold credentials or maybe for those with a degree or two. A person can have ministry if they can preach or sing, play an instrument or in some other way exhibit talent in an ecclesiastical way, but what about everyone else? What about the people in the pews? Furthermore, what about the public, the people outside the walls of the church? The general misunderstanding is this: the pulpit is the place where ministry takes place. The people in the pew are the supporters of the ministry. The people outside the church are sinners that we are trying to get into the church so they can get into the pew and support the ministry that happens in the pulpit. I am not sure where this misunderstanding came from, but I suspect that it finds its genesis in organized religion. One thing is certain; it did not come from the scripture. The biblical model is altogether different. The pulpit is the equipping place. The pew represents the place where the ministry happens. The people in the pew are supposed to be God’s ministers. The public represents precious people that Christ loves and died for; they are actually our congregation. The redefining of these terms must begin in the pulpit. Remember Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus: “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry…” (Eph. 4:11-12). Church leaders must realize that they are called to equip the ministers of God. We ordain the pastor, but really the pastor should be ordaining the people to be God’s ministers. This biblical concept moves the ministry outside the walls of the church. This is where real ministry happens. The pulpit is the equipping place.