Preach the Word

I think I have ceased from my labor of blogging long enough and it's time for me to resurface in the blogosphere.

This semester at The Master's Seminary I have had the pleasure of teaching a preaching lab. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 in the morning I meet with nine students in a little room in the basement and 2 or 3 of them preach 30 minute sermons. After they preach the other students give feedback and I provide an evaluation. Sometimes I also provide some general instruction. Sometimes what I say is not too profound ("If you're going to preach at 7:30 in the morning, it better be good.") but I try to give the men practical and biblical counsel. I have heard some good sermons from the students.

There is a lot of confusion in the church today on what preaching is all about, even what expository preaching is all about. Basically, it is pretty easy to understand. To do expository preaching you must do three things. You must expose people to the text. You must explain the meaning of the text. And, you must exhort people to a proper application of the text. I derive this basic definition from texts like 1 Timothy 4:13. "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture (expose), to exhortation (exhort) and teaching (explain)." It is not easy to do expository preaching. Expository preaching requires a lot of hard work. But, it is not hard to understand what expository preaching is. This kind of preaching is driven by the text of Scripture.

In future blogs I will develop the elements of expository preaching in more detail. Today I want to address what I think is an important issue for all who would preach. I think too many preachers are trying to preach like someone else. They are trying to copy the approach and style of someone they admire. Whether it is a Reformer, a Puritan, Charles Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, or John MacArthur, too many preachers are trying to copy someone else. While we can certainly learn from the great preachers, it is not wise to try to copy them. The average preacher has about as much of a chance of preaching like one of these great preachers as they do at golfing like Tiger Woods. I might learn a lot of helpful things from watching Tiger golf, but I would be a fool to try and do some of the things he does. When I play golf, I do best when I just concentrate on the fundamentals and do what I can do. I create trouble for myself when I try to hit shots that I have hardly any chance of pulling off. It's the same in preaching. I might not have the brillance or charisma of some preachers, but I can present a solid, accurate sermon on a text that I have carefully studied and internalized. These sermons are the ones that God has used to impact others for His glory.