The Purpose of Preaching Pt. 1: What Am I Listening To?
What is the purpose of preaching? There may be as many different answers given to that question as there are individuals asked. Everyone seems to have an idea, opinion, or expectation concerning the act of preaching. But what does the Bible say about it? Does it say anything at all? Does it matter how a man preaches or just what a man preaches?
Too often the subject of preaching is relegated to the private conversations of pastors. Many Christians think that is a subject for the seminaries or “super Christians.” Yet, preaching is the ordained means of God by which he speaks to and instructs his church. It is the avenue of evangelism, edification, and the exaltation of God. As such, preaching is paramount to the health and well-being of every church and every individual. Thus, everyone, not just ministers, seminary students, or Bible nerds, must know what the Bible says about preaching. Every Christian should know what to expect, what not to expect, and, with the number of preachers online today, they should be able to recognize good preaching versus bad.
The difference between good and bad preaching is the first subject that must be discussed in a proper examination of preaching. More precisely, the first lesson must be the realization that our feelings and opinions cannot be a good means of measuring faithful preaching.
This is where the first problem arises concerning this subject. We are not always good judges of preaching. Whether we are defining good preaching based on charisma, content, or crowd size, the truth is that we too easily let our preferences and desires cloud our judgement when it comes to the exposition of God’s Word.
Paul warned Timothy of this. At the end of his life the apostle Paul wanted to give a few final words and instructions to his “child in the faith.” Part of those instructions centered on perseverance in the ministry, particularly as it pertained to preaching God’s Word faithfully and without shame. Considering that desire, Paul warns Timothy that not everyone will recognize or appreciate sound preaching. Instead, they will heap up teachers to suit their own desires, those who will tickle their ears and tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:1-5). God’s man should not give in to such demands or pressure, even though such demands will come.
This means that we are often inclined to poorly judge the success, faithfulness, or worth of a sermon. We are apt at calling good preaching bad and bad preaching good because our standard is personal preference rather than unbiased faithfulness to the Word of God. We are more likely to embrace a sermon if it already supports our preconceived notions. Sermons that challenge us are typically dismissed or chalked up to a poor “performance” by the preacher.
In that same passage Paul warns Timothy that it will be worse than simply wanting their ears tickled. People will no longer endure sound teaching. They will not only desire what is wrong, but they will be proactive in resisting what is right.
This means that the preacher, while listening to the concerns of a congregation, cannot finally measure his preaching by the whims or fancies of other people. The standards of preaching are defined by the Bible, and they are not always welcomed eagerly. For example, John the Baptist may not have gained a large crowd today after he was heard calling people a “brood of vipers.” Or how about the prophets of old? Would their confrontational style have been accepted in pulpits today? Many of the Scriptural examples of preaching would not be considered good preaching by today’s standards. They lacked form, structure, charisma, memorable outlines, proper illustrations, strong engagement, and so forth.
This brings us to the first real application in our lesson about preaching. People are not always good judges of good preaching, and the reason boils down to what they expect from the preacher.
Back to Paul’s warning to Timothy, the reason people are heaping up empty talkers to be their preachers is to suit their own passions and desires. They want to be told what they want to hear. Their expectation was for their own pleasure or confirmation or approval. Preaching was not about the Bible or God’s holiness or sanctification, it was about feeling good about themselves.
Truth be told, this is what typically gathers large crowds of people today. Sermons are little more than self-help pep talks or messages intended to puff up the listener’s self-aggrandizing thoughts. Though it isn’t always the case (thank goodness), the vast majority of pulpits major on self-promotion and minor on Biblical exegesis. They excel on talks of morality and solutions for life’s problems, but they rarely mention things like sin, blood, sacrifice, wrath, holiness, or repentance – all gospel bedrocks.
My point isn’t to slander other pastors. God graciously keeps some faithful. Rather, my point is to highlight the growing concern and error of poor preaching that is being classified as good, sound, and standard preaching. The reason people believe that preaching can be defined in such ways, or that it can be tailored to the individual (think, “I follow Paul, I follow Apollos,” etc.), is because there is a lack of understanding about the real point, practice, and moment of preaching.
This points us to several important factors about preaching that we will consider in the future. Preaching isn’t about our preferences. Preaching must center on the Bible. Preaching will sometimes be confrontational before it can be uplifting. Preaching is instructive. Preaching is more than just a talk about a subject; it is the method of God leading His people.
Who gets to define successful preaching? It is not the church or its hearers, it is not the preacher, it is not the seminary, it is the Word of God. Therefore, if we are going to fully benefit from the act of preaching, we must understand what is happening and what we are supposed to get when a man enters the pulpit with a Bible.
