Putting Preachers in their place

I've having recently been thinking about and blogging concerning the role of preaching in the church. The issue I’m trying to deal with is “Is preaching as it is done today, a monologue usually by one Senior ministor/pastor week by week to a passive audience, is that what the Bible intended for the Church?”. Recently, someone directed me to a talk by Mark Driscoll title d "Putting Preachers in their place" dealing with this issue. Driscoll argues yes and almost goes as far as to say to think otherwise might put you in the category of being a cult or a sect.

I’m a big fan of Driscoll and I listen to his sermons regularly. However, I must say that I did not find the argument in this talk convincing.

Driscoll supports his argument by referring to numerous passages of preaching by Jesus, Paul and other Apostles, but nearly all these passages are in the context of preaching to Non-believers outside of a church. The context is different so to then argue that preaching is essential part of church from these passages I don't think is right.

Driscoll says that Acts 13 clearly shows that there was a team of preachers at the church in Antioch. But when you look up Acts 13:1 it says “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers”. O.k. it is possible there were a team of preachers at the church in Antioch but is this what the verse is actually saying? Is these passage advocating the current practice of most churches of one pastor preaching every week?

Don't mishear me. I’m not against preaching in church. Not at all. I’m just questioning whether preaching by one pastor every week in church was what the Bible is advocating. I believe that the word of God is central to church. I’m just not sure that preaching by one ordained person though is what the Bible is teaching. It could possibly, but it is not as clear cut as people make out. I think there is room for several teaching elders. Does preaching have to be a monologue? Is the Bible teaching this?

In Driscoll’s argument for preaching being the central part of church he goes to the teaching of the Reformers, Calvin and the like and their definitions on the marks of the church. But he does not show us where from the Bible this is evident.

Looking at preaching today. Almost all of it is done in the church to believers and hardly any to non-believers. In the New Testament most of the preaching is to non-believers. Preaching in the church context and what form it took I don’t think is clearly addressed as opposed to preaching outside of church to non-believers were there are numerous examples.

I'm happy to be corrected or convinced otherwise. Please do. But please take me to the Scriptures. However, if the current model of one pastor/minister preaching a monologue week by week to a passive audience arose through church traditional or practice then we need to recognize that this is what it is and not read back church traditional into the Scriptures.