I walked into the sanctuary and beside the pulpit sat a Lazy Boy recliner.
I thought, “That’s interesting … I wonder what the preacher will do with that today?” About halfway through his message, to make his point, he reclined in the chair and proceeded to preach for the next five minutes in the position from which most watch the Daytona 500 — flat on his back lifting his head every now and then.
I didn’t think this was strange because I had gotten used to this preacher’s style. It’s what I and others had come to expect from him. He was known for his great stories, great sermon props, and great captivating sermon topics.
Ironically, I don’t remember the topic he was preaching on — but I do remember his Lazy Boy.
After I got married, my wife and I began looking for a new church home. We decided to visit a church we often passed on our daily commute. The people were friendly, and the music was familiar, but the preaching was foreign to me — in the best of ways. I couldn’t label it then, but I now know I was experiencing expositional preaching for the first time.
In short, expositional preaching is preaching that exposes the meaning and application of a particular text of Scripture. It is often contrasted with topical preaching — where the preacher comes up with a topic (e.g., marriage, parenting, finances, etc.) and then points to many texts to make his point. To be clear, I’m not saying topical preaching is always bad; it can certainly be helpful and is needed at times.
However, my assertion is this: If you want to promote health in your church, make sure the regular preaching diet for the church is expositional in nature. Why? Three ways:
Expositional preaching keeps the church Word-centered.
When my wife and I visited the new church, we didn’t find a Lazy Boy on stage. Instead, the preacher stood behind a lectern, opened his Bible to Romans, read the passage, then powerfully preached in a way I’d never experienced. The man was speaking, but the Scripture seemed to be the loudest voice in the room. His words were heavy, but hopeful; his tone was serious but not angry; and his demeanor was focused but engaging. He didn’t just reference the text — he lingered in it, like a surgeon carefully working with a room full of watchful eyes.
I couldn’t describe it then, but I knew this sermon was different. It had weight, joy, and fervency all in one — and here’s the thing: he wasn’t using anything but the Bible, but I was captivated. It wasn’t his props or illustrations. Simply put: It was a man speaking, but he was speaking a message from God. And he didn’t do anything flashy. He simply worked through the text of Scripture in front of him. He preached the Word.
Expositional preaching conditions the people of God to want the Word of God to be central in the church — not because they worship it, but because it is the means that truly reveals God to them. And when God’s Word is central, personalities, props, and the preacher are not. In the healthy Word-centered church, the focus in the sermon is not so much on who is saying it (the preacher), but on what is being said (the message). And once people get a taste of God’s undiluted Word in preaching, they accept nothing less.
Expositional preaching keeps the church on God’s diet.
If I let my kids pick what they wanted to eat every day with no limits, they would inevitably pick fast food, cotton candy, and Dr. Pepper for every meal. But that wouldn’t be a healthy diet, which wouldn’t profit them in the long run.
Similarly, expositional preaching prevents the preacher from only picking those select topics or passages he really likes preaching. Often, expositional preaching includes preaching through whole books of the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse. This commitment won’t allow a preacher to skip the hard parts or skim the controversial sections. Rather, he deals with the text right in front of him.
And as he deals with the text right in front of him, he keeps the church on God’s diet for spiritual intake. Pastors should remember that God has given the church an inerrant, inspired, and sufficient book in the Bible. Paul says all Scripture is profitable in this way. That should be on the menu of our preaching — all of it, not just the parts we like or find easy to preach.
God knows better than we do what the church needs, so as expositional preaching simply covers what’s next on the plate, it is promoting the health of the church in the long term by keeping her on God’s prescribed diet.
And who will feed the church this prescribed diet? Well, God gifts the church with preachers and teachers throughout all generations.
Expositional preaching keeps the church filled with skilled preachers and teachers.
When my wife and I visited the church with expositional preaching, I didn’t know at the time, but I see clearly now how God used that preacher’s sermons to shape my own preaching. When I saw him handle God’s Word with precision and care, and when I felt the powerful effect it had through the Spirit on my life, I knew, “I want to handle God’s Word like that too.” And in God’s kind providence, 10 years later, God called me to pastor that very church.
That’s one way faithful expositional preaching promotes health: It trains the congregation how to handle the Word of God, and then those members are used to disciple others. It also trains them to expect every pastor they call to be men committed to expositional preaching.
Preachers cannot pass on their personalities to their listeners. They can’t train listeners how to “win over a crowd” like them. If they try, it comes across as disingenuous. But faithful preachers will inevitably teach their people how to read, understand, and apply God’s Word simply by modeling it before them in their weekly preaching.
And as people are trained in understanding their Bibles, God then calls out members from the congregation to continue teaching and preaching His Word to others. He calls out pastors, elders, Sunday School teachers, church planters, missionaries, professors, and disciple makers all as a result of preachers handling the Word well and teaching others to do so, too — and thus the church continues on.
Be Strong, Be Word-Centered
May God’s church continue to grow in health as preachers commit themselves to Word-centered sermons, who preach all of Scripture, and lead others in rightly handling the Word of God.
— Donald Thomas has served as lead pastor at Abner Creek Baptist Church, Greer, since 2019. He is a graduate of North Greenville University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married with five children and is passionate about expositional preaching that proclaims the excellencies of Jesus Christ over all things.