Archive for January 2007
Thoughts on Expository Preaching
The following was adapted from my response to an email conversation that I have been having with a group of pastors that I have the privilege to work with for an annual retreat of the Midwest Chinese Christian Association. I edited the most specific personal references, but it will probably be evident that there are still some parts which address specific comments/questions to which you were not privy. Sorry about that. The length doesn’t bode well for short attention spans. Alas, I write as I preach. : )
In terms of preaching, expository preaching is the greatest need of the church today and in every age. I agree with John MacArthur who wrote “The only logical response to inerrant Scripture is to preach it expositionally.”[1] A high view of Scripture compels us to work hard to ensure that what we preach is what God is actually saying in His word—nothing more and nothing less.
Definitions
It seems what is needed in the discussion are clear definitions. I suspect that whole wars have been fought for lack of common definitions. Defining what we mean by the term expository or expositional (which I use interchangeably though I prefer the latter) would be the first step towards understanding and easing frustration.
Bryan Chapell in his book Christ-Centered Preaching defines an expository sermon as one that
requires that it expound Scripture by deriving from a specific text main points and sub-points that disclose the thought of the author, cover the scope of the passage, and are applied to the lives of the listeners.[2]
Mark Dever helpfully defines it still more simply, “Expositional preaching is preaching in which the main point of the text is the main point of the sermon.”[3] Necessarily then, the sub-points must also flow from the text and support the main points. Using Chapell’s and Dever’s definitions for expository preaching, we can better understand MacArthur’s strong statement about the necessity of expository preaching.
Topical preaching then would be preaching that takes its points from various Scriptures through the Bible. Here the preacher begins with an idea that he wants to speak on, finds various Scriptures that support it and these become the main points to support the big idea. The big idea may come from a particular passage, or may be the preacher’s conclusion based on what he has presented in his points.
It is possible to preach topically from one passage if the preacher does not take the main points of the passage to be his main points, but rather summarizes his points from what Scriptures generally teach. For example, someone could decide to preach through 1 & 2 Samuel on the life of David one chapter each Sunday. Rather than carefully expositing the text, he could observe in each chapter those things which have the most practical application for the people in his congregation. These become his points and focus. This would not be expository preaching even though his method is book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, even verse-by-verse. We’ll mention the dangers of this later.
Observations
With such an understanding of what expository or expositional preaching is, I make the following observations.
1. Expository preaching is superior to topical preaching because it more carefully brings out the intended meaning of the Scripture. More than that, careful exposition will help the congregation learn how to handle God’s Word, because they will actually see that the preacher’s points are the points of the text. I disagree with the idea that as long as the preacher has done his exegesis carefully, it doesn’t matter if the people can see how he got to what he said. Careful exposition exposes what Scripture says rather than proposing what is says. I will never forget attending a Worship Conference in 1995 and hearing the speaker say to us pastors:
“If your people can not see that what you are preaching comes from the text, they must take your word for it; you have pulled rank on them. You are weakening your people, not strengthening them.”
My heart was cut and bleeding because I knew that I was guilty, and, by the grace of God, my whole world and ministry began to change.
I am convinced that one reason—the main reason—that American Christians are so weak in faith and so biblically illiterate, and that the American church, is so powerless is because they don’t hear careful expositional preaching week after week that models how to handle Scripture and teaches them how to hear God’s voice through His Word. Strong convictions I know, and I would never set myself up as a model expository preacher, but by the grace of God working in me I work to preach expositionally every week in such a way that the people may discover the incredible gift that they hold in their laps—and obey it by faith.
2. Expository preaching is not verse-by-verse commentary. I suspect that a distaste for this kind of preaching (which is often described as expository preaching) leads many to reject expository preaching altogether. A commitment to go verse-by-verse doesn’t mean that a preacher is truly expository, because although the preacher may say a lot about each verse and perhaps make an application from each verse, the hearers still may not have any idea what the passage as a whole says. Similarly, the preacher may overemphasize verses that are really only there to support a main idea rather than to become the main ideas themselves.
3. Following on that point, expository preaching is not defined by the manner in which Scripture passages are selected for preaching. A couple of points here:
First, if we hold carefully to the definitions above, we can see that the number of verses preached is irrelevant. A preacher can preach on one verse expositionally (and this is sometimes necessary) or he can preach on ten verses expositionally; he can preach one message on a whole chapter expositionally, or on a whole book. Larger texts may be more of a challenge to the preacher to be sure that his main points are indeed the main points of the passage, and to help his people see that, but it can be done. Recently after spending fourteen months (a little misleading—only 48 messages) going through the book of Hebrews I concluded with one sermon on the whole book of Hebrews so that the book’s main point was my main point and the author’s divisions supplied the supporting points following the argument of the whole letter.[4] It was easier to the Hebrews sermon at the end of the whole study; nest week I will begin preaching through John with one sermon over the whole book requiring me to begin preparation about five weeks ago.
Second, expository preaching doesn’t require going through one entire book of the bible at a time. As long as the selected passage is handled expositionally, a preacher could regularly choose different parts of the Bible from which to preach. For example, beginning the new year I recently believed that I should preach on those things which would be most necessary for our congregation and each brother and sister in the new year so I preached a sermon on prayer and a sermon on the Word of God. I made the choice to preach on these two topics but once the passages were chosen, I studied and preached what the passages preached. As a result, at least one of the messages was not what I expected when I chose the passage, but the message was, I believe, what God spoke through the passage and what He wanted our congregation to hear. Thus, whatever “agenda” I may have had before my preparation, that “agenda” must bow to Scripture or I will hurt my people and run the risk of false teaching.
Even when going through a book, when I do my quarterly exercise of mapping out my messages for the next three months, I give each message titles based on a reading of the texts. Yet, when I begin my study, I often I find that I missed the main point. When our bulletin is done before my sermon is done, the congregation often finds that the sermon title in the bulletin is not the title on their Sermon Notes page because the passage has to determine the title and its message. So actually, I do believe that the title can and should be expository, that is the passage defines the title rather than the title directing the message.
4. Having said all that, I do believe that preaching through one book at a time will have the greatest impact on our churches. Preaching through books helps our people grow in their ability to hear and handle the Word of God, as well as deepening their love and hunger for God’s Word. Going through the books one at a time, our congregations can most clearly see how we study and discern the meaning of God’s Word. Then they will learn how to study the Word for themselves and how to share it with others.
Sunday school teachers can and must teach in expository fashion. If we model and teach this approach then our Sunday school teachers will learn how to teach the main point of a text to their students. What sin is this in the church that a teacher can read the story of Moses being saved from the Nile and then tell the kids that we should be helpers like Miriam! If we don’t want that to happen, we can’t focus on easy applications in our sermons, but must model careful exposition week after week after week.
In preaching through a whole book, I think that it is important to preach on every passage so that the whole congregation can see what the relevant themes are for themselves. We may, however, go faster at some points taking some larger passages and slow down with smaller passages at other points. For example, in preaching through Hebrews when I came to chapter 7, I preached one message over the whole chapter, whereas it took six messages to go through chapter 11.
Moreover, preaching through books of the Bible has tremendous benefit for the preacher. It holds us accountable to preach texts that may never make an impression on us. It helps us to address issues that our people need to hear that we may otherwise not cover. It causes us to grow as we discover the deeper truths of Scripture. Such a practice causes us to preach on a wider variety of subjects then we might otherwise preach. Our preaching and ministry are endued with power when we are careful with every message to preach only God’s inspired word. I can testify that I have been the greatest benefactor from my commitment to preach through books. I believe this has been a necessary part of my congregation’s growth as well, but I know this for sure, if I am not growing, my congregation won’t grow much either.
5. Applying that observation to a retreat or conference ministry, I do believe that it is possible to have expository preaching in every retreat or conference worship service. Since preaching through a whole book of the Bible is not the meaning of expository preaching, chosen themes can lead the preacher towards specific texts; then the preacher can carefully exposit those texts if he is committed to that type of preaching. In this situation, the preacher would want to prayerfully select the texts, organize them so that they build toward the main point, then carefully prepare and preach them.
For example, someone preaching at a retreat whose theme is “The Cross-Centered Life” may choose not to preach through a whole book (though that may be possible; 1 Peter comes to mind). Instead they may select six different passages from both the Old and New Testaments, and then preach each one expositionally, and (hopefully) at the same time help the people see how the various passages (and the whole Bible) are pointing together to Christ and His cross as the purpose and means of our daily living.
6. I believe that the Apostles did in fact preach expositionally, because this is what Jesus taught and modeled for them. There are a number of examples in the gospels, but perhaps the clearest is in Luke 24:13-35. Luke tells us, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). And it sounds like Jesus was neither cold-cut and boring, nor light and entertaining for afterwards his “congregation” said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (24:32).
In Acts we are told that the new church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). Though these sermons are not recorded we have every reason to believe that the apostles carefully taught the church using the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul could not have truthfully told the elders at Ephesus that he “did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house… for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:20,27) if he had not exposited the Old Testament to them. Were there time we could also look at evidence in Paul and Peter’s letters and the gospels themselves to see that the believers were indeed carefully taught the Word of God.
We ought to recognize a few things about the apostles’ recorded sermons that we have in Acts. First, in these sermons the apostles were preaching primarily to non-believers with the evangelistic aim of revealing who Jesus is and how He fulfilled all of Scripture. Therefore, they typically take from several prophets to show how Jesus is the Messiah. Second, there were no New Testament Scriptures that clearly taught the identity and work of Jesus and then applied that to the hearers. We, on the other hand, have the great benefit of the New Testament so that we can choose from any great number of places to preach clear, expository evangelistic sermons. Third, as the former point alludes to, since we are not apostles we do not have the authority to speak without Scripture as they did. Our authority to preach the word of God comes only from the word of God. Expository preaching protects us from taking liberty so that the line between what God says and what we say becomes blurred. Our people have to be able to see the clear difference.
7. The very thing that seems to motivate topical preaching is undermined by a topical approach to the Bible. It seems to me that what drives topical preaching most is a desire to be “relevant” and “practical” and a fear of not connecting in a culture where people are used to sound bites and entertainment. (I don’t know a pastor who has chosen to preach topically because of a desire to teach systematic theology.) Every preacher should desire to be relevant and practical and to connect with the people in our culture (and a desire to teach them systematic theology is good too). But I believe topical preaching works actually works against these goals in the long run.
First, when a pastor only preaches topically and goes from one passage to another to address a topic, the people are led to believe that although the Bible does have relevance, the relevant and practical parts are spread out in miscellaneous verses throughout the Bible. Thus, they being unskilled in the Word and unwilling/unable to learn the whole Bible are dependent on the preacher to tell them what they need to know. As a result both their ability and their desire to study and understand the Bible are weakened. Instead they come on Sunday morning with a “just the facts” mentality. In the end the Bible can actually seem less relevant to their everyday life though they may be willing to apply what the preacher said.
Secondly, while topical preaching may seem to connect because it leaves the people with three or four practical applications for daily living, it is often disconnected from the whole of the gospel. As a result, the applications can easily become little more than law, and they can leave knowing what they should do, but have no understanding of how to do that through grace by faith. Furthermore, they may have no idea why they should follow the prescribed applications if they don’t feel that those things are an issue for them. Telling people to do biblical things is not always as practical as it may seem, because people are sinners. They can’t do what the Bible says apart from an abiding faith in Jesus through which grace is received, grace that empowers obedience.
For example, if preaching on marriage, it may be easy to help people see from a few different Scriptures how they should treat their spouse. This seems relevant to them because if their marriage is good, everything else is a little bit better. If the steps seem practical enough they may be quite willing to try them out. But it is a much different (and more difficult) thing for them to see that their marriage is a picture of Christ and His relationship to the church. It is a much greater thing for them to see that Christ’s work on the cross is the only hope for their marriage to truly succeed, and to leave with a sense of wonder and awe over the price that Christ paid for their marriage, and to leave with an overwhelming sense of why their marriage matters. While I hope to be practical, I am convinced that my people will be much more helped if they can leave with this genuine sense of hope and purpose and love for the gospel, even if they don’t know exactly what to say to each other in the car on the way home.
Expository preaching better than any of the other forms of preaching is best suited to keep the person and work of Christ as the central focal point of the message, because every text ultimately points to Him.
Final Encouragements
As you can see, brevity in preaching in certainly not my gift. I hope that these thoughts are helpful for thinking through what it means to be expository and why we should preach expositionally every time we preach. Unfortunately, I am not an example of the model expository preacher; I don’t mean to address the faults in others’ preaching; I am too busy working on my own. But I can say—by the grace of God—since I have made the commitment to preach expository sermons every Sunday, my preaching and my church have grown in so many ways. I have seen the fruit—in youth and adults and even children. (Okay, my children, but I think if they grow like that on Sunday morning other kids must too).
One thing I would offer to encourage each of you as well: don’t think that you must be like any other expository preacher. We must be committed to preach expositionally, but not to follow the manner or style of any preacher. Charles Spurgeon wrote these words that we would do well to remember:
Be yourself, dear brother, for, if you are not yourself, you cannot be anybody else; and so, you see, you must be nobody… Do not be a mere copyist, a borrower, a spoiler of other men’s notes. Say what God has said to you, and say it in your own way; and when it is so said, plead personally for the Lord’s blessing upon it.[5]
John Piper has already been mentioned a couple of times in the discussion and he is certainly one of my living heroes. But I may never have the power of John Piper, and I will certainly never have a mind like his. I will never have the exegetical skill of D.A. Carson, or the rhetorical skill of Mark Dever. I may never have the heart of C.J. Mahaney or the language of Spurgeon and Bunyan. But, by the mercies of God, I have the Bible and the Holy Spirit and a mind (I had an MRI last year and the doctor assured me that my brain is in there) and a voice and a call to preach. And therefore, each week, I pick up the Bible, ask God what He’s saying, and then I pick up a pen and write carefully. And on Sunday morning, week after week, despite all my personal limitations (and you guys don’t know the half of them), I preach and God speaks. Isn’t that incredible? That’s amazing. And so I do all that I can to be sure that God can speak, including preaching expositionally.
[1] Rediscovering Expository Preaching, ed. Richard L. Mayhue and Robert L. Thomas, (Dallas, TX: Word, 1992) p. 23.
[2] Christ-Centered Preaching, Bryan Chapell, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1954), p. 129.
[3] Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever, Crossway Books. (Sorry my copy is on loan so I don’t have the proper reference.)
[4] I have been helped and challenged in this by Mark Dever and his collection of sermons on every book of the Bible in his two volumes, The Message of the Old Testament, and The Message of the New Testament published last year by Crossway Books.
[5] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, An All Round Ministry, (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1960), p. 73-74, quoted from a message by John Piper entitled “Charles Spurgeon: Preaching Through Adversity.”
