Pulpits are They Biblical or Man's Tradition?

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We at dontperish.com are always striving to expose man's error and replace it with the glory and truth of God's Holy Word. As we come across topics that need to be discussed and exposed we will joyfully bring them to you here, for God's glory, using His Word as our guide. We are thankful to get on our internet soap box  and proclaim the goods news and biblical truth to all who will hear it!

Speaking of a soap box, one such topic that is most common in all of man made religion today and it is called "the pulpit". It is the special weekly place where a specially hired and so called trained man (modern pastor or priest) stands up in and speaks DOWN to the people sitting idle in the pews. For the most part he is the ONLY one who gets to proclaim truth or God's Word from this raised wooden box.  (Others can speak from there for announcements but most often it is tightly controlled by the modern pastor as his own.) 

We know many "church goers" who have lifted this pulpit up to great importance and that's why it needs to be questioned. We will often hear that the pulpit is responsible for preaching truth or the pulpit is the reason for the sad shape of America or the pulpit is the place that can call the nation back to God! Many people seemingly believe it has some higher power or honor before God. Do they really believe it is the ONLY place God's truth is spoken? Why is this? It is practiced both in roman catholicism and it has become a mainstay in denominational/evangelical/mainstream religion as well. So the question must be asked, is it a biblically ordained practice and if not, where did this practice of the 'lifted up' pulpit come from?
First, we want to share with you the ONLY scripture in ALL of God's Word that talks about any pulpit and it is found in Nehemiah 8.

So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.  He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up.  Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

So from this text we know it was a raised up (wooden) structure where the prophet of God (in ONLY one occasion we know of) used to speak to a large number of people so they could all see and hear him. It had no place of high standing, power, prestige or importance as God and His Word was the focus in this event.
If God's Holy Word only has one lone reference to a raised up platform, where did the practice of having a pulpit in every religious body gathering come from?

For this answer let's look at some Christian history.

There was the evidence that the Jewish culture used a from of a pulpit (or desk) in their synagogue buildings over the centuries. This would make sense as they most likely got it from the Nehemiah 8 reference we read about. What we must consider here is that it was NOT ordained by God to do so but a man made tradition. Please keep in mind these are the things that God Himself ordained as biblical godly worship and service to Him and synagogues were not one of them.

*The tabernacle (like a portable tent)
*The Temple (of stone in Jerusalem)
*The New Testament church model established by Christ and His Apostles
*The born again believer who is now the temple of the Holy Spirit

Anything done in addition to these things is just a creation and addition of man to be very leery of indeed!

(We do this by testing / 1 Thessalonians 5:21, examining / 2 Corinthians 13:5 and by always being discerning and we hope our site helps you with that.) 

Moving on, since true followers of Christ are to model Him and His Apostles we need to ask this:
Did the first century believers use a pulpit in their gatherings? In our research we could find no example for this at all. It is known that they met mostly house to house (no buildings were constructed or needed) or they met where ever they could as they were being hunted down and killed for their new faith. So it seems clear that no pulpits were used as a practice in the first century church that Jesus ordained.

So now we have verified it is not taught in the bible as a practice and it was not used by the early saints as a NT church tradition. To find the origins of the pulpit's wide spread use, it appears we must go into history "outside" of the bible and beyond the early first century church.

The first reference of the term "pulpit" appears in post first century Christian history in the writing of Cyprian about 250 AD.  He said this:
"When this man, beloved brethren, came to us with such condescension of the Lord, illustrious by the testimony and wonder of the very man who had persecuted him, what else behoved to be done except that he should be placed on the pulpit, that is, on the tribunal of the Church; that, resting on the loftiness of a higher station, and conspicuous to the whole people for the brightness of his honour, he should read the precepts and Gospel of the Lord, which he so bravely and faithfully follows? Let the voice that has confessed the Lord daily be heard in those things which the Lord spoke".

We know that at some point the men (that came along after the Apostles had been killed/died off) began to make the pulpit a tradition in their gatherings. Many changes took place after the men that Jesus trained, died and these changes were NOT biblical. The early biblical NT church was over seen by multiple elders (Titus 1) but all men in a gathering were to use their gifts to teach and reason in the Word. The later centuries brought a false lifted up church leadership level of bishops and priests (now modern pastors) that began to usurp power over the people that Jesus Himself spoke totally against in Matthew 20.

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

As these men were raised up in their un-biblical positions of power, the pulpit become their tool for controlling the masses before them. They took away man's God given right and ability to speak openly and made them only spectators. Then, not long after Cyprian lived we know the pagan roman emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the 4th century and he brought many more pagan un-biblical ways into the gatherings and lives of those who claimed Christ. He gathered people into (once) pagan buildings, he installed priests "in PULPITS" over the people who sat idle in pews in dead pagan blended, ritual services. The entire New Testament (close and intimate) house church structure was tossed out and over hauled by these pagan men. Large ornate religious buildings and a man led, building centered faith was now created for control and they rejected what Christ had ordained for his NT body. Sadly much of it still remains today as our website exposes for God's glory. The roman catholic faith was born in this move and for over 1000 years (called the dark ages) it held a death grip on God's Word hiding it away from the so called laity. As its un-biblical priests now ruled from their lifted up pulpits their power and control grew.  (Note: multi millions were killed-mostly burned alive- who dared to oppose their false religious system or the men in the pulpits.)

We need to stop and note here that Jesus Christ died to do away with special needed Old Testament priesthood system. In fact, He died to make all those "born in Him" people priests themselves as is noted in 1 Peter 2:
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
  There is no need today for a priest (or lording over modern pastor) any longer, and praise be to the High Priest Jesus Christ!  

As we said, for over 1000 years the pagan roman catholic faith ruled and the use of the un-biblical 'lifted up' pulpit grew as it was one of its ways to hold evil power over people in the pews. They thought of themselves as a special lifted up class of men (clergy) but God did away with that all in Christ so they were no doubt in great error. There was much corruption in their ways over the centuries and about the year 1500 a monk named Martin Luther came along. He decided to call out the roman faith for "some" of its MANY heretical man made teachings that were cast upon the people from the pulpits. (Indulgences: selling forgiveness of sins was one of them) The protestant reformation was born and so were the thousands of error filled denominations that you see today.  While it did get God's Word out to people, it also repeated many of the errors of pagan rome. The use if the pulpit was one of them. Instead of giving the people back the biblical freedom of the true New Testament church model that Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 14:26:
How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

The truth is this:
The reformers (Luther and Calvin) left the roman faith and the started up their own flawed religious system using much of rome's ill ways. They installed a pastor over people vs a priest to now "Lord over" them in the same raised pulpit to continue the rule over people sitting idle in pews. Luther kept the ornate buildings, the pews, many flawed doctrines (like baby baptism) the priest just become a raised up pastor. And to this day, that is why you have a paid man standing over you in a lifted up box (pulpit) in the religious places all over the world. It was NOT ordained of God nor the example of His true NT church. It is all of pagan and false reformer ways that were used to control people over the ages just as it is used for that same purpose today. You should know the reformers also began to kill and burn people at the stake who opposed them. So you see they were much like the pagan false roman system they broke from.

We would take this moment to say that today's hireling, lording over, modern pastors will often throw us out of their religious buildings for: It is that they have no biblical standing to rule from and to hold a pulpit over any man or any control who speaks from it. The power they have rests ONLY on man's vain traditions (not the bible) and the people in the pews who pay them / allow them to do it weekly against God's Word and Ways. Should there be multiple biblical elders to make sure what is said in a gathering is true to the Word, yes indeed! (See 1 Timothy 3) But those men are NEVER to silence other men in a gathering or take control which is what they have done via the false pulpit of denominational religion today. They can surely teach as well but, the body needs to and should hear from many men not just the pulpit jockeys of this day every single week. The pulpit practice has indeed served to build up the ego and power of modern pastors at the expense of God's truth. Have you noticed that Nehemiah 8 also spoke of the prophet reading the Word of God from sunrise to noon (roughly 6 hours long) but today's modern pastors seem to reject those things don't they? They like their 30 -45 minute sermons then they are done. They are picking and choosing what to model or not model from God's Word that aids their own personal situation which proves they have ill motives. For all these many reasons we reject their ways!

In the end, the un-biblical pulpit practice does have several devastating effects on people and bodies who must endure them weekly.

*First, it has killed most mens spiritual maturity as who grows just sitting in a pew watching a ritual timed out show weekly vs using your gifts, being accountable and active in a spirit led gathering? Today a paid hired trained man is doing it all so you men can just sit and listen, then go home. This is not God's plan at all. Please read your NT bibles folks. You won't find this model anywhere in its Holy pages yet you're promoting and paying for it weekly!

*Another other terrible effect is has on a body is rather than the body getting discernment, teaching and wisdom from all of the men in it, it has to sit and be infected by the few strengths and what we find most often to be MANY biblical weaknesses of just "one man". That is why so many religious bodies today are so ill and biblically illiterate. They are not operating on God's Ways but on man's vain traditions. 

*Perhaps worst of all, God is being dishonored and sinned against and His church model (that Christ left us) has been perverted so men can lift themselves up in a false pulpit for their own gain or glory.

We want to be clear on this last point. If a body wanted to have a raised up pulpit so everyone could see and hear any and all speakers, that is not the real issue. But that pulpit or any place the body gathers should be OPEN for ALL men to reason and go to the Word.  I can guarantee you that the modern pastors we have met are terrified to ever let me come speak and they just won't allow it! Why not you ask? Because I will lovingly preach the full counsel of God's Word and that calls out their false role and error filled man made systems. In most cases it will also would ruin their over paid gig that they have worked hard to build up which is another un-biblical topic we will write about soon. (Paid modern pastors.)

If you study the true New Testament body and its functions, it is nothing like the man made counterfeit system of today. Just as a family does not need a special lifted up pulpit for its members to speak to each other in love, the body of Christ if done biblically, does not need one either.

Jesus told us to worship in spirit and truth John 4:24 and Paul told us to hold fast to the traditions they gave us in 2 Thessalonians 2:15.

It was (corrupt) man that took a simple wooden structure that allowed a huge group of people to hear God's Holy Word read and turned it into a power tool to steal God's design for His body that Christ bought with His own blood! I don't want to be those men on judgement day after we read Matthew 7
Matthew 7:22-23 
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
 and 
Mark 7:6 
He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
 These verses are a warning about about false converts and man religious made ways. Pulpits were NOT part of the NT church traditions  and it was man, for his own purposes, who decided to make it a mainstay of their ritual religion each week. What do you want to follow? What is made of God or of man?

We hope this article has taught you that a lifted up controlled pulpit is NOT part of God's Holy plan for His true NT body. It has been perverted just as much as what you're doing each week has been inside religious buildings all over America. What does your body practice today? The full biblical ways of God or the vain ways of man handed down by roman pagans and the error filled reformers over the centuries? You really need to answer that don't you if you care about living out the Lord's truth in your life? We took that journey and what we found was we had to repent of and leave mainstream religion full of its lies and error to walk in the spirit and truth of His NT true body life.

Go to our teaching area HERE for biblical articles on all of the above topics.
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