There are lots of famous preachers, whom I greatly respect, who insist the only appropriate biblical preaching is verse-by-verse exposition. But many of these preachers do what I call “topical preaching in disguise.” While preaching through a book of the Bible, they often preach what is really a topical sermon.
One of my favorite expositional preachers is Donald Grey Barnhouse, the pulpit giant who preached at Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church. How could Barnhouse preach 140 expository sermons from Romans? In the preface to his ten volumes on Romans, Barnhouse describes his style as “expositions which take as their point of departure the book of Romans and range through the whole of the Bible. . . .” These “points of departure” lead to topical studies on important subjects such as the Trinity, unanswered prayer, and God’s purpose in human suffering.
A new name
Weren’t Jesus’ sermons primarily topical? What about Paul’s sermons, or Peter’s? Why do some expository preachers boast about never preaching a topical sermon?
Those of us who preach topical sermons from time to time would be the first to admit those topical sermons must be based on the Scriptures. I wish everyone would admit that such a sermon is true biblical preaching and not some stepchild.
(It’s interesting that those who endorse expositional preaching alone usually are enthusiastic students of systematic theology, which is nothing less than the topical arrangement of biblical truth.)
Since every sermon I preach has a topic, and every sermon is based on a text of Scripture, I have chosen the term “topo-sitional preaching” to characterize my approach. Verse-by-verse exposition is the bread and butter of preaching; I just finished preaching 42 sermons on the Gospel of Mark. But I don’t feel guilty if I sense the need to preach a topical series on the attributes of God or on spiritual gifts. I just make it clear I am basing my preaching on the Word of God.
Timothy Z. Witmer Crossroads Community Church Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
1996 by Christianity Today/LEADERSHIP journal
Last Updated: September 17, 1996
