Part of what we do as preachers is reminding the church of things we know - but tend to forget or let slip to the back of our minds.
Paul “reminded” Titus to keep reminding Christians of several things.
Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. (Titus 3:1-2)
A few verses later, Paul again reminded Titus, “I want you to insist on these things” (Titus 3:8). Continuing to remind our brothers and sisters in Christ - as well as ourselves - to “devote themselves to good works” is “excellent and “profitable.”
While teaching and preaching will involve helping people “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18), we will not always be teaching things that people don’t know.
Sometimes you are going to teach and preach things that everyone already knows - but it’s something we all need to be reminded to do.
But don’t we sometimes get tired of reminding people repeatedly? If you have children, you have probably gotten frustrated by how often you have to remind them to do something.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons Paul “reminded” Timothy to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).
Passages like this help to keep us in our place as gospel preachers. If we ever start to feel frustrated with reminding people of what the Bible says, remember that God reminds us through His word to be “longsuffering.”
People - preachers included - need reminders.