Exposition of Exposition

While I'm still working on encouraging systematic, expository preaching, I thought it might be time for a commercial. Dan Kreider has been doing a great job helping with this blog, but he has also been helping us with our church's website. There are two features on the website that I am really happy about. One is our values page http://nbgbc.com/values.html. The other is our messages section, and especially our current series on Hebrews http://nbgbc.com/scripturehebrews.html. Check them out, hold me accountable, see if I "preach what I practice"!!

Can Topical Preaching Be Expository?

Yes, topical preaching can be expository preaching. Granted, little of it is, but that does not mean it cannot be. So, I'm asking, "How can topical preaching be expository?" and "When is topical preaching not expository?".

Topical preaching can be expository preaching when . . .

a) the topic itself is derived from the Bible, that is from a passage/passages taken in context. These could be word studies, doctrines, concepts, biographical studies,or activities (praying, evangelizing).

b) the preacher does the hard work of making sure that he has not missed looking at and considering any verses anywhere in the Bible that relate to or inform the topic. Because of this necessity, expository topical preaching is more demanding and rigorous than sequential preaching through Bible books. When preaching through Bible books, the preacher must still relate his passage to the whole Bible (the big context), but the pressure is not quite as great because the passage itself is a safety-check, and he usually has the next week or two to fix something he misses. This suggests the great advantage of sequentially preaching through books of the Bible. But sometimes topical messages are necessary - consider the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus does topical preaching expositionally and in context, or Peter's sermon on Pentecost -same thing. Whether topical or sequential, I would humbly suggest that expositors get in the personal habit of reading the WHOLE BIBLE through regularly, maybe once per month or more. In this way, the expositor is constantly looking for those biblical connections that become part of future messages/series. Does this mean that if the preacher is going to do a series on "love", for example, that he must look at and study in context every usage of this word in the whole Bible? Yes!!

c) it is motivated by a sincere search of the Bible to find the answer/s to a real question or problem that the preacher is asking or has been asked of him. In this case, one might say that the topic initially seemed to come from the culture or circumstance and then proceeded to the Bible for the answers. The preacher must be careful that a) and b) above still apply so that the temptation to give a culturally acceptable answer does not over-ride the responsibility to give a biblically accurate answer (see First Thessalonians 2:3-4 and Galatians 1:10).


Topical preaching is not expository when . . .

a) the preacher is choosing to address the topic because of some preconceived disposition to it. Such preconceptions may include: "that topic is really popular now" (or the latest 'new word' or 'fresh moving' of the Spirit), "that seemed real effective when ______ preached it", "this is my latest hobby-horse or pet peeve", "why don't you ever preach about ________?", "pastors who are preaching this seem to have growing churches", etc.

b) the preacher does not do the hard work of Bible study and exegesis in preparation.

c) the preacher just "borrows" someone else's sermons or topics without doing his own work of Bible study, meditation, and prayer. This is not to imply that we cannot or should not glean ideas or approaches from listening to the sermons of others. I love to hear other good expository preachers!! I have learned from them, and sometimes I import their stuff. But we should not make "their stuff" the main framework of the sermon and then just stick in a few of our thoughts. Our messages must come from the biblical text, and what we glean from others becomes insight or illustration.

d) the preacher "takes a text" and uses it to "springboard" into whatever he wants to say. This kind of looks like the preacher is beginning with a Bible text (promising!) but once he gets started the text is never to be heard from again.

e) the preacher superimposes a personal presupposed "theological motif" (or any other motif) to bend the meaning of a biblical text in a certain direction instead of letting the text speak for itself. A list of examples might include liberation theology (to think of recent news headlines), liberalism, covenant theology, dispensationalism, emergent theology, prosperity theology, denominationalism, Reformed theology, etc. The goal of the expositor is to let the text speak in a manner that exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God will use the text to show what of a perspective, system, or motif is correct and how.

Expository Preaching - What is it?

J.I. Packer - "The true idea of expository preaching is that the preacher should become the mouthpiece of his text, opening it up and applying it as the Word of God to his hearers, speaking in order that the text may be heard, and making each point from his text in such a manner 'that his hearers may discern the voice of God' " (Westminster Directory, 1645, paraphrased).

John R.W. Stott - "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 its style (a running commentary). To expound Scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view. The expositor prizes open what appears to be closed, makes plain what is obscure, unravels what is knotted, and unfolds what is tightly packed. The opposite of exposition is 'imposition', which is to impose on a text what is not there. 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. What matters is what we do with it. Whether it is long or short, our responsibility as expositors is to open it up in such a way that it speaks its message clearly, plainly, accurately, relevantly, without addition, subtraction, or falsehood. In expository preaching the biblical text is neither a conventional introduction to a sermon on a largely different theme, nor a convenient peg on which to hang a ragbag of miscellaneous thoughts, but a master which dictates and controls what is said. (Between Two Worlds, pp.125-126).

Haddon W. Robinson - "Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through him to his hearers". Robinson amplifies his definition with the following statements: "The passage governs the sermon", "the expositor communicates a concept", "the concept comes from the text", "the concept is applied to the expositor", "the concept is applied to the hearers". (Biblical Preaching, pp.20-30).

Stephen F. Olford - "Expository preaching is the historical, grammatical, and contextual examination and presentation of Scripture, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with a homiletical pattern and an evangelical purpose" (Preaching the Word of God, p.33).


Here is a recent attempt of mine - To do expository preaching is to speak in such a way that the Word of God is exposed to the hearers in its truth, accuracy, Christ-exalting richness, Trinity-focused theology, sense, context, spirit, clarity, and power, and that the hearers are exposed to the Word of God in faith, humility, need, joy, conviction, desire, and obedience, all for the glory of Christ.

What is your definition? Are you an expository preacher/teacher/speaker? Have you thought this through?

Preaching The Word Or Mere Application?

This will be the last of the "distinctions" articles I've been on for a while, but I think it provides a good transition to some discussions about expository preaching which I would like to get into next.

It is possible to not be preaching an exposition of the biblical text, but instead be preaching your exegesis of the text. Thus, a very cognitive, fact-oriented presentation of what is in the text may be given (assuming you got your exegesis right), but not with much power or vital spiritual/conceptual insight. Sometimes this has even degenerated into the preaching of old college/seminary classroom notes. Such a preacher may truly be working very hard and being very faithful to the text of Scripture, but seeing little progress in terms of growth into Christlikeness in the lives of his listeners.

Reacting, perhaps, to the above "dry as dust" kind of preaching, others can tend to go rather far the other direction. Some do not even do any exegesis of the biblical text in preparation for their messages. Maybe they only use a text that they feel says what they want to say to their church. Maybe they get their messages from some other source, like downloading them from their favorite big-name impersonal mentor's website, or from a homiletical lectionary, or book of sermons. Maybe they don't even crack a Bible in their church at all. Maybe they resort to "skyscraper sermons", one story after another. At worst, these may not be preaching the Bible in any real sense at all, and at best they are merely preaching applications (whether legitimate or illegitimate) of the Bible, either of their own choosing or from borrowing.

I'm not about to propose a middle-ground approach, but rather suggest that true expository preaching is a 3rd way, or different way, from the two scenarios I have described above.

Expository preaching is not a lecture about your exegesis of the text. Neither is expository preaching a lack of exegesis that just relates application and stories without serious attention to the text. Expository preaching is the proclamation of the results of your biblical exegesis done in a way that exposes the listener to the accurate meaning of the text in context, and is the proclamation of the results of humble, Holy Spirit controlled meditation that has already produced the results of faith and obedience to the text in the life/application of the preacher.

Study and prayer should not be separated. Exegesis and application should not be separated. Preaching and obedience should not be separated. Doctrine and concept should not be separated. Biblical accuracy and loving, compassionate, bold, warmhearted spiritual fervency should not be separated. Expository preaching is biblical truth set on fire by the Spirit through the lips of a godly man. Those who think they do not like expository preaching have probably never really heard any. Expository preaching is truth, love, beauty, power, holiness, grace, salvation, conviction, wonder, and praise all flowing as one stream out of the heart of a Christ-enthralled man. If you know Christ, what is there to not like about that?

Grace and Church Discipline

As I listen to pastors and church leaders, I hear (or don't hear) a few things that continue to concern me deeply in relation to the topic of church discipline. Things like, "I always want to err on the side of grace." Well who doesn't? But what does this mean? Or, "We don't do church discipline because only legalistic churches do this." Or, "What do I do about this problem situation (often a person sinning) that is dividing my church?" - when actually church discipline would stop the problem. Or, more commonly I just hear nothing on the topic. I guess discipline has been replaced by people-pleasing.

On the other side, I am also concerned about some who seem to "discover" church discipline, and end up becoming so narrow that suddenly a huge group of people in the church are put under discipline without appropriate biblical instruction. If discipline has been neglected in a church ( and in many cases it has been), careful instruction and patience must be given in implementing biblical teaching on discipline. Sometimes, rather than rushing to discipline, a pastor may need to realize he has inherited a flock of goats instead of a flock of sheep. The answer to this will be the consistent preaching of the Gospel through expository preaching before one starts the disciplinary process. The Word of God and the Spirit of God will sort out the goats until you can see what you are truly dealing with.

The Brethren movement has as its main historic distinctive the loving exercise of church discipline. As I have stated in Childlike Faith (p.30; <www.bmhbooks.com>), "page after page in (Alexander) Mack's writing, and in writings over the the next century and more after him, make allusions to Matthew chapter 18 as the description of Jesus' teaching concerning living in spiritual community with mutual accountability to one another in church discipline." The establishment of "mutual accountability" will need to precede the implementation of a formal or official disciplinary process.

A book that was helpful to me years ago was Disciplined by Grace by J.R. Strombeck (Strombeck Agency, 2nd ed. 1947). Even the title should suggest that grace and discipline go together. We are not operating in grace when we overlook or even give tacit approval of ongoing sin in the life of a professed brother/sister in Christ by our unloving silence. Neither are we operating in grace when we become harsh, legalistic, or self-serving (i.e. "win-lose" attitudes instead of "win-win").

Quite often disciplinary experiences do not end up the way we desire. Our desire is for forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus predicted that sometimes the final step will be to "let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector" (Matt.18:17). Even then the door should be left open for future forgiveness (Matt.18:21ff.). But we must not allow the realities that church discipline can be difficult, is sometimes very uncomfortable, and often does not end up as we desire, to prevent us from doing it the way Jesus taught us. What is at stake if we do not? - marriages, families, personal testimonies, evangelism, truth, the church herself.

Of course we must do this in grace and love. But in these days of apostasy and pseudo-tolerance, the greater danger is that we may not be doing it at all.

Preaching The Gospel and Methodologies

Back on November 17, 2007 I promised that I would cover a few more distinctions that may help us in doing ministry.  This is one of the remaining topics.

When asked what the best method/approach to evangelism is, my response is, "Preach the Gospel."  Often the questioner will look at me as if I'm a bit dense in the head, and thinking I've not understood she/he rephrases the question, "But what is the best method for preaching the Gospel?".   Then my reply is, "Preaching the Gospel IS a method - it is THE method - it is GOD'S method."

While you will have to throw out his Anglican sacramentalism, Roland Allen's book "Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?" (originally written in 1912; 2nd ed. 1927; Eerdmans ed. 1962) will be a refreshing read to many who may have missed it.  How did Paul do missionary work?  He preached the Gospel !  How did Paul plant churches?  He preached the Gospel !  How did Paul carry out his "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18)?   He preached the Gospel !  Allen clearly makes the point that preaching the Gospel IS Paul's method.

How does God "save those who believe" ?   Answer :  "through the foolishness of the message preached"  (1 Cor. 1:21).    What is God's "power ... for salvation (including justification, sanctification, and glorification)  to everyone who believes" ?   Answer:  "the Gospel" which Paul was "not ashamed" to preach (Romans 1:15-16).   Paul, even under tremendous pressure,  had no alternate method, no "plan B"  -  only the "boldness in our God to speak to you the Gospel of God amid much opposition"  (1 Thess. 2:2,4).

Paul did seem to have some methodology/strategy for meeting people and deciding how he would spend his time.  He would go "to the Jew first" and if the Jews were not receptive he would preach to others until he saw who would be receptive and preached to them (Acts 13:45-52).  How did he decide who was receptive?  He preached the Gospel to them !   Paul would go to places where he thought people who had some spiritual interest might be gathered, and then he would preach the Gospel to them (Acts 16: 13-14).   There are methods for meeting people, for building relational bridges of love into their lives, but the preaching of the Gospel is not up for methodological variance.
 
 Yes, methods of doing things may and must keep changing.  They are temporal and finite.  I assure you I would not have been writing a "blog" twenty years ago.  We are always preaching the Gospel in the context of culture which is changing.  We want our message to connect with people's receptors.  But, the message does not - must not - change.  The Gospel we preach must be the same Gospel Paul preached or it will not save.

Jesus did not say "go into all the world and be the Gospel" - He said "preach the Gospel".   Paul did not go into Corinth to take surveys to find out what people wanted to hear, but rather with "weakness and in fear and in much trembling" he determined that he would know nothing among them "except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" so that their faith "would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:1-5). Jesus and Paul did not avoid warning people about eternal punishment and hellfire (Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43ff, 2 Thess. 1:6-10, and many more)  hiding behind some notion that such is not their "purpose" or "ministry".   Warning people to flee from coming wrath is a major purpose of Gospel communication (Matt. 3:7 cf. 1 Thess. 1:10, 5:9).

If you preach the truth that is eternal, you will always be relevant, because the eternal is always relevant.  If you adapt the Gospel to try to be relevant, you preach "another Gospel" (Galatians 1:6-7) and make yourself irrelevant in the process.  Far better a smaller group of faithful believers looking for heaven, than a larger group of make-believers who just want their "best life now", and don't even really get that  (2 Tim. 4:1-8). 

The Gospel IS God's method.

Back From Africa

Thanks so much to all who prayed for the recent ministry in C.A.R. It was truly a fruitful and significant time. 28 evangelists and potential pastors received training in Bambari, the home of Pastor Mboi Andre. These men are on the move to reach eastern C.A.R. with the Gospel (most churches and believers live in the western portion of the country, so there are still unreached and least-reached people in the east). Mboi Andre is currently on a trip to Zemio, an eastern town, where he is engaging in evangelism and church planting. Pray for his ministry, his travels on rugged roads (and sometimes no roads), and for his family while he's gone.

27 students also received training in leadership and communication at Bangui with Hibaile Augustan's CIDEL ministry. This was a great class with some very sharp students. They are from varied professions, so pray for their impact as salt and light in Bangui.

I also had a great time preaching in the churches, being present for the dedication of the Project Hope and Charity orphan center, meeting and encouraging some pastors I had not met before, and fellowshipping with our missionary staff in C.A.R as well as some others who were visiting from the States while I was there.

If you are following the current unrest in Kenya and Chad, you know the importance of praying for the stability of the Central African Republic. Situated as it is geographically, if it is stable it has the potential to halt the spread of unrest throughout the rest of the continent. If unstable, the unrest could spread through C.A.R. like a wildfire. Great days, maybe the greatest ever, could be ahead for our ministries in C.A.R., but this could be sidetracked by any time of turmoil. Let's pray First Timothy 2:1-4 for Africa in these days.