What are you putting on the Fire? Doctrine and Expository Preaching

One cold December night, James, Adam, and Matthew, high school seniors, were at James’ parents' house. James’ parents had gone off to help his sister in Tuscaloosa. As the boys contemplated what to do that night, James thought it would be best to have a bonfire. Living on a couple of acres of land, the boys had plenty of wood to choose from; however, there was just one problem. It had been raining most of the day. All the wood that the boys could use was too wet to burn. But this would not stop them. They were determined to have a bonfire that night. The wood was too wet as the boys collected the wood and attempted to get it to light. Suddenly, Adam told James and Matthew that he had “something” in his truck that might help them with their problem. A few moments later, Adam returned to the wood with a sports squirt bottle and sprayed an odorless liquid all over the wood. A bit perplexed, James and Matthew watched as Adam got ready to try to light the wood again. Even though James was not entirely sure what the liquid was that Adam had sprayed, he warned Adam that instead of using a match to light the wood, he should use a torch instead. Adam turned to James and said, “I am a Boy Scout! I know what I am doing!” Adam struck the match, not realizing that this odorless liquid had gotten on his hand and all over his pants. At that point, the wood was indeed lit, as was Adam. It prompted the question, after James and Matthew were able to put Adam out laughing hysterically, what on earth did you put in the fire?

Expository preaching focuses on properly explaining the text. Doctrine can and will help ignite the text to help further the understanding of the Gospel text and its meaning. Does it matter what anyone of any faith believes? The answer would be yes. Regardless of creed or confession, a person needs to know what they think, but more importantly, why they believe what they believe. What about the Christian faith? What should Christians believe? Expository teaching can help develop the Christian’s understanding of doctrine. But what exactly is doctrine?

“Christian doctrine focuses upon God and the way in which God grants not just life but also meaning to all other things.”[1] If the Bible is the body, then doctrine is the blood, muscles, and bones. Doctrine helps weave together this beautiful tapestry called the Bible. It navigates the mind to a deeper understanding of who God is and what he has done and will do. Christians need doctrine. They need to understand the depths of their beliefs and, more importantly, why. If a Sunday School teacher were to ask their students what it means to be a Christian, what would they say? There would probably be multiple answers. But are those answers rooted in doctrine? This is where expository preaching and teaching can help.   

            It is a universal truth that every person living at any moment in history has presuppositions that they bring to the marketplace of ideas. Many of these beliefs originate from various sources—tradition or cultural pressure, curiosity, and in-depth study. Expository preaching and teaching can help Christians understand doctrine. As expository preaching seeks to expound on the text, the preacher will inevitably have to discuss certain doctrinal truths to explain the text properly. Take Genesis Chapters one, two, and three for example. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth” (Genesis 1:1). Right at the start, there is the doctrine of God. Fast forward through the following three chapters, and it becomes evident that there are multiple doctrines—the doctrine of creation, man, sin, and the doctrine of the fall. Doctrine is a pathway to understanding the depths of God and his word. It helps expository preaching and teaching by illuminating the stories and giving further depth and understanding to the beliefs of Christianity.  

[1] Michael Allen, The New Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023), e-book.