One of these days, I will look back at me today and wonder at my current state of confusion. Especially since we moved to this new church, some lifelong questions are beginning to be answered. I’ve never attended a charismatic church where the pastor actually knew how to teach. Most charismatic pastors/preachers are well-intentioned motivational speakers.

I decided not to rail against preaching in this post, although that was my intention. A quick lexicon check tells me that there are multiple Greek words used for “preach”, and that “preaching the Gospel” is a common phrase in Scripture. I had thought previously that the word “preach” might be a contemporary term.

So while I do not yet know the difference between the word “preach” and “teach”, I think they may describe fundamentally different approaches to communicating with others. If preaching isn’t teaching, perhaps it is persuading, but I’m not sure.

I was going to lump all the boring people from my past into the “preaching” category, because it feels like they’re trying to motivate me to do something (unsuccessfully, most of the time). Yet, I have found quality teaching, though rare, to be extremely valuable and useful.

The preachers I’ve heard usually begin with a topic or an intentional exhortation. They then find passages in Scripture to support the point or illustrate how it is carried out. Much of what is said involves personal experience, feelings, and how things would/could be different if only we would perform or stop performing action X.

The few teachers I’ve heard usually begin with a topic that the body needs further understanding in. They then find passages in Scripture which discuss, explain, or illustrate the meaning of the topic. The teacher’s purpose is not so much to exhort people to action as to ensure a right understanding of Scripture. Not that action is bad, of course, but I have found that truth changes people into God’s image. Love does the same, but that is even more of a mystery at times.

I have heard, considered, and agreed with the premise that people are emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, and sometimes physically damaged because we believe lies. In each circumstance that a lie is exposed in our beliefs and replaced with truth, healing begins to take place.

We apparently empower whatever we believe. If I believe that no one loves me, then even the most loving people’s affection will not fully impact me. I will believe that their actions mean something else, because I cannot receive love until I believe it is possible to do so.

That is a perfect example of what I have learned from teaching. All the preaching in the world couldn’t give me that.