Preaching as Discipleship

Beginning Considerations

When reflecting on the task of preaching, preachers are no doubt familiar with the injunction the Apostle Paul gave to his protégé Timothy—the injunction that so many preachers receive as proclaimers of the good news in the apostolic tradition: “Preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2). And so, we inhabit a space and take on a mantle of responsibility to preach the sacred writings that have been entrusted to generations upon generations of the church.

In further reflecting on this assignment, preachers begin to wonder how to approach the text and what philosophical or methodological goals we should keep in mind. The Apostle Paul’s words to the church in Corinth speak directly to these questions:

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:1–2).

And so, we are moved to commit ourselves not just to preaching the Scriptures but to preaching Christ and him crucified.

Expository Preaching

For many preachers, expository preaching as a methodology becomes the answer to some of the questions raised when reflecting on the preaching task. If we are to commit ourselves to preaching the Scriptures, and that commitment should also coincide with a commitment to preaching Christ, then, for many of us, the best way to stay true to these commitments is to also commit ourselves to expository preaching.

Expositor Bryan Chapell defines an expository sermon as one where: “The main idea of an expository sermon (the topic), the divisions of that idea (the main points), and the development of those divisions (the subpoints) all come from the truths the text itself contains. No significant portion of the text is ignored. In other words, expositors willingly stay within the boundaries of a text (and its relevant context) and do not leave until they have surveyed its entirety with their listeners.”

Lest someone get the wrong impression, I share these commitments. However, as I reflect on the task of preaching, there is a deficiency that I have noticed. In my tradition and training, a commitment to expository preaching translates to a form of preaching that prioritizes Scripture and prioritizes preaching the gospel in every sermon. The preacher’s high bibliology means taking the authorial intent of the text very seriously.

And if Paul’s words to the Corinthians are any indication of what commitment contemporary preachers should have, then a high bibliology should invariably lead to a soteriological focus and purpose in the sermon. Isn’t this what Jesus meant when he said:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39)?

Wasn’t this Jesus’ own example when he preached the Scriptures to Cleopas and the unnamed disciple on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:27)?

The Discipleship Problem

To all of this, we must say yes and amen! But let us also face reality: there is a discipleship problem in the church. A preacher can be faithful to his task—preaching the Scriptures and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ—but this can only do so much for the listeners. Even with all the resources and ways to receive sound biblical preaching, the state of theological awareness among professing evangelicals is in a sorry predicament, let alone the state of our ethics.

This is a wonderful time for expository preaching! Conferences and books abound. Websites devoted to teaching others how to preach in this vein are numerous. One can learn by example by listening to countless expositors through their church sermon page, YouTube, Spotify, or podcasts. There is an ease of access to sound preaching like we have never had before in this country. And yet, the discipleship problem persists.

A short blog article is not going to solve this problem or give adequate consideration to why this is the case. But if I can speak anecdotally, drawing from my own well of experience, we have forgotten part of our assignment as preachers.

What Is Preaching?

Once more, in my own tradition and training, there has been an emphasis on defining preaching according to the Greek word κηρύσσω. I cannot begin to explain how many times I have heard that the preacher, based on this word, is a herald—a town crier who speaks with an authority not his own. This understanding of the word is certainly correct. The herald was a royal emissary, a dignified position within the royal court in earlier Greek culture.

But this image is not the image given to the preacher. We are not called heralds (κῆρυξ); we are called to preach (κηρύσσω). And, as some scholars note, “the verb is a much less significant word in Greek than the noun.” It is a simple verb that means to speak publicly.

To fully understand what preachers are called to do, we must expand our definition. The qualifications for a pastor-elder state that he must be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2), an adjective referring to the skill of the person (διδακτικός). The adjective is related to the noun διδάσκαλος (a teacher) and connected in New Testament thought to the concept of a rabbi. The verb in this word family is used in the Great Commission, specifically Matthew 28:20.

The image of the preacher, from a biblical standpoint, is one of a teacher, and teaching is explicitly connected to the Great Rabbi’s command to make disciples. Therefore, preaching is one manner in which the church is to disciple the nations.

Preaching Is Discipleship

Eric C. Redmond writes: “Expository preaching is an invitation for the preacher to explain the central idea of the text to an audience in a way that would be understood by the audience to obey God’s Word within that audience’s social and ecclesial contexts.”

Preaching that explains the text but does not do so in a way that connects with the audience is not preaching as it should be. We must take into consideration our congregation’s knowledge of God, where they stand in their Christlikeness, and the point at which they are in their spiritual formation journey.

Preaching must be tightly connected to the text of Scripture. Preaching must communicate the gospel and the work of Christ to its hearers. But it must also seek to form those same hearers in the gospel.

Keep calling sinners to repentance. Seek to persuade others to faith. Hold up justification by faith alone and salvation by grace alone. But the job is not done. Articulate how the text contributes to the formation and sanctification of the believer—how it matures them into deeper discipleship. Those who have believed the heralded word must also be taught.

This is the task of preaching.

Written By: Dr. Aaron Halstead, Pastor of Mid-Cities Church

Aaron is an elder and the lead pastor of Mid-Cities Church. He is married to Morgan, and they have two children: Hadley and Haddon. Aaron enjoys reading, walks, hot tea, antique stores, backyard birdwatching, and trying new restaurants.