The Meaning and Importance of Preaching
Though preaching of one kind or another occurs in other venues, as when a coach preaches “dedication and hard work” to his players, we view it primarily as a practice of the church. What is Christian preaching, then and why is important?
What is preaching?
To define Christian preaching requires a survey of the four most recurring New Testament (NT) words affiliated with this practice:
κηρύσσω
The most recurring verb, kerusso (κηρύσσω), means “to announce or proclaim aloud.”[1] This proclamation involves passing along a message from an authority figure such as a monarch (secular) or God himself (spiritual) through an assigned herald or messenger.
εὐαγγελίζω
The second most recurring verb, euangelizo (εὐαγγελίζω), means “to bring or announce good news,” which in the NT often refers to the Christian gospel.[2]
καταγγέλλω
The third most recurring verb, katangello (καταγγέλλω), means “to make known in public” and implies broadcasting a message to a large audience.[3]
λαλέω
Even the verb laleo (λαλέω) translates as preaching in multiple instances (e.g., Acts 11:19; 13:42; 14:25; 14:25), though it usually means something more generic like talking and speaking in general rather than a more particular nuance.[4]
Preaching is the practice of communicating God’s message for mankind to a public audience.
These four words together portray preaching as the practice of communicating God’s message for mankind to a public audience.
Why is preaching important?
Why is it important for the church to hear and understand God’s message? At the most basic level, preaching is important because God requires it. With the Father and Son as his witness, Paul insisted that Timothy “preach the word” as a pastoral leader in the church (2 Tim 4:1-2).
Yet Paul gives more reasons than this, for in his previous instructions to Timothy he gave a threefold motivation for preaching God’s message: the source of Scripture, the benefits of Scripture, and the purpose of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17).
The Source of Scripture
Regarding the source of Scripture, Paul taught that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Inspiration escribes all the words, statements, and books of Scripture as “God-breathed,” meaning that they convey the very thoughts and words of God himself. This fact alone necessitates that whatever Scripture says must be broadcasted as accurately, broadly, and publicly as possible.
The Benefits of Scripture
Regarding the benefits of Scripture, Paul said that all Scripture is beneficial for “doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.” Doctrine refers to the truth and accuracy of God’s message in expressing both his identity and his purpose for our life. Reproof refers to exposing both the nature of evil and error and its internal presence and external influence (esp. through false teachers) in our lives. Correction refers to the kind of transformation that a person undergoes when he or she moves away from the errors exposed by reproof and embraces the truth instead as revealed through the doctrine of Scripture. Instruction in righteousness, then, refers to a steady education and training that produces progressively improved conduct over time, moving a person from spiritual inexperience to Christlike maturity. These benefits further underscore the need to publicize God’s message as revealed in Scripture.
The Purpose of Scripture
Regarding Scripture’s purpose, Paul taught that God intended for it to equip the “man of God” to be “complete” and “thoroughly equipped for every good work.”[5] In other words, Scripture provides the believer with every insight necessary to carry out his God-given mission and purpose from a spiritual standpoint. Without preaching, these biblical insights would go unknown and unfulfilled.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 543-44.
[2] Arndt, A Greek-English Lexicon, 402.
[3] Arndt, 515.
[4] Ibid., 582-583.
[5] The phrase “the man of God” may refer to either “any Christian” in a general sense or “church leaders” in a specific sense. Daniel C. Arichea and Howard Hatton, A Handbook on Paul’s Letters to Timothy and to Titus, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1995), 237.
