Gospel-Driven: Why?
The term “text-driven” has emerged in the past few years to describe truly faithful preaching. I understand the intent, but I disagree with the terminology. If our ultimate purpose in preaching a sermon is the thing that drives it, our preaching should be driven by something other than the text. Our preaching should be “gospel-driven.”
Don’t misunderstand me — I believe our sermons should be Bible-based. Every affirmation we make should flow from the Scriptures. But if the text is what drives our preaching, we’re settling for something less than God’s purpose in preaching.
The important question is: Why do we preach? What is our goal when we stand before a group of people with a Bible in our hand? Here are some common, but I believe inadequate answers to this question:
“I preach to communicate.” This is a worthy goal, for sure. Certainly connecting and holding their attention is important. But is it the essence of preaching? Interest that doesn’t lead to life change is wasted — it’s just entertainment.
“I preach to teach them the Bible.” Again, a worthy goal, but is it the goal of preaching? The Bible is certainly the all-sufficient “what” of our preaching, but it is not an adequate “why.” We have the Bible because God is on a mission — a mission of redemption. The ultimate goal of preaching cannot be the Bible, because the Bible is not an end in itself. It points to a greater purpose.
“I preach to convince them to make a change.” Certainly, an element of persuasion has always been a part of the preaching tradition, and I believe in calling for a decision. But calling effectively for a decision is not a grand enough goal. We must aim higher than the decisions of our hearers. We must aim for the work of God himself in their lives.
One of my favourite NT texts on preaching is Colossians 1:28-29. Paul says:
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (ESV)
I think we can find communication (“proclaim”), teaching, and persuasion (“warning”) in these verses, but all of these are in the service of something else … “That we may present everyone mature in Christ.” This is the goal of Paul’s preaching ministry: life transformation. For this, and nothing less, he was willing to toil and struggle. How does this transformation happen? “In Christ!” Through the Gospel! (Rom. 1:16).
Here is why preaching should be gospel-driven: The goal of preaching is transformation, and transformation only happens through the gospel. Communication, biblical exposition, and persuasion are all important to the process, but they are neither the goal nor the power of preaching. The goal is transformation. The power is the gospel.
Make sure your preaching is gospel driven. In the next post in this series, I’ll tell you how.
