Preaching and teaching is no small matter for the pastor.
The Apostle Paul makes this clear in his pastoral epistles, three letters in
the New Testament written to Titus and Timothy. In these letters, Paul gives
considerable attention to importance of instructing a congregation in the word
of God.
Titus 1:6–9
…Be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those
who contradict it.
Titus 2:1 Teach
what accords with sound doctrine.
Titus 2:7–8 In
your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be
condemned…
Titus 2:15 Declare
these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority.
1 Timothy 4:13 Until
I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to
teaching.
1 Timothy 6:2 Teach and urge these things.
2 Timothy 4:1–2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
2 Timothy 1:13 Follow
the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me…
2 Timothy 2:14–16 Remind
them of these things, and charge them before God… rightly handling the word of
truth.
In this article, I will explain my philosophy of ministry
concerning preaching. My ministry philosophy for preaching includes three
elements: preaching ought to be Bible centered, gospel centered, and people
centered.
Bible Centered
Preaching ought to come from the Bible (Matthew 4:4; 1 Peter
4:11). This is what Luke calls the “ministry of the word” (Acts 6:2-4).
Preaching that veers from being scripture-centered inevitably evolves into
teaching “the traditions of men” (Mark 7:7-8) and worldly philosophy
(Colossians 2:8).
While it is helpful at times to deliver topical sermons, a
congregation is best served by regularly hearing exegetical, expository
sermons. An exegetical sermon is one which draws its meaning directly from the
text rather than reading an idea into the text.[1]
An expository sermon is one that draws from this exegesis and explains the text
in a way that listeners can understand and apply it. Preaching a text in a way
that is misleading, manipulative, or veers from the original author's intent is
malpractice for the preacher.
A easiest sermon to understand and apply is one that has one
clear focus. This method is called by different names: the big idea,[2]
the central idea of the text,[3]
or a one point message.[4]
Haddon Robinson puts it this way: “A sermon should be a bullet, not a
buckshot.”[5]
Gospel Centered
When possible tie the application back to the gospel. Our society
tends to believe in “modern moral order,”[6]
or creating a society that seeks better morals, ethics, and altruism without
mention of Jesus and the transforming power of the gospel. Keller tells us that
if sermons do not frequently point the listeners back to their need for
Spiritual Formation and the redeeming power of the gospel, the preacher is
“only confirming moralists in their moralism.”[7]
Christian sermons, therefore, are embedded with the
Christian gospel. And I mean “gospel” in a holistic way, not only as a call to
salvation. The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, how he has saved
individuals from the penalty of sin, will some day save individuals from the
presence and dominion of sin, and how he does the same for all of creation by
redeeming and reconciling all things to himself.[8]
Scripture urges unbelievers to accept the gospel and follow Jesus. Scripture
urges believers to live out the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of
Jesus by dying to sin (Romans 6:4-14), living a resurrected life (2 Corinthians
4:10, 5:17), and setting our minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-4).
Scripture urges churches to bring about gospel transformation, or “the kingdom
of God,” in their local community (Jeremiah 29:4-7; Luke 4:16-21; Matthew
6:10).
A question I often ask myself in sermon preparation is this:
Could this sermon be preached in a mosque, or a synagogue, a Mormon temple, or
at a TED talk without raising eyebrows? Christian sermons ought to be
explicitly Christian, communicating aspects of the Christian gospel and the
Trinitarian God.
People Centered
At it’s most basic level, preaching must be bible centered
and gospel centered. A third important aspect of preaching is the center the
message towards the people of God. First, this means the preacher must preach
with actual people in mind. Andy Stanley makes a distinction between “teaching
the Bible to people” and “teaching people the Bible.”[9]
A preacher will either lean towards teaching the Bible (focused on knowledge
acquisition and explanation) or teaching people (focused on life change and
application).
Second, application is key in preaching. Many have asked me
what the difference is between preaching and teaching. What makes a sermon preaching and not teaching? Application.
Bible teaching is geared towards knowledge acquisition, or delivering good
content to listeners. Bible preaching is focused on guiding listeners to apply
the text to their everyday life. With that said, the best teaching does lead to
application; and good preaching does give understanding. But the pulpit should
primarily be a place of preaching - expositing the Word of God and challenging
listeners.
Paul tells us that good preaching results in changed lives
(1 Timothy 1:5), and that all of scripture is
“profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) A sermon is lacking if it stops at knowledge
acquisition and stops short of life change. One must spur the hearers on to
love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).
Lastly, preaching a people centered message means to be crystal clear in your communication. The preacher spends hours studying the Bible and understands the flow and overall argument of the text. But listeners have not had this luxury. Nobody should ever walk away from a sermon unsure what the sermon was about, what the preacher meant, or what to do with what the teaching. A sermon and its application ought to be crystal clear.
I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight. (Jeremiah 3:15, LEB)[1] This term literally means “drawing
meaning out of” and “reading meaning into” a text. See Stanley J. Grenz, David
Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms
(Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 1999), 49.
[2] Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical
Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, 3rd edition
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2014), 15–21.
[3] Jerry Vines and Jim Shaddix, Power in
the Pulpit: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons, New Edition
(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1999), 128–33.
[4] Andy Stanley and Lane Jones, Communicating
for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication, 1st edition
(Sisters, Or: Multnomah, 2006), 106.
[5] Robinson, Biblical Preaching, 17.
[6] James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be
Secular: Reading Charles Taylor, 1st edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Eerdmans, 2014), 53.
[7] Timothy Keller, Preaching:
Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism, Complete Numbers Starting with
1, 1st Ed edition (New York, New York: Viking, 2015), 62.
[8] Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing
Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 2012), 267–68.
[9] Stanley and Jones, Communicating for a
Change, 93–99 Stanley actually has a third approach, “teach people how to
live a life that reflects the values, principles, and truths of the Bible.”
I’ve combined his last two approaches into one: “Teach people the Bible.”