Preaching is not speeching!

In recent conversations, I have been pulled into a discussion over the nature of preaching. I have preached (though I am novice) and believe that preaching is a fundamental aspect of what I do as a minister of the Gospel and member of the Church. Therefore, I have obvious biases. I got all riled up when preaching was equated with what happens in a speech, thus preaching is speeching. I refused and still refuse to accept such premise. Such a premise shows lack of concern and understanding of what is happening on the Lord’s day.

If speech means simply talking, we should not have the word “speech,” for simply talking is not speeching; talking with a friend is not a speech (though the word can become a derogatory phrase against someone who is long-winded); talking with a group of friends is not speeching. Talk that happens in a classroom is usually called a lecture (which is different from a speech) and only applies to the “teacher” (which is not the same as a “speaker”). The example of speech would be an address from the president or something close to that nature. What this is trying to show is that there are lots of aspects involved like location and purpose of the communication.
So here is my brief discourse on preaching and its importance as preaching instead of speeching:

The preaching moment is fundamental to the life of the church, and a hallmark of Protestant worship and accordingly to the people of God. This is seen through the whole biblical narrative with God speaking through Moses and the prophets, and then through his Son Jesus (Mark 1.14 says that Jesus came preaching) and now is speaking through the Spirit. Preaching is thus Trinitarian and essential to the faith. In this same manner, religion has its teachers of every faith and doctrine. But unlike other religions, Christianity actually labels preachers to claim to actually be ambassadors of God according to 1 Peter 4.11, and heralds of the same good news that Jesus our King preached.

This is a very important aspect to the worship of God; a God who spoke creation into existence. When the preaching moment happens in worship, this is not simply one person giving a monologue on his or her own opinions on any given topic. This is a moment where the people of God have gathered to hear God speak into the lives of the community. This is a very dynamic instance in our lives as worshipers, a time when we have let the surrounding culture influence our imagination concerning reality. Society cannot have God speaking into the lives of a people nor can the nation have a people who have an allegiance above the nation. So it has taught us that religion=opinion (or morality at best) which in turn creates the teaching moment into a moral discourse or talk of opinion. We as Christians buy into this and then turn around asking why our churches have no influence or why Christianity is so uninteresting. It is because we have bought into the imagination of the society that surrounds us.

The preaching moment is an breaking-in moment where God enters into our lives to challenge us about our view of Him, challenging us to live into the Bible story. This is not a moment when someone is trying to make us more moral (whatever that could mean) but a moment when Christ is urging us to become a faithful people. Faithfulness is not morality. Faithfulness is not even about making right decisions but faithfulness is about following the King.

If we as Christians continue to believe that preaching is simply speeching, I would contend then we should simply drop it out of the service. We get to hear so many other opinions on countless topics everyday (talk radio is a better source than a sermon). The last thing we need is to hear another during worship. At the same time, if we are convinced that God does not matter in real life then we should use our time better attending to other matters like chores and house maintenance. On the other hand, if we are convinced that God matters, we need to reclaim our sermons and let our imagination be reshaped through real discipleship and attend our worship with the expectation that God spoke and still speaks! Therefore, preaching is not speeching!