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Jesus Christ commanded His ministers to preach the gospel in every nation of the world to have His people reconciled to God the father.
In preaching the gospel and teaching His commands, Christ’s servants regularly use pulpits and lecterns.
Sadly, however, most Christians do not know the difference between them; they mistaken a lectern for a pulpit. A Christian must be knowledgeable about things related to his faith.
While teaching at a Bible School in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city, I heard a pastor student explain that he understood the word “pulpit” to mean “pulling someone from the pit.”
The pastor had used pulpit several times but he did not understand it. Many Christians find themselves in the same situation.
They have heard about the word and probably used it in their conversations or teachings and preaching, but they do not clearly know what it refers to.
A lectern is also known as a podium. While the word, pulpit is found in some translations of the Bible, the word lectern or podium is not found.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a lectern is “a stand that holds a book, notes, etc., for someone who is reading, speaking, or teaching”
So, we must know that the glass or wooden stand on which pastors place their Bible, sermon papers, tablet or laptop when preaching or teaching is not a pulpit but a lectern or podium.
This definition differentiates a lectern from a pulpit which is defined as “a raised platform where a priest or minister stands when leading a worship service” (Merriam-Webster dictionary).
From this definition, you can clearly notice that a pulpit is a raised platform, a place in the auditorium where pastors stand to preach and teach the Word of God.
“And Ezra the scribe stood upon a PULPIT of wood, which they had made for the purpose” (Nehemiah 8:4, KJV).
“And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose” (Nehemiah 8:4, ESV).
You can see that the use of pulpit is as old as the Scriptures. Ezra, the scribe, even stood on a pulpit to minister.
By James Quansah
