Defining Preaching

[Guest]

Hi,
I think I'm a bit undefined in what preaching and teaching are exactly. It seems many times that preaching is looked at as someone givng an inspiring message to get someone else through the rest of the week. Is this what preaching was originally for? Are there some verses that describe this more fully?
Beyond that, what are some of the distinctive differences between preaching and teaching? It seems that teaching is passing on certain information to an uninformed person, but where does that leave preaching?

Thanks

[Guest]

I think of preaching, generally, as directed more toward the lost. But I use the term lost, here, loosely. It could be a Christian or a non-Christian, but in some way they are 'lost' as to how to live the Christian life. So it could be evangelistic. It could be a holiness sermon directed at a congregation that doesn't know much about holiness, etc.

I think of teaching, generally, as directed at established Christians. It is more to challenge them toward greater Christ-likeness or to aid their understanding of Christ. In my opinion teaching is more interactive while preaching is usually a 1 way street.

But that's just how I've come to distinguish the terms.

[Guest]

Perhaps this helps:

The New Testament Greek Lexicon

Strong's Number: 2784 khru/ssw
Original Word Word Origin
khru/ssw of uncertain affinity
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling
Kerusso kay-roos'-so
Parts of Speech TDNT
Verb 3:697,430
Definition
to be a herald, to officiate as a herald
to proclaim after the manner of a herald
always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed
to publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done
used of the public proclamation of the gospel and matters pertaining to it, made by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the apostles and other Christian teachers

Translated Words
KJV (61) - preach, 51; preached + (2258), 2; preacher, 1; proclaim, 2; publish, 5;
NAS (61) - made proclamation, 1; preach, 16; preached, 10; preacher, 1; preaches, 2; preaching, 11; proclaim, 8; proclaimed, 6; proclaiming, 6;



Strong's Number: 1321 dida/skw
Original Word Word Origin
dida/skw a prolonged (causative) form of a primary verb dao (to learn)
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling
Didasko did-as'-ko
Parts of Speech TDNT
Verb 2:135,161
Definition
to teach
to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, deliver didactic discourses
to be a teacher
to discharge the office of a teacher, conduct one's self as a teacher
to teach one
to impart instruction
instill doctrine into one
the thing taught or enjoined
to explain or expound a thing
to teach one something

Translated Words
KJV (97) - taught + (2258), 4; teach, 93;
NAS (97) - instructed, 2; preaches, 1; taught, 13; teach, 33; teaches, 5; teaching, 43;

Some have made more of a distinction between the two than is probably warrented. There would seem to be considerabe overlap.

[Guest]

at the church where my stepdaughter and husband attends, the pastor "preaches" at the two services on sunday. On wednesday, he "teaches" more in depth about what he preached about on sunday. Sunday is a more intense service (for lack of a better word); the wednesday teaching service is less formal, but deeper in substance. I kind of like this model.

TK

[_Steve]

I once did a concordance search on "preaching" and was surprised to find that, in all the cases I found (except one) the preaching was directed toward the unbelievers, and simply meant "evangelizing". This is not said to have been done in church gatherings (most evangelism was done elsewhere, and the church meetings were for Christians).

Teaching, I think, is the discipling of those who are already believers.

Thus, it seems to me, preaching is for evangelistic settings; teaching is for the church.

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies.
I guess I have noticed some Christians in my area go to traditional churches and identifying their spiritual walk as only hearing an "inspiring story" from a preacher as if they simply go to church hear a motivational speaker or something and completely forget about being taught/discipleship. I'm not trying to knock preaching or anything and I do see a place for encouragement too, however as some have already stated preaching does seem to be more for the lost and teaching for the more established.

I can identify with what Homer said:

Some have made more of a distinction between the two than is probably warranted. There would seem to be considerable overlap.

Maybe the same could be said of evangelism and preaching.

[Guest]

Not long ago I came across:
Karoox: Expository Preaching for the New Millennium

The blog is "affiliated" with AGTS (Assemblies of God Theological Seminary). That is, who started it are AGTS students, alumni, and/or faculty. Whether you're A/G or not, it's an interesting blog.

The one on "Emerging Church, Compromising Church?" while it isn't about preaching, per se, is insightful on the content of the "emergent message". (Btw, the Mark Driscoll lecture they link to is well worth a listen: It would be a good introduction to the emerging church movement from a theologically conservative perspective. Driscoll is a Calvinist but it doesn't really effect anything he says; he doesn't go off into Calvinist distinctives).

Just thought some of y'all might find this helpful,