Preaching Theology pt. 1

Churches in America have been declining and plateauing for the past couple of decades. What is the problem? We still worship the same loving, all-powerful God and still preach from the same Bible. We had the Conservative Resurgence where recovered our seminaries and pulpits. We still have good preachers and pastors who genuinely love both God and the people they are trying so hard to serve. I do not think the problem is with people, churches, or even denominations. The problem lays in how we are teaching theology because that changes everything. People have to live life differently when they become followers of Christ. They have to look at things differently than they did before and the problem is that both believers and non-Christians are struggling with the theology behind Christianity. The problem is lost people do not want to hear about Christ because modern American culture is pluralistic and relativism. Christianity radically clashes with the worldviews that people have developed living in the United States. Millard Erickson notes some of these characteristics, “Characteristics of culture according to Erickson are egocentricity/anthropocentricity, the desire for immediate satisfaction, egotism/egoism, the idea of mastery of others, and materialism. ” The Bible contradicts these concepts with ideas like focusing on the eternal, humility, and taking care of the less fortunate.

Another problem is Christians do not want to hear about theology or doctrine because they think it is boring or does not apply to them. We have classes for parenting, finances, etc. but how many churches offer theology classes in their education programs on Wednesday nights or Sunday nights? We have made shallow Christians who are ill-equipped to deal with life when it gets hard or answer the tough questions from unbelievers so they shrink back from sharing their faith. I like the way Erickson compares how Christians are choosing which church to attend in modern America versus how they did it in the past. “The point is doctrinal beliefs were considered important in earlier generations. One did not make the choice of church primarily based on the basis of geographical proximity, beauty of building, or quality of program or preaching. ” Churches and pastors need to be teaching doctrine every time the church opens its doors, from the largest group to the 1 on 1 settings. Christians need to see that theology is not boring and that it changes everything.

So we must preach and teach the doctrines of the faith in order to reach the lost and to better equip the saints. Expository preachers get their messages from the Bible and talk about God, teaching people who Christ is and what He is like. Al Mohler says it like this, “preaching is therefore an inescapably theological act. ” If you are preaching verse by verse through the Bible and exegeting the text then you will have to explain the doctrines and the theology that is in the verses and passages as you preach. There is an unwavering faith that all ministers hold “the belief that God has spoken. ” If God has spoken then we must listen to what He has said about Himself and about our lives. If God has spoken then we must stand up in the pulpits week in and week out telling people not what they necessarily want to hear but what they need to hear to understand the Gospel and what it means for their lives, we need to get back to “thus saith the Lord.”

So this series of posts is about how to do just that. How to get back to preaching the Bible from beginning to end as God's grand redemptive story. A biblical theology of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. How to preach the Gospel from every passage in the Bible and how to preach doctrine expositionally. It is the only way to answer the problem that is facing our churches. It is how to help unbelievers come to see their need for Christ and how to show believer that doctrine is not boring but rather will change their entire lives.