Side Note: Preaching Hard Passages

By Pastor Chad

We have been discussing some very difficult and complex passages over the last several weeks. If you have hung in there with us, good job! I am sometimes asked why I preach through the Bible like I do. Why don’t I skip over hard, complex passages? Why spend weeks and months explicating dense passages about which most don’t care? Such an inquiry affords me an opportunity to share with you why I preach like I do. Admittedly, some consider such a preaching method boring and irrelevant. No doubt, such a focus doesn’t immediately appeal to an age of instant gratification and perpetual entertainment. 

My style of preaching is called expository preaching. That means, I preach through a particular passage or book of the bible–not skipping over the hard parts and not sweeping the obscure passages under the rug. In every message, all points of emphasis come directly from the focal text. In fact, the outline itself comes directly from the text. Such preaching is based upon a conviction borne from Paul’s statement to the Ephesians in Acts 20:27. There he tells the church of Ephesus, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” My goal as a pastor is to glorify God by teaching and preaching the people of God the fullness of God’s word. I believe this form of preaching most likely leads the church to grow in faith and holiness. By teaching the “whole counsel of God”, the church is supplied with her needed spiritual food so that she may be healthy and fully nourished for the mission and purpose to which our Lord has called us. Just as a good parent would never just feed his child junk food, so I strive to give that which is spiritually nourishing and beneficial. 

Not everyone likes this preaching philosophy; not everybody likes this kind of preaching. And I most definitely am not the greatest preacher. I fully admit and understand that. I have a lot to learn about my craft. I have a lot of growing to do in my preaching ministry. But my particular preaching style isn’t based upon my ability or skill. Quite the contrary. Expository preaching is about honoring Scripture, and making it the focus. 

Think of it like this: What do we need to grow spiritually? There are a lot of fat baby Christians in the evangelical world today. These are immature and spiritually stilted believers far more interested in having their ears tickled that their souls pruned. Furthermore, there are a lot of pastors (so called) willing to feed the congregation candy and tickle ears. My convictions do not allow me to do that.  

All of this is not to say preaching should be a snobbishly academic treatise given in unintelligible language. Preaching should be understandable and meaningful. It does mean, however, that the “whole council” (that is all of Scripture) should be taught. Think of it like this: If God deemed it worthy to include in Sacred Scripture, then it is important. If it is important, then we need it to grow. Thus, expository preaching–in my estimation–is the most spiritually beneficial method for the church.