Recently I receive an email that caused me terrible consternation and frustration. The focus of this email was on church “growth” and suggested several quick “steps” that churches could make to achieve nearly instantaneous “growth.” Setting aside for a moment the formulaic approach to church growth (which has many difficulties of its own—perhaps another article on that later), I was immediately drawn to one of the “steps” and its appalling disregard for God’s command to preach (see 2 Tim. 4:1-4!!). Step 4 was, “Stop preaching and start communicating. There's a difference.” Ironically, this email came from Preaching Magazine. I was floored by this comment. How could someone say such a thing especially in a preaching publication? I think that I know what the intent behind such a careless comment is. The author is trying to get preachers to connect with their audience and apply the word of God in concrete and meaningful ways. He wants preaching to be powerful and substantial.
However, the formulation of that statement “Stop preaching and start communicating” belies a very troubling misunderstanding of what preaching actually is. In fact, I think that this author is reacting to watered-down, powerless sermons that seek “relevance” over showing people the meaning of God’s revelation. And with that sentiment, I agree. Too often, we settle for anemic preaching that has little content, less power, and no hope for transformation in the hearts and lives of the church. However, I don’t think that I would ever try to express my frustration with poor preaching by saying that we should stop preaching. Instead, we should be calling on pastors and church to rediscover biblical preaching that draws its power, authority, and relevance from the Word of God. When pastors preach book by book, passage by passage, word by word they will find that their sermons are powerful, relevant, and poignant precisely because they are built on God’s Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword and able to cut down to the very hearts of people. A pastor doesn’t have to make his sermons relevant (in the sense of using lots of fancy stories and jokes—though sometimes these things can help communicate a point) precisely because God’s Word on which his sermon ought to be based is always relevant. After all, if we believe that God’s Word is eternal, powerful and sufficient, then we should expect that sermons based on that Word would be always be relevant.
I could go on about the nature of preaching, but let us suffice it to say that today more than ever we need preaching that is squarely based on the meaning of God’s word and its significance in our lives. We typically call this sort of preaching “expository” preaching since we try to systematically open the Bible and explain its meaning, especially to make clear what is difficult, and to make appropriate application of that meaning so that people might believe accurately and live faithfully. Perhaps one of the best definitions of expository preaching that I know came from the late Dr. E. K. Bailey in his booklet Ten Reasons for Expository Preaching. He writes,
“An expository sermon is a message that focuses on a portion of scripture so as to clearly establish the precise meaning of the text and to poignantly motivate the hearers to actions or attitudes dictated by that text in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
That’s the sort of preaching that I want to do. Without doubt, I am not the greatest preacher, and I would be a fool if I didn’t realize that I have many, many places to grow in preaching the Scripture to you. In fact, most of us who serve in the ministry will never hold a candle to the great preachers of past and present. However, I do hope that I will be found by God and by His people to be a faithful preacher and competent preacher who brings before you each week the meaning of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit for the good of the saints. By God’s grace, that is my commitment to you before God Almighty.
