Expository vs. Topical Preaching
As a young preacher, I have worked through my processes of homiletical styles, approaches, preparatory processes, and delivery over the last six years. With this, a choice of what approach to preaching I would choose: expository, topical, or a combination thereof (depending upon the respective series being preached).
At the outset of this blog post, please allow me to define, in my own words, along with a brief explanation of what “expository” and “topical” approaches to homiletics actually are.
- EXPOSITORY PREACHING is an approach that begins with the Lord leading the preacher to a text that needs to be taught to a congregation. By text, I mean a verse, passage, chapter, or book that will be taught. It involves taking the text and exposing it to the audience. With the exposing of this text, it is then illustrated with stories (both biblical and non-biblical anecdotes), applied to the lives of the context of the audience, and it concludes by always pointing people to the cross of Jesus Christ.
- TOPICAL PREACHING is an approach that begins with the Lord leading the preacher to a topic that needs to be taught to a congregation. By topic, I’m referring to an issue with which people must cope, and finding verses throughout the Bible to explain how to cope with the respective issue(s). A common approach to topical preaching is from Andy Stanley’s book, “Communicating for Change,” where Stanley describes his approach of “Me–We–God–You–Us.” Click here to read an interesting interview with Andy Stanley on Dr. Ed Stetzer’s blog. Examples of topics preached include: Sadness, Hope, Love, Parenting, etc.
I was raised listening to pastors whom preached with both styles, but from what I remember, it was predominantly more topical than it was expository. Over the last (nearly) two years I have served as Pleasant Hill Baptist Church’s Senior Pastor, I have developed a strong inclination toward preaching predominantly-expository messages. My reasoning behind this is that apart from God’s Word, I have very little to say in front of a congregation.
I recently heard Dr. Johnny Hunt explain the reason why he expositorally preaches when he explained the idea of reading a letter. Imagine you just read one paragraph from the third page of a letter, then a paragraph from the second page, then read one sentence from the last page, and tried to tell me what the letter said. You would be explaining the letter out-of-context. This reminds me of how a news reporter may interview someone for thirty minutes, edit the video down to two minutes, and make it look like the interviewee is saying whatever is desired to be reported.
My job is not to teach people “how to” do anything. My job is to serve as a mouthpiece for God’s Word and it naturally teaches “how to” live your life.
As I preach, my approach is to give contextual background historically, linguistically, and geographically. As an aside, my father-in-law, Dr. Tony Crisp, leads a ministry, TLC Ministries, Inc., that has a sole purpose of teaching people the Bible historically, linguistically, and geographically. After giving a background, I read the text, and outline the natural flow of the passage based upon its grammatical makeup. Sometimes, that is one point, sometimes three, and sometimes six. Throughout each point I glean from the text, I creatively illustrate it and apply it. Throughout the sermon, I attempt to summarize at the beginning of every new point to keep the audience on-track with that which is being proclaimed. At the conclusion, I usually attempt to tell a story to draw the audience back into my attention, and re-state the points once more in order to hammer home that which I am trying to teach. So, I guess you could call my typical structure “BACKGROUND–TEXT–OUTLINE–STORY.”
I am not saying that others whom use completely different approaches are ungodly or unbiblical preachers, I am just seeking to explain my approach to preaching, and why I have chosen this approach. May God’s people be equipped more effectively through the preaching of His sacred Word.
