Problem 1

There was some surprise over my previous post about expository preaching. And I admit that not long ago I would have reacted the same way.

There are several issues addressed in this critique of expository preaching. I’ll deal with them one at a time to make this less confusing. It will also allow you to agree or disagree with each point of the argument.

The first point seems to me to be rather uncontroversial. One of the problems with expository preaching is that it assumes that the text has an objective meaning that is self-evident to every individual.

While this is sometimes true, there are many texts that intelligent, spirit-filled, skilled Christian expositors disagree about. They find different meanings in the same text.

Whether one takes a post-modern position and says that an objective meaning does not exist is irrelevant to this argument. (I personally do not accept the post-modern view. I believe that a particular text of the Bible has a single objective meaning, at least in most cases.)

The key word here is “self-evident.”

One person quotes a text as “proof positive” of his particular theological distinctive. Another person reads the text with an entirely different meaning. In some cases, a text may have four or five competing interpretations. In any case, there is (not always) an objective, self-evident meaning that is obvious to any serious student of the Word.

Expository preaching starts with this assumption, which I think we have seen is clearly false.

So why is this a problem?

The major problem here is that whenever there is disagreement over the meaning of a portion of Scripture, people assume that the “other side” is either ignorant or guilty of heresy. We’ve seen this play out again and again in the blogosphere. There are even self-appointed watchblogs who spend all their time and energy trying to stamp out “heresy” and “biblical ignorance” wherever they think they find it.

In a local church, serious disagreement about the meaning of the Bible usually leads to a church split.

With expository preaching, individuals sequester themselves in their studies and use “scientific tools” to determine the precise meaning of a text. Then they emerge with the interpretation etched in stone to proclaim to the church as “the true meaning” of God’s Word.

Consequently, there is little opportunity to develop humility about one’s interpretation. It is self-evident after all. A child of six could see it.

Now, if you’ve followed the argument this far, you might be inclined to say, “Good exegesis is not arrogant. Good expository preaching does not act this way.”

I would respond that good preachers do not act that way. But this arrogance is the inevitable result of the assumption that the text has an objective, self-evident meaning. Besides, there are other problems with expository preaching that I will address in further posts.

I welcome your comments.

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”