How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Romans 10:14, ESV
Last week, I talked here about the future of Christianity and how it’s tied to the importance of “moms and dads united in healthy marriages that… build kids” who are emotionally healthy, love God, and know how to handle the Bible correctly.
Yet, in our increasingly biblically-illiterate age where reading is less and less a priority, how is this even possible? If you’re a preacher’s kid you may have an advantage. Or maybe if you’ve had some Bible classes at a Christian school or college. Few, however, are born into or have access to these options. What’s more, being a PK has its own challenges and, for many, attending a Christian school isn’t even the best path to pursue their calling or vocational interests.
For these reasons and more, I’m convinced that there’s no way we can have strong, biblically literate homes without strong Christ-centered, expository preaching in our churches. I believe that expository preaching—preaching through books or paragraphs of Scripture—is the best discipline for a pastor (more on that next week) and diet for a congregation. I also believe the gospel should show up in every message. Without preaching that is Word-driven and consistently Christ-centered, preaching can easily descend into moralism, behavior modification, or that which is too connected to the emotional life and experiences of the pastor. I know. I’ve had times when I fallen into all three of these traps.
In 2016, in taking a class on “Fruitful Preaching” as part of my doctorate, I had the chance to flesh out, update, and strengthen my convictions on these matters. It had been almost thirty years since I’d read Haddon Robinson’s Expository Preaching—the book that first formed my beliefs in this area. Kent Hughes led the class and we had a lot of rich discussion. Two of my favorites from the books Dr. Hughes recommended were David Helm’s accessible Expositional Preaching and, especially, John Stott’s Between Two Worlds.
Here is Stott’s definition of expository preaching:
“It is my contention that all true Christian preaching is expository preaching. Of course, if by an ‘expository’ sermon is meant a verse-by-verse explanation of a lengthy passage of Scripture, then indeed it is only one possible way of preaching, but this would be a misuse of the word. Properly speaking, ‘exposition’ has a much broader meaning. It refers to the content of the sermon (biblical truth) rather than the style (a running commentary). To expound Scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view… but the text in question could be a verse, or a sentence, or even a single word. It could equally be a paragraph, or a chapter, or a whole book. The size of the text is immaterial, so long as it is biblical.”
John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 125-126.
Although I agree with Stott that “all true Christian preaching is expository preaching,” I’m not saying a pastor must be slavishly tied to this regularity. Stott wasn’t saying that either. In fact, he gives four other common and legitimate reasons for pastors to choose a text for a given Sunday or season:
- Liturgical—many traditions make use of the church calendar and lectionary (Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutheran).
- External—some event in the life of our nation (death of a public figure or national scandal).
- Pastoral—some discovered need in the congregation’s spiritual pilgrimage.
- Personal—some of the most powerful message we preach are ones we have first preached to ourselves.[1]
Again, I’m all for the freedom and variety captured in the four purposes above, but I don’t believe these should ever overshadow the primary discipline of regular Christ-centered, expository preaching. Its value for building individuals and families that love God and know their Bible should be obvious. But this practice also has great value for clergy. Next week I’ll share ten benefits of expository preaching for pastors specifically.
To get a feel for expository preaching in one of its purest forms, listen to Truth for Life, the Bible-teaching ministry of Alistair Begg. For an excellent example that is consistently Christ-centered and promotes cultural literacy as well, listen to Andrew Smith here.
[1] John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 213-219.