I am currently reading through Shepherd Leader and Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching for summer leisure. In these books, I have been blessed by many helpful and practical lessons on pastoral ministry and expository preaching.
1. Shepherding 101
Good pastors are shepherds. In pastoral ministry, you will always have to go after lost sheep, rebuke straying sheep, help weak sheep, and lead healthy sheep (see 1 Thess 5:14). A good shepherd will lead the sheep by example in his own personal life, feed the sheep through the word of God, know the sheep by doing both public and private ministry, and protect the sheep from false teaching and building them up with the word of God.
2. The Preacher as Herald
A preacher is one who heralds the good news of Jesus Christ. In the ancient world, the herald would be commissioned by his master to announce whatever He commanded. The herald was simply to be faithful and obedient to the desires of his master. He was not suppose to alter the message in anyway regardless of the response of the audience.
3. Baxter's Example
The Reformed Pastor is a classic work on pastoral ministry. What made Baxter's ministry so effective was that he not only preached the word faithfully in public, but he also preached the word faithfully in private (from house to house). He would personally catechize families during the week. Furthermore, Baxter warns preachers to make sure they preach to their own hearts before they preach to others.
4. Expository Preaching
What is expository preaching? My simple definition would be simply "communicating God's Words to God's people." I know this is simplistic, but it helps me understand two important principles in expository preaching. First of all, preaching must come from God's word or the text itself. This comes from exegesis, understanding the cultural and historical background, looking into the geography of Israel, trying to understand the original author's intent to his original audience. Second, preaching the text of scripture must apply to the hearts of the people. This comes through persuasion, good homiletics, passion, and faithfulness to the text of scripture. It is not enough to do exegesis. Exegesis is a means to an end: to transform the hearts of the people of God so that they would give glory to God by the application of Scripture in their lives.
5. Cultural Challenges for Preaching
D.A. Carson argues that the rise of multiculturalism, biblical illiteracy, shifting epistemology, and pace of change are some contemporary challenges for preachers. I found Carson's reflection on biblical illiteracy insightful because many people in our culture do not have biblical concepts of sin, grace, justification, God, etc. We must not be so isolated from the world that we fail to communicate the timeless truths of Scripture.
6. Other thoughts
How can I be a better preacher? I need to always make sure my heart is right before the Lord and I am going deep in the scriptures. I also need to pray for the Spirit's illumination to make the text of Scripture clear to me. I need to understand the authorial intent and seek to bridge that with the hearts of God's people today. I must also submit and believe that the Bible is relevant today because it ultimately comes from God himself.
