Relative Importance of Expository Preaching
There has been some discussion among preachers of the relative importance of expository preaching. Some churches give Scripture the dominant position over all other sources of religious understanding. This is most common in fundamentalist and evangelical denominations that take the position that the Bible is God's inerrant word, and contains sufficient information for the Christian to understand their faith and how they should live their lives. In historical theology, these churches may adhere to the Reformation teaching of Sola Scriptura which is present in the statements of faith of a number of mainline denominations (e.g., chapter 1 of The Westminster Confession of Faith).
In practice, many Evangelical and Fundamentalist churches are not regularly exposed to Expository preaching from the pulpit. Despite this, expositions of scripture are more likely to occur in these churches than in non-evangelical ones. The exposition is unlikely to be influenced by material from outside the Bible (though such material may be mentioned in the sermon, for example the writings of a commentator on the passage), but instead involves detailed comparison of one Biblical text with other texts on the same subject in order to reach a synthesis.
However, in churches that elevate church tradition, individual experience, and/or human reason to a level on par with Scripture, expository preaching (if used) will include reconciliation of the Biblical text to other sources:
- Congregations with a strong view of church tradition or church authority (common in churches with a strong hierarchical structure) will want to know how their denomination has traditionally interpreted the passage.
- Congregations with a strong belief in personal experience (common in the charismatic and Pentecostal circles) will want to understand how the passage relates to their experiences.
- Congregations with a strong belief in human reason (common in churches which reject the view of Biblical inerrancy) will want to know what modern research has to say regarding the authenticity of the passage.
Regardless of these differences of emphasis, however, most preachers and congregations would agree that preaching must be honouring to God rather than to human beings. In practice, this means that the preacher as expositor should be concerned with speaking about what God sees as important. This will be of little use, however, if it does not connect to what the people in the congregation see as important - even if it only does so by seeking to upset their priorities. But the principle must be that when a church is exposed to expository preaching, they are being enabled to hear God speak rather than being told what they think they need to hear.
Read more about this topic: Expository Preaching
Famous quotes containing the words relative, importance and/or preaching:
“It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We have been told over and over about the importance of bonding to our children. Rarely do we hear about the skill of letting go, or, as one parent said, “that we raise our children to leave us.” Early childhood, as our kids gain skills and eagerly want some distance from us, is a time to build a kind of adult-child balance which permits both of us room.”
—Joan Sheingold Ditzion (20th century)
“When the doctrine of allegiance to party can utterly up-end a man’s moral constitution and make a temporary fool of him besides, what excuse are you going to offer for preaching it, teaching it, extending it, perpetuating it? Shall you say, the best good of the country demands allegiance to party? Shall you also say it demands that a man kick his truth and his conscience into the gutter, and become a mouthing lunatic, besides?”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)