Couldn't Help Noticing

10 great reasons for preachers to work at one-to-one ministry

With the help of The Reformed Pastor (written by Richard Baxter) and the Bible (written by God), and in no particular order, I have thought of 10 good reasons why preachers should work hard at one-to-one ministry:

1. In conversation with people, we can find out whether or not they have actually understood what they heard in our sermons and our other teaching. If we are interested in depressing (or confusing) ourselves ourselves with statistics, there are any number of studies which demonstrate how the average hearer retains very little of what is said from the average sermon.

   Among the many possible responses to this is the obvious observation that, scripturally speaking, the models of ministry that we have in the New Testament rely on all sorts of ways of speaking the gospel, not just pulpiteering. When we speak to people at an individual level, it's only a matter of moments until we are able to see whether or not our meaning is clear. If we haven't been clear, we can take all the time we want to explain further any of the basic questions that need to be worked on. If the person is not as sharp or as quick to pick up ideas as others, we can simply go over the basics again.

2. As we talk to people individually, our personal relationship with them becomes stronger, and our communication with them becomes more effective. If people like and respect us, they will be more likely to pay attention to what we say, and give our words due weight as an explanation and application of God's word.

   While we often hear about how hypocrisy in churches turns people away from the gospel, we are less likely to hear the corresponding truth—that, as people see and hear the good example of their minister, they are more likely to respond with trust and obedience in their heavenly Father. More than once the Apostle Paul points people to his own example and those of other Christian leaders as something which confirms the truth of the gospel and lends weight to his words (e.g. 2 Tim 3:10, cf. Phil 2:22; 1 Cor 4:15-17).

3. Personal contact with people also improves our public preaching. It enables us to pray for our hearers more specifically, and apply our public sermons more carefully, thoughtfully and thoroughly.

4. As we talk about individuals about spiritual matters, we ourselves will be more open to being challenged by God's word in our conversations and prayers. If we are dealing with someone about their lying or their gluttony, for example, we will read Scripture and hold conversations in which we ourselves are exposed to rebuke (and encouragement) in our areas of weakness.

   When we are in a personal conversation, there is far more opportunity for specific spiritual application to both ourselves and others. Many ministers know first-hand the joy of going to visit a member of their congregation, only to discover that they come away more strengthened by the conversation than possibly even the person they were speaking to!

5. We will be better able to minister to people during times of crisis. They will be more willing to seek us out, and we will be better able to help them, if we have a pre-existing strong relationship with them.

6. Getting to know people personally, reading the Bible and praying with them sets an example that they will be able to repeat with others—especially members of their own families. This can be particularly significant in men's ministry since the role of the man within a marriage is to work to help his wife and children to grow in godliness. The husband is to “love [his wife] as Christ loved the church” (Eph 5:25), which means doing whatever he can to help her grow in godliness. Likewise, the father has a responsibility not to provoke his children to anger, but to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4).

7. People are more likely to support the work of ministry that they themselves have benefitted from, and one-to-one ministry has an obvious, immediate and direct benefit.

8. When people see and benefit from effective personal ministry first-hand, they are more likely to both do it themselves, and support and encourage others in doing it.

9. Personal ministry gives us the opportunity to assess more carefully and closely the state of someone's spiritual life, and so work out whether we should be encouraging them further in ministry and leadership.

10. Personal ministry reduces the opportunity for laziness and complacency on our part—particularly in a job that can tempt us into both sins by the fact that we are not observed at work by many people for most of the week. Of course, we should always “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Col 3:23), but our regular contact with others who share our desire to see the gospel go out has great potential to help us in this area.

No doubt there are plenty of other reasons—both practical and theological—for ministering the gospel to others in this one-to-one way. Some of them are related to our concern for God's glory. Some of them are related to obeying the command to love our neighbours as ourselves. Some of them have to do with a right concern and fear for our own spiritual state—that we might live out what we teach “lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor 9:27). Some reasons will be more persuasive to us than others, and some will have more theological significance to us than others. Whatever the case, for us, the net result ought to be that we make this type of ministry a significant and regular part of our teaching in church, as well as encouraging others in our congregations to do likewise.