As John Broadus once wrote, “Preaching is characteristic of Christianity. No other religion has made the regular and frequent assembling of groups of people, to hear religious instruction and exhortation, an integral part of divine worship.” This is fine, as far as it goes, but I would suggest this quote alone does not go far enough.
Why might we suggest that Christianity is almost preaching-centric? Not because preaching is somehow an end in itself, but rather because Christianity is Theo- and Christo-centric. And what is the critical feature of our God that enables us to come to Him in relationship and worship? It is that He communicates. God speaks. God’s speech is action. He has acted through His Word written and He has acted through His Word incarnate. God’s saving work has been fully accomplished in the person of His Son, His final revelation and message. Consequently we gather together in worship and response to a communicating God. Preaching is not mere instruction and exhortation, on a par with a guided tour of a museum, or a journalist’s report of an incident, or a teacher explaining a theory, or a lecturer sharing their insight, or a coach rallying a sports team, or a motivational speaker stirring salespersons to do better, or an actor reciting a poem, or a judge reviewing the facts of a case, or a politician restating a promise, or a comedian drawing a laugh.
Preaching is unlike any other speech, either instructional or exhortational. When we preach, our goal is to preach the Word, so that the Word of God itself speaks. When the Bible speaks, God speaks. When God speaks, He is at work. Preaching is not just talking about God at work. Biblical preaching is God at work. Perhaps we need to rethink our view of preaching, for too often and too easily, our view of preaching is much too small.
Biblical Preaching 
I really enjoyed reading this post this morning.
I got a question for you though. Do you feel as though the cross has lost it’s power because of the way some preach and teach about it? What I mean by this is, in some churches the cross is used as a closing to the sermon to get people pumped up. Also it seems to me that because the cross is seen so often that nobody really understands what it truly represents. I mean look at bumper stickers, T-Shirts, jewelry, everywhere you look there seems to be a cross.
Thanks
Peter Da Via
Peter, This topic is similar to what was discussed in your previous post on preaching curriculum in China. The Western Europe and American mindset of the average person attending a weekly church service is to hear a good pep talk to help them through the next week, lift their spirits from the previous week and tickle their ears. I would hope and pray that every week, when a man of God is in the pulpit, whether in Europe, America or a house church in China, that man is not only delivering a message from God’s Word but conveying what God has spoken to him and through him.
I certainly believe that God is using these house church pastors in China in a miraculous, supernatural way. This may be the truest sense of the gift of prophecy (not foretelling the future, but proclaiming the Word of the Lord). In my general study of the prophets and detailed study of Ezekiel, we need more men who will give themselves over, 100%, to God, allowing God to speak through them.
Yes, our view of preaching is much, much too small.
Peter – you are right that the image of the cross conveys very different messages than it used to in its original setting. Perhaps that puts the onus on us as preachers to really convey the reality of the cross – both literarily and historically.