There is an intermural debate among Christian preachers and sermon consumers as to whether a pastor in his pulpit is preaching or teaching or a combination of both. I am preaching through Luke and Luke 4:15 says that Jesus “taught in their synagogue.” Three verses later in 4:18, Jesus said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel.” Was there a distinction between Jesus’ teaching and preaching? Sometimes we leave a service and the comment is made, “Now, that was good preaching!” Why? Was that good preaching because it was fast and furious? or humorous or overflowing with stories? If the sermon lacked all of the precious ingredients, would the preacher have only been teaching?
R. C. Sproul in The Difference Between Preaching and Teaching (click to view), makes little distinction between preaching and teaching in the pulpit:
Typically, we distinguish between preaching and teaching. Preaching involves such things as exhortation, exposition, admonition, encouragement, and comfort, while teaching is the transfer of information and instruction in various areas of content. In practice, however, there is much overlap between the two. Preaching must communicate content and include teaching, and teaching people the things of God cannot be done in a neutral manner but must exhort them to heed and obey the Word of Christ. God’s people need both preaching and teaching.
Sproul acknowledges that the element of persuasion is essential to teaching. Teaching like preaching includes persuading the listeners “to heed and obey the Word of Christ.”
Preachers are Teachers
John MacArthur in his sermon, The Qualifications for a Pastor, Part 3: Teaching Skill (click to view) states clearly that pastors in the pulpit are “teachers” according to 1 Timothy 3:2:
But then back at the end of verse 2 is that skill, that preaching skill - he must be “able to teach” - preaching or teaching. He must be a skilled communicator of God's truth. That word "able to teach" is used twice: once there and again in 2 Timothy 2:24. The very same word is used, and it says there “the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, be kind to all” - again skilled in teaching – “able to teach,” “apt to teach.” It means “to be a skilled teacher.” That's the skill that goes with this task. We are teachers. That is a spiritual gift - Romans 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:28. Both of those scriptures indicate that the teaching gift is a gift the Holy Spirit gives. If you're going to be an elder, you must be gifted with the gift of teaching or the gift of preaching, or as it's called “prophecy,” which means “to stand before and speak. We are teachers; we are speakers. Behind that is the knowledge of the Word of God, and then in front of that is the congregation that receives that teaching and thus becomes built up in that knowledge.
The Difference Between Teaching in the Classroom and the Pulpit
MacArthur makes a distinction between teaching in a classroom and teaching in the pulpit:
“How do you distinguish between preaching and teaching? Not in content so much, but in style. Preaching is the public proclamation intended to move the will. Teaching is that more private, smaller kind of intimate setting in which we communicate truth to the mind. Preaching includes admonition, exhortation. Teaching is illumination, elucidation. We might even say teaching approaches the mind alone, whereas preaching attempts to attack the whole man in every aspect of his life, mind, will, and emotions. Both are crucial.”
“It's hard sometimes for me to draw clear definition, but I know when I'm teaching and I know when I'm preaching. If I go in a seminary class and teach, that's one thing. If I come here and proclaim, that's another thing. It's just the gift. And some men have the ability to teach and not to preach, and some can preach and are not as effective in teaching - some have both. But this is what we do. We disseminate God's truth. That's our role.”
When MacArthur notes that there is a difference in style between preaching in the pulpit and teaching in the classroom he is not talking about a difference in volume. The distinction between preaching and teaching is not measured in decibels. Someone can teach loudly in a classroom or preach conversationally in the pulpit. One of my college professors, Dr. Bowman in his younger days taught loudly. He would be at one of the hall and we would be at the other end of the hall and we could hear him clearly.
Preaching and Teaching can be Interchangeable
I appreciate that Sproul and MacArthur see little if any distinction between preaching and teaching in the pulpit. But what matters is what Scripture reveals. Paul gave the qualification for pastors to be “able to teach” in 1 Timothy 3:2. Notice not “able to preach.” This is the only qualification in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 that is related to the pastor’s public speaking ministry and Paul notes the pastor must be “able to teach.” The reason is that preaching and teaching in the pulpit are synonymous. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul commanded pastors to “preach the Word” not “teach the Word” as he did in 1 Timothy 3:2. Why? Because preaching and teaching are interchangeable in the Pastoral Epistles. Paul over thirty times in the Pastoral Epistles stated that pastors should be teaching doctrine.
This interchange of teaching and preaching is noticeable in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles. In Matthew 4:23, Jesus was “teaching in the synagogues.” In Luke 4:44, Jesus “preached in the synagogue.” In Acts 2:42, the new converts “continued in the apostles’ teaching.” What these three thousand new converts continued in is the gospel they just heard Peter preach. The three thousand converts responded to the gospel Peter just preached referred to in Acts 2:42 as “teaching.” “Teaching” includes the proclamation of the gospel. The apostles in Acts 4:2 “preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” The gospel the apostle taught on Acts 2:42, the apostles preached in Acts 4:2.
The Meaning of Preaching is Determined by Context and Usage
Notice the difference or lack of difference of a word is not based on the etymology of the word or the dictionary or lexical meaning. Preaching is sometimes defined by its etymology. For example, The word “preach” in Greek (κηρύσσω kerysso) literally means to announce, to herald publicly, or in an official capacity. But we know that the same word can have many different meanings based on different contexts. The words “flesh” and “world” have four or five different meanings in various contexts. Context and usage determine the meaning of preaching. As we just saw teaching and preaching are interchangeable in meaning because of usage and context.
Christians who are not Pastors can have the Gift of Teaching
The spiritual gifts for all Christians include the gift of “teaching” in Romans 12:7 which non-preachers and non-pastors enjoy. We hope our Sunday school teachers and small group leaders have this gift of teaching. Laypeople can have the gift of teaching and not the gift of preaching.
This is not true for pastors. Paul is listing some of the gifted men that God gave to the early church in Ephesians 4:11. He listed four groups (not five groups):
Group one: “Apostles”
Group two: “Some [ Greek δέ de] prophets”
Group three: “Some [Greek δέ de] evangelists”
Group four: “The pastors and [Greek καί kai] teachers”
Paul dropped the “some [Greek δέ de] before teachers and replaced δέ with καί “and” stated “pastors and teachers” as the fourth group. Paul made this change because “pastors and teachers” both are group four. The other change Paul made was to include the article “the” before pastors and not before “teachers” to show he is referring to one person who is both a shepherd and a teacher (the Granville Sharpe rule).
Pastors cannot Preach and not Teach
A Sunday school teacher can teach and not preach in the classroom. A Bible professor in his classroom can teach and not preach. But a pastor cannot preach in the pulpit and not teach. Paul noted that the Spirit gifted pastor according to Ephesians 4:11 is both a pastor and teacher and the qualified pastor according to 1 Timothy 3:2 is “able to teach.” At the same time, the Spirit-gifted and qualified pastor is teaching God’s Word he is preaching “the word” according to 2 Timothy 4:2.
Whether we agree or disagree on the difference between preaching and teaching, we do agree that when we preach the Word we must teach the text. Our sermons must be text-driven to persuade our listeners to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. When we preach we must “reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).