Definition
Vision!
“What could be more full of meaning?—
for the pulpit is ever
this earth’s foremost part;
all the rest comes in its rear;
the pulpit leads the world. …
Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out,
and not a voyage complete;
and the pulpit is its prow.”
So wrote Herman Melville in Moby-Dick a century ago.
I agree. With the pulpit for a prow, humanity is led by preaching into a unique world, an ideal world, God’s world, where it may dwell with him. That makes
Genesis 13:1−14:24
Correction of faithless behavior and return to faithful obedience to God’s demand, trusting in God’s sovereign timing to keep his word, results in divine blessing.
There is a clear sense in which Abram’s departure from Egypt in Gen 13 is a positive event—a return to the sphere of divine blessing, for there are allusions to the exodus of the Israelites from that land: Abram “goes up from Egypt” (13:1; and Exod 17:3; Num 20:5; 32:11; etc.); he is enriched in Egypt
Preaching is Spiritual
One of the key elements in my definition of preaching comes at the end: “all in the power of the Holy Spirit.” “All,” i.e., the communication in a worship gathering of Christians, the discernment of the biblical idea by theological exegesis of Scripture, and the application of that idea to the specific body of believers to conform them to the image of Christ for the glory of God. All. Every part of preaching is to be Spirit-directed and Spirit-controlled.
Preaching is Doxological
Preaching glorifies God. Preaching abounds to the glory of God. Directly and indirectly, the greatness of God is expressed and exalted through preaching: directly, because of its integral role in the worship of God’s people; and indirectly, God is glorified as his children align themselves to his will (for preaching conforms listeners to divine demand).
While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their
Preaching is Conformational
Preaching serves to conform the people of God to the will of God. In the account in Nehemiah, the exposition of God’s word leads to covenant renewal, the realignment of the community to the will of their sovereign: getting right with the King.
“You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them
Preaching is Applicational
That preaching is applicational means that preaching is not simply informational. Rather it is transformational, intended to change the lives of God’s people for the glory of God. It is not enough that people know. They must be. That is the goal of preaching. Preaching, therefore, has to be application-oriented.
All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival, because they understood the words
Preaching is Theological
Nehemiah’s narrative describes the assembly of God’s people who had returned from exile; in the assembly the word of God was read and made clear so that they might renew their covenant with their God. In previous blogs I’ve noted how this paradigmatic gathering undergirds many of our assumptions about preaching. Here’s another implication of Nehemiah’s account: preaching is a theological activity of a special kind.
All the people
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.