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John Owen on Preaching as the Primary Ministry of a Pastor | Justin Miller

by | Nov 19, 2025 | Historical Theology, Practical Theology, Preaching

 

*Editor’s Note: This section is adapted and updated from a book by Justin Miller called John Owen’s Pastoral Preaching, published by WIPF & Stock in December 2021. Used with permission from the author.

 

Preaching as the Primary Ministry of a Pastor

Charles II once asked John Owen why anyone would listen to the preaching ministry of a fellow dissenting pastor in his time that was a tinker who lacked formal education, a preacher named John Bunyan. [1] John Owen is quoted as replying, “Could I possess the tinker’s abilities for preaching, please your majesty, I would gladly relinquish all my learning.”[2] It is clear from statements such as these that Owen viewed preaching as primarily something that benefited the flock of the Lord Jesus, not fueled by apocalyptic ideologies applied to his time, as he has been accused of by scholars such as Gribben. John Owen saw preaching as the primary ministry of a pastoral ministry per the Biblical commands found in Holy Scripture (John 21:15-25, Acts 20:17-31, Ephesians 4:11-15, and 2 Timothy 4:1-2). [3] Barret and Haykin state in their book on John Owen:

“John Owen (1616–1683) is widely regarded as one of the most influential English Puritans. As a pastor, he longed to see the glory of Christ take root in people’s lives. As a writer, he continues to encourage us toward discipline and communion with God.”[4]

Their analysis of Owen seems to prove true from his own writings, especially his priority of preaching being that God’s people may grow in their affections for the Lord Jesus. Owen stated in The True Nature of a Gospel Church the following:

“The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the Word. It is a promise relating to the New Testament that God would give unto his church ‘pastors according to his own heart, which should feed them with knowledge and understanding,’ Jer. iii.15. This is by teaching or preaching the Word, and no otherwise. This feeding is the essence of the office of pastor, as unto the exercise of it; so that he who doth not, or can to, or will not feed the flock is no pastor, whatever outward call or work he may have in the church.” [5]

This statement is packed to the brim with a summation of Owen’s ideology when it comes to the preaching of the Word of God. Notice what John Owen says in the opening of this statement concerning what preaching is. He defines pastoral preaching as simply “feeding the flock of God from the Word of God.” [6] He clearly outlined the primary duty of a preaching pastor/elder is to feed the flock. The flock is pictured in need of food to sustain them in their existence. The food for sustenance of the spiritual person per Owen was the Word preached. Owen in his book The True Nature of a Gospel Church stated the following, “The care of preaching the gospel was committed to Peter, and in in him unto all true pastors of the church, under the name of “feeding, ‘John xxi. 15-17.” [7]  For a flock to be properly nourished and thereby to function as designed they are to be fed nutritiously by the pastor from the proper interpretation, proclamation, and application of the Scripture. [8]

Owen made it clear that what was at stake with regards to the preaching ministry of a pastor is the very spiritual health of the flock of God. By using such language, he meant precisely what he had stated. If the flock is not be well fed, then logically, they would be malnourished at best and starved at worst. If fed inappropriate portions and non-nutritious sermons, they would not function as designed, just as a malnourished physical body would not function as designed by God. Owen conveyed on the forefront the grave importance of proper pastoral preaching. He stated about preaching, “this feeding is the essence of the office of pastor.” [9]  By using the word “essence”, which means the nature of something or the most significant part of something, Owen seemingly made a very strong case and point for pastoral preaching in the life of a pastor. The very nature and most significant part of the pastor’s office per Owen was the proper preaching of the Word so that the flock of Christ may be sustained and grown spiritually. As a proper diet helps a growing child become an adult, so a proper diet of the Word in the local church helps a babe in Christ become a mature follower in Christ. He could not express that reality with more clear terms. Clearly Owen’s writing matched the teaching of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 with regards to pastoral preaching.

 

Truth of the preached Word seen in the pastor’s life

He practices what he preaches. This phrase is held to ministers’ lives with regards to their conduct in the life of their family, the church family, and the community. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” The idea is that Timothy is to keep faithful to apostolic doctrine and his life is to match the apostolic doctrine he holds to. For the Biblical narrative, preaching is the priority for pastoral ministry as seen in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, and a testimony of the truth pastors preach must be seen in their own lives. John Owen would have agreed with this sentiment wholly. Owen believed the truth of Scripture must be a reality evident in the pastor’s own life for him to be faithful in ministry and life. If preaching were truly the pastor’s priority, his message must be seen in his everyday life increasingly.  Owen wrote in Eschol, A Cluster of the Fruit of Canaan: Mutual Duties of a Church Fellowship, “If a man teach uprightly and walk crookedly, more will fall down in the night of his life than he built in the day of his doctrine.” [10]  He goes on in the same book to state:

“Now, as to the completing of the exemplary life of a minister, it is required that the principle of it be that of the life of Christ in him, Gal. ii. 20, that when he hath taught others he be not himself ‘a cast away.’”[11]

John Owen, from comments such as this, as well as his demands for Christians to pursue holiness in his book, The Mortification of Sin, would likely have had great difficulty with the state of modern ministry in the Western world today.

Owen emphasized that “able to teach” (gifting) is only listed as one of many qualifications for eldership and the preaching ministry of the Word. Remember, Owen wrote, “If a man teach uprightly and walk crookedly, more will fall down in the night of his life than he built in the day of his doctrine.” [12] For Owen, gifting was not enough. A man had to practice what he preached rightly from the Word of God. As Paul tells Titus in Titus 1:15-16:

“To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

A pastor must know God and walk with Him in order to be qualified to proclaim Him to His redeemed people.

However, that is not to say that gifting did not matter in light of the high priority of preaching. It matters greatly per 1 Timothy 3:1-5 and Titus 1. Owen emphasized this reality for the preacher. Owen highlighted the priority of a pastor’s character for the pastor to be considered and called to preach the Word. However, it would be a mistake to think he stopped just at character. He emphasized character but also combined it with competence to preach in order for a man to fill a pulpit rightly.

 

Cannot preach then not a pastor

A lot of times people can drift from one extreme to the next. It is always helpful to avoid such tendencies. By saying the character of the person who is seeking the office of elder matters is not saying that gifting does not matter. Gifting matters greatly as well to the glory of God! Paul in Romans 12:6-8 writes:

“ Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;  if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;  or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

The concept Paul puts forth is that every Christian is gifted by God the Holy Spirit with abilities that are to be used for the good of the church of the Lord Jesus. Genuinely called ministers of God are therefore gifted by God for the work of feeding the flock of God. They are “able to teach” as Paul writes to Timothy about elders in 1 Timothy 3:2.

John Owen’s view of pastoral preaching, though rooted in godly character, went beyond just character qualifications to evaluating whether a man had been gifted of God for such a vital work. Paul’s admonition to Timothy about elders being able to teach seems to have stuck with Owen in his assessment of pastoral candidates. As mentioned earlier, Owen’s wrote, “Gifts make no man a minister; but all the world cannot make a minister of Christ without gifts.”[13] He demanded that pastors be able to preach if they were truly to be a pastor. [14]  It was unthinkable to Owen for a man to be confirmed to a pastorate if he could not correctly expound the Scriptures every Lord’s Day just as it would have been for Paul per 1 Timothy 3:2 with “able to teach”. He stated, “this feeding is the essence of the office of pastor, as unto the exercise of it; so that he who doth not, or can to, or will not feed the flock is no pastor, whatever outward call or work he may have in the church.” [15] For Owen, in this statement, a man must be able to teach the Bible and proclaim it correctly to fill the office of a pastor, no exceptions allowed. If a pastor did not have the proper tool kit, the God given ability, and the understanding of Scripture to rightly interpret, expound and thereby proclaim the Scripture, then that person was not a true pastor no matter what a church had externally confirmed with regards to that man. The argument is something like this: a fisherman who cannot fish should not be a fisherman, an accountant who cannot count should not be an accountant, a doctor who does not know anatomy and medicine should not practice, and a pastor who knows not the Word well and cannot preach should not take a pulpit and hold the office of pastor. Every office has a function and if a person does not have the gifts to fulfill the function, they should not hold the office. The preaching elder/pastor had to be able to correctly explain the Scriptures and thereby feed the flock, for that was their function to do so in the local church. John Owen expounds further concerning the capability of a true preacher and their preaching ministry in order to protect churches from error:

“(1). A clear, sound, comprehensive knowledge of the entire doctrine of the gospel. (2) Love of the truth which they have so learned and comprehended.. (3) A conscious care and fear of giving countenance and encouragement unto novel opinions. (4) Learning and ability of mind to discern and disprove the oppositions of the adversaries of the truth. (5) The solid comprehension of the most important truths of the gospel. (6) A diligent watch over their own flocks against the craft of seducers from without, or the springing up of any bitter root of error among themselves. (7) A concurrent assistance with the elders and messengers of other churches with whom they are in communion, in the declaration of the faith they all profess.” [16]

Owen, like Paul in 1 Timothy 3:2, called for and even demanded that anyone who would climb into a pulpit had to be able to proclaim the Word of God faithfully to a congregation on the Lord’s Day, as well on any occasion. Paul in Titus 1:9 takes the ideology of being able to teach (defend and expound sound doctrine) and adds reasoning behind it with regard to the high priority of preaching. Paul states in Titus 1:9, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” Like Paul to Titus, Owen believed a pastor must be a man who had to have a sound understanding of the doctrine of the Gospel, love of the truth, appropriate learning, an awareness of what is threatening the flock, and a fellowship with like-minded pastors for mutual accountability in the calling therein (which is not something Paul had said directly but could be implied from unity texts such as Christ’s high priestly prayer in John 17:20-21). [17] A pastor who did not fit this criterion was one who would not be able to rightly defend the doctrines of the faith nor be able to approach the Scripture in a way that would ultimately be a benefit and help to a local gathering of God’s people. [18]   Therefore, such a person was not qualified for the office of pastor per Paul’s writing and per John Owen’s understanding of all of Scripture. Owen would have seen putting pastors in pulpits who are unable to preach the Word with accuracy as a grave error because of his high emphasis on the priority of preaching. In the time of the author, in many denominations what is required of a person is that they will be willing, “feel called”, eager, and a relatively moving speaker. John Owen from his writings would likely strongly urge caution. The feeding of the flock the Word of God was such a priority to Owen that a person who endeavored to do so must be equipped to teach the Bible correctly and accurately before he should ever enter into a pulpit to preach to the precious people of God. Owen’s thinking from his writings fit the ideology we see in Paul’s writings in 1 and 2 Timothy as well as Titus.

It is helpful to also remember that Owen was at one time the Dean of Christ Church Oxford and Vice Chancellor. He had a vested interest in the equipping of young men for the ministry because of the priority of preaching. I once heard a seminary professor describe the lifelong lesson he learned from a seminary president.[19] He had made the remark to the seminary president that he did not need all this learning. He should be out preaching now without having to sit in class and wait for his time to go out into the world. The seminary president had this man carry a bucket of sand with him wherever he went. The president of this seminary reminded the young man that the Apostle Paul spent approximately 2.5 years in Arabia preparing for the ministry Christ Jesus had called him to. If Paul needed time in the Word so too did he and all students who would proclaim the Word of God. The sand was to remind this student of Paul’s time in Arabia and thereby the importance of having the tools to properly teach the Holy Scripture. John Owen, per his statements, would likely have greatly agreed with the president of the seminary because of his view of the priority of faithful pastoral preaching in the local church. A pastor must be able to preach the Word with accuracy and clarity by God’s grace. A pastor is to have the tool kit and ability to carry out this charge and task. Just as a physician must be medically trained and a lawyer versed in the fine points of the law, so too a pastor who preaches to a flock must be trained well in the Holy Scriptures and doctrine therein. What is at stake is nothing less than the souls of those in the congregation per Paul the apostle and John Owen many years after him.

 

A moral duty

Preaching, to John Owen, was not only the primary function of a pastor and, therefore, the highest of the pastor’s priorities, but also more than that. For Owen, it was a moral duty of the highest importance to be undertaken with the most reverence possible of one truly called of God into the pastoral office. Owen wrote that the duty of a pastor is to “declare the gospel, when called by the providence of God thereunto, for the work of preaching unto the conversion of souls being a moral duty.” [20]  He believed resolutely that preaching was a moral duty of a pastor, particularly with the unconverted in mind (Emphasis mine). He understood well that the Gospel would build the sheep and call the lost sheep into the fold. Preaching for Owen thus was not only a holy charge, but an issue of great moral importance that must be adhered to with the greatest dedication. He saw the Word of God as something that gave the ordinances (the Lord’s Supper and Baptism) their authority and the Word was entrusted to the shepherds of Christ’s flock. He stated in a sermon:

“The administration of the seals of the covenant is committed unto them, as stewards of the house of Christ; for unto them the authoritative dispensation of the word is committed, whereunto the administration of the seals is annexed; for their principal end is the peculiar confirmation and application of the Word preached.” [21]

Owen is his book True Nature of a Gospel church emphasized the Word of God has been entrusted to pastors as a holy and sacred stewardship. [22] Again, per Owen it was a serious stewardship that was a moral imperative to perform faithfully. [23]

Was Owen’s view in accordance with what Scripture conveys concerning the role of a pastor being a steward of the truth? The story of Joseph, the son of Jacob in Genesis, highlights the idea of faithful stewardship well. In Genesis 39, Joseph, as a steward, managed the assets and affairs of his master, Potiphar, for the expansion of his master’s assets and household. Joseph’s story highlights that a steward is one who manages the assets of their master. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus expounds the truth of Biblical stewardship through the parable of the talents, whereby a master entrusted several men with a sum of talents and they were to multiply what was given to them while their master was away. Faithfulness to steward what was given to them was the criterion of evaluation upon the master’s return. For the talents belonged to the master. Two of the three servants mentioned in Christ’s parable heard the same affirmation, “Well done, my good and faithful servant”. The servant who did nothing with what the master had entrusted to him was cast away into darkness and destruction. The point was how the servants handled what had been entrusted to them showed their love (or lack thereof for the third servant) of their master. John Owen put forth that pastoral ministry, particularly pastoral preaching, is a stewardship by which men were entrusted with the Word of God to feed the flock of Christ Jesus. Therefore, it was a moral obligation that could not be neglected for true pastors.

Paul states in 1 Corinthians 9:16 a similar sentiment. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” Paul connected the priority of preaching the Gospel with its necessity for a man called by God. To not do so was to be morally in error before God. Paul said “woe” to him if he did not preach. Paul in Colossians 1:25 calls his ministry a stewardship from God, which in Colossians 1:29 he labored at by God’s grace in him. Owen’s perspective of pastoral stewardship seemingly is rooted in the same ideology that we find in Pauline literature as well as the Scriptural narrative of stewardship. It was a moral duty. Owen held that pastors as stewards are to be found faithful before the Lord Jesus, the Master of the church. Like Paul, Owen saw faithful pastoral preaching for the pastor of a flock to be a moral imperative.

 

[1] Barret, Matthew. Michael A. G. Haykin. Owen on the Christian Life. 23.

[2] Ibid, 23.

[3] Owen, John. The True Nature of a Gospel Church. 74-75.

[4] Barrett, Matthew. Who Is John Owen? (Issue 4, Vol 5. of Credo: The Prince of Puritans: John Owen November 2015), 12.

[5] Owen, John. The True Nature of a Gospel Church. 74-75.

[6] Ibid, 74-75.

[7]  Ibid, 75.

[8] Ibid, 75.

[9] Ibid, 74-75.

[10] Owen, John. Eschol, A Cluster of the Fruit of Canaan: Mutual Duties of a Church Fellowship. 57.

[11] Ibid, 57.

[12] Owen, John. Eschol, A Cluster of the Fruit of Canaan: Mutual Duties of a Church Fellowship. 57.

[13] Owen, John. Posthumous Sermons: The Ministry of Christ. 432.

[14] Owen, John. The True Nature of a Gospel Church. 75.

[15] Owen, John. The True Nature of a Gospel Church. 75. Emphasis mine. Owen viewed ability to teach the Bible as vital for ministry of a pastor to such a degree if one would not, could not properly explain/proclaim the Scriptures they were not a pastor.

[16] Owen, John. The True Nature of a Gospel Church. 82-83.

[17] Owen, John. The True Nature of a Gospel Church. 82-83.

[18] Ibid, 82-83.

[19] This is a story shared by a professor concerning his interaction with the President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s at the time of his matriculation. I’m unable to find the exact message this story was shared, but this synopsis covers what the professor conveyed.

[20] Owen, John. Eschol, A Cluster of the Fruit of Canaan: Mutual Duties of a Church Fellowship.56. Emphasis mine.

[21] Owen, John. True Nature of a Gospel Church. 79.

[22] Owen, John. True Nature of a Gospel Church. 79.

[23] Owen, John. Eschol, A Cluster of the Fruit of Canaan: Mutual Duties of a Church Fellowship.56.

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