Sometimes I think we expect way too much from our preachers. If something is said about visiting the sick or contacting erring members of the congregation or encouraging others to become more active in the work of the church, we often hear someone say, “That’s the preacher’s job” or “That’s what we pay the preacher for”. If the preacher has agreed that these are part of his duties and are part of what he is paid to do, then yes, they would be part of the preacher’s job. Often though, the preacher is not contractually obligated to do these things, we just expect him to do them. As long as we are paying the preacher we will just let him do all the little things that we should be doing but that we don’t really want to do. We would rather pay someone to do things that we really should be doing ourselves. The preacher’s job, by definition, is to preach. In 2 Timothy 4:2 the apostle Paul told the young preacher Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” This is the job of the preacher. He may do other things as a courtesy to the congregation such as officiating at weddings or funerals, but his God given charge is to preach the word. Does the preacher have any obligation to visit or edify or warn those guilty of misconduct? Yes, because he is a Christian, not because he is being paid to do so. We need to remember that every Christian needs to be involved in the things that we often leave to the preacher. We need to “warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14). In the parable of the minas in Luke 19:11-27 the nobleman’s servants were commanded to “Do business till I come” (verse 13). We all have work to do. Some can do more than others, some can do less, but we must all do what we can. We cannot shirk our responsibilities and attempt to excuse it by saying, “That’s the preacher’s job.”