chew on this

"to charge someone with the spiritual oversight of a church who doesn't in practice show a commitment to hear and teach God's Word is to hamper the growth of the church, in essence allowing it to grow only to the level of the pastor. the church will slowly be conformed to the pastor's mind rather than to God's mind. and what we want, what as christians we care, are God's words. we want to hear and know in our souls what He has said."

-mark dever
9marks of a healthy church
ch.1, pg.42

i started reading this a couple months ago and lost track of it so i am starting again and as i was reading this it jumped off of the page at me. this is one of the most convicting statements i have read in a while. this affirms to me that we must, above all, proclaim the word. i pray it is convicting and encouraging for you as well.