BY DR. JOHN SULLIVAN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-TREASURER
FLORIDA BAPTIST CONVENTION

Definitions and Ideas about Preaching
The second in a two-part series

This is the second of a two-part series on “The Timothy Factor” of preaching. Last week I discussed lessons from my journey as a preacher which included the elements of preaching from the standpoints of change, tension, conduct, content and credibility. In this week’s column, I want to share with you some definitions and ideas about preaching from several great authors and lecturers.

T. Howard Pattison in, "The Making of the Sermon," defines preaching as the spoken communication of divine truth with a view to persuasion. This definition covers three points which are of chief concern in a sermon: its matter, its manner and its purpose. Pattison suggests that preaching is limited to the proclamation and enforcement of the truth of God. Strictly speaking, it is not arguing and not speculating about truth.

The great evangelist S.M. Lochridge defined preaching as a way to instruct, inspire, confront and discipline.

Calvin Miller, in "The Sermon Maker," uses contemporary parables to make known that when preachers lose track of God their sermons get pushy. Miller is saying that if God is present in the document, he will also be present in the preacher’s life. The quieter God’s voice is to a preacher, the louder they tend to get. On Saturday, preachers are neurotic about planning what they will say, and on Monday they are neurotic for having said it.

In "The Joy of Preaching," Phillips Brooks says preaching always bares the essential elements of truth and personality. In general, preparation for the ministry must be nothing less than the making of a man. Preaching cannot spare truth or personality and still be preaching, because the most authoritative statement of God’s will, communicated in any other way than through the personality of brother man to men is not preached truth.

Robert Smith, a professor of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham Ala., tells us that preaching is like speaking to people who are full of holes that only Jesus can fill. Smith’s idea keeps in mind the “fallen condition focus” that exists between those who wrote the text and those who hear it.

Defining preaching as a way to incarnate timelessness into the timely, author Leonard Sweet, "Post Modern Pilgrim," suggests we are called not to preach the times, but to preach eternity to the times. The church needs to infect the culture with truth not trends.

Preaching should be driven by a passion for the glory of God. This passion must be jointly possessed by both pastor and people.

Jim Shaddix, in "The Passion Driven Sermon," communicates the idea that preaching driven by anything other than a passion for the glory of God is fueled by the wrong substance.

Sadly, it seems that today the questions of man’s life, not the claims of the Christ-life set the preaching agenda. Where do we get the idea that once we become Christians our whims and desires suddenly become the all-supreme determinant of what the preacher is to preach?

Incarnational preaching is fleshed out in Christian conduct. Authentic preaching and the sermons that carry it really have to be defined by the right message, the right means and the right motive.

What is the right message, the right means and the right motive?

Somewhere in my journey as a preacher I came to the brilliant conclusion that I didn’t know enough to make a difference. Curious to know what would, I went to the book of Acts and studied the preaching of the early church. The answer was clear. I decided only the Gospel can make a difference.

In my discovery I found not only satisfaction, but a thrill and irresistible urge to share the message that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, Jesus came in fulfillment of prophecy and Jesus died on the cross and arose from the dead.

When I accepted Christ as my savior, I became personally involved in that death/resurrection event.

The right motive in preaching is rooted in the fact that Jesus is coming again and we must share His message so others can also have the opportunity to become personally involved with his life-saving death and resurrection.

Called men preaching the clear word is greatly needed in our disconnected society.

This concludes the series on “The Timothy Factor” of preaching.

P.S. I just finished reading "The Jesus Habits" by Jay Dennis. What an excellent book. In this book, Dennis takes a fresh look at some great truths for spiritual development. It would serve well as a 31-day devotional, if you can wait 24 hours before reading the next chapter.

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You may contact Dr. John Sullivan at
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