Congregational Diversity and Expository Preaching-Part 2

By Tim Raymond

In the first article in this 2-part mini-series, I argued the point that expositional preaching naturally facilitates diversity in a local church congregation. Since Jesus died for sheep from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation (Rev 5:9), and since these sheep listen to Jesus’ voice when and where they hear it and follow Him (John 10:27), it stands to reason that if a pastor will faithfully proclaim Jesus’ words, that will be fertile soil for at least a degree of congregational diversification. And I tried to illustrate this point with some examples from my own local church.

While this assertion makes good sense logically and theologically, it prompts an obvious and (perhaps awkward) question. What about all of those faithful pastors who practice expositional preaching but whose congregations remain ethnically and culturally monolithic? What if I preach God’s word in season and out, but my congregation looks more like a sheet of printer paper than a mosaic? How shall we interpret this experiential dissonance?

Obviously every situation will have its own unique particulars, but I tend to believe that one or some combination of the following factors probably contributes to a church that loves expositional preaching but is not experiencing diversification:

1. The church is not located in a particularly diverse community – As I see it, a church’s congregation should strive to reflect the makeup of the community in which it exists. Consequently, if your community is rather monochrome, you shouldn’t feel discouraged if your congregation is likewise. To use a silly example, if you pastor a church in rural Nebraska, don’t get too worked up if you don’t have any Samoans represented in your congregation. I fear that one unintended but unhelpful side-effect of the contemporary church’s concern with congregational diversity is unrealistic expectations, which in turn unnecessarily discourages those churches in homogeneous communities.

2. The church is located in a community where there are unusually strong racial and/or cultural tensions – Truth be told, I’ve never lived in a community of this nature, but we all know they exist. Paige Patterson tells the story of how he was the president of SEBTS and certain churches would fire seminary student pastors for simply sharing the Gospel with African-Americans. If your church exists in such a community, more than straightforward expositional preaching will be necessary to facilitate diversification. Strategic planning, intentional outreach, preaching to the issues, loving admonition, and perhaps even church discipline may be necessary for Christ’s sheep to realize that local churches should reflect the diversity of heaven. While I can not speak from experience here, I imagine strong, persevering pastoral leadership will be absolutely essential if this issue is to be addressed.

3. The pastor hasn’t been practicing expositional preaching for a sufficiently long amount of time – Like Jesus’ parable of the gradually-growing seed (Mark 4:26-29), expositional preaching doesn’t do its work overnight. Especially if the previous pastors did not preach expositionally, you need to recognize that it will take years for you to see the fruit of your labors. James Montgomery Boice is famous for saying that we overestimate what we can accomplish in one year but underestimate what we can do in ten. That’s certainly been my experience with expositional preaching. Expositional preaching only works when the pastor is committed to the long haul and will persevere year after year, even when evident results are not obvious. But, like Adoniram Judson’s labors in Burma, given enough time, work, prayer, and God’s blessing, the harvest will be glorious.

4. The pastor isn’t actually preaching expositional sermons – This may sting, but somebody’s got to say it. Many preachers who think they are preaching expositional sermons are, in fact, not. By expositional preaching, I’m talking about preaching that, to echo Mark Dever, derives the point of the sermon from the point of the passage the preacher is claiming to preach. It’s not rocket science, but for some reason it’s surprisingly rare in evangelical churches. I know of one church (not the one I mentioned in part 1 of this series) that loudly claimed it practiced expositional preaching. But having endured through countless sermons at this church, the vast majority of these were not truly expositional. The pastor did indeed read a passage of Scripture at the beginning of the sermon and was guided by orthodox theology. But rarely was the point of the passage the point of the sermon. It didn’t matter from what book the pastor was preaching, with precious few exceptions all the sermons focused on one of three topics: the need to be born again, the need to witness, or the need to read our Bibles. Instead of deriving the content of the sermon from the passage, a predetermined message was imposed on the passage. I believe that not only will God not bless the kind of preaching that takes His word lightly, but discerning folk can figure out that the pastor is standing above the Bible, not preaching in submission to the Bible. So brother-pastors, you need to carefully evaluate your sermons. Are you deriving the point of your sermons from the passage or imposing a predetermined point onto the passage? Do you sit down at your desk and think, “What is God’s message for my people this week?” or “Where shall I find support for what I want to say in this week’s sermon?” Coming at this same idea from a slightly different angle, are you preaching the Bible or merely finding support for the theological system of your particular tradition (be it dispensationalism, covenantal, or other)? Are you preaching sequentially through entire books of the Bible, or merely your favorite texts? Are you preaching from all genres of Scripture (including the Old Testament), or always sticking to Paul’s epistles? Are your expositional sermons nothing more than a running commentary on a passage of Scripture, or do they include thought-provoking, heart-searching, lifestyle-examining pastoral application? Are you preaching Gospel-centered sermons from all parts of the Bible, or simply browbeating your people to do better? Are you, pastor, striving to be a prayerful doer of the Word yourself, or are you simply creating sermons to get a paycheck (this will inevitably show through in how you preach)? I’m no prophet, but I tend to believe that pastors who reject expositional preaching because they think it doesn’t work have never actually practiced expositional preaching.

5. God’s mysterious providence – I know this might sound like a convenient catch-all, but I don’t think it should be ignored or minimized. Sometimes God ordains peculiar circumstances that we won’t understand this side of eternity (or perhaps ever). Maybe God has prevented diversification to teach your congregation humility or the need to be intentional in loving their neighbors or to teach you perseverance or any other host of lessons. Realize that God is far more concerned with His people’s holiness than He is with measurable “success” and will often orchestrate circumstances to that end. While this explanation shouldn’t be claimed as a quick excuse for laziness or lack of strategy, it is a reality that should be acknowledged.

Given these caveats, I believe the thesis set forth in my first article stands firm: a steady diet of expositional sermons will normally facilitate at least a degree of ethnic and cultural diversity in a local church congregation. Those the Lord has appointed to eternal life come from every walk of life. These are summoned to believe the Gospel and follow the Savior through the clarion proclamation of the Word of God. Therefore, if a pastor will, in faith, preach the whole counsel of God from the whole Word of God, he can reasonably assume that one of the fruits God will produce will be a congregation that reflects, in small part, the diversity of heaven. As we labor and strive to do things here on earth as they are in heaven, may we not forget, sideline, or ignore this powerful means of grace.

Tim Raymond has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana since April 2006. He received his MDiv from the Baptist Bible Seminary of Pennsylvania in 2004 and has pursued further education through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Tim grew up outside Syracuse, NY and previously served at Berean Baptist Church, Nicholson, PA (member and teacher during college and seminary) and Calvary Baptist Church, Sandusky, Ohio (seminary internship location). Tim met his wife Bethany at college, and they were married in May 2001. Tim enjoys reading, camping, wrestling with his three sons, and attempting to sleep.