Preach for Action, Not Just Information

There’s a popular contemporary Christian worship song called “My Lighthouse” by Rend Collective. While it features a catchy chorus, the song has divided some churches over a fundamental question: Is it acceptable to call Jesus a “lighthouse” if the Bible never explicitly uses that term?

Usually, this question is framed within the debate about what’s “allowed” or “forbidden” in worship (regulative principle versus normative principle). Worship wars aside, if we look at this question through the lens of communication––specifically speech act theory (SAT), as I’ll discuss below––the question becomes whether the image of a lighthouse accurately captures the action God is performing in Scripture.

Enter the preaching wars. In many corners of the Christian tradition, expository preaching––as opposed to topical or narrative styles––is often viewed as the gold standard. According to this approach, expounding a text requires a double task: exposition (explaining what the text means) and exhortation (applying the significance of that text to the audience).

To expound a text requires a double task: exposition and exhortation.

The challenge is moving from one to the other. Historical-grammatical tools help us understand what the text said, but how do we know what it is saying to a contemporary audience?

When preachers are afraid to move beyond the literal words of the text, they can fall into what Kevin Vanhoozer has called the “heresy of propositional paraphrase”—simply repeating what a commentary says without ever moving the heart. It’s exposition without exhortation.

Relying solely on propositional information is often “left-brained” (as Iain McGilchrist might say) and can be elitist, mirroring university-style lectures that many in a post-Christendom context find difficult to engage. Today’s audiences (as in many other times and places) are shaped by stories, music, drama, and emotion—not just facts and data.

If one goal of preaching is to challenge and change the audience’s character and behavior, then we must reach the heart. As someone once summarized Thomas Cranmer’s famous words: “What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.” To reach the heart, we need imagination, anecdotes, and stories.

But where’s our warrant to do this? This is where SAT can be a useful tool for preachers. SAT provides a pathway through the preaching wars by showing that the distinction between meaning (exposition) and significance (exhortation) is a false dichotomy.

Speech Act Theory and Preaching

What is SAT? When I was working on a PhD (and later a book) on preaching, I learned how SAT posits that when someone speaks, he isn’t just conveying information; he’s performing an action. There are three aspects to any communication:

1. Locution: the propositional idea being communicated (the literal words).

2. Illocution: the communicative act being performed—such as a command, a promise, a warning, a rebuke, a pronouncement, or an encouragement.

3. Perlocution: the speaker’s intended outcome.

In the history of SAT, the final aspect, perlocution, is contentious (how much can the speaker control the outcome?). So for our purposes, let’s consider only locution and illocution.

For example, if a sign says “Wet paint,” the locution is the information that the paint isn’t dry. But the illocution is a warning: “Don’t sit on this bench!” If you only understand the information but sit on the bench anyway, you haven’t truly understood the speech act.

Similarly, if a person in a movie theater shouts “Fire!” the locution is communicating the proposition that a fire exists. But the illocution is an appeal to leave the building. If you only acknowledge the fact that there’s a fire but do nothing to remove yourself from the theater, then you’ve not only failed to grasp what the speaker said but also put your life in danger.

To offer one more example, when a wife asks her husband, “Are you wearing that shirt?” the locution is the propositional idea that the man is wearing a shirt. The illocution, however, is an implicit request that the husband find a different shirt to wear.

What’s the payoff for preaching from these scenarios? First, communication isn’t less than propositional ideas, but there’s always more going on than just conveying information. Locution is always attended by illocution. Therefore, it’s necessary for the listener to correctly grasp not just the information being said but also the action being communicated.

For listeners to do this well, they need to pick up on more than just the words. Tone of voice, hand gestures, pictures, or other visual aids are useful in getting the message across.

Preaching the Illocution

With SAT as our guide, we see how exposition and exhortation are connected. Preachers need not choose between communicating a text’s meaning or a text’s significance. There’s always application, because there’s always illocution.

The preacher’s communication should mirror God’s communication. The preacher must ask, “What action is God performing in the text?” in order to understand the proper illocution. Locating God’s action in a passage becomes an essential element of sermon preparation: Is God rebuking? Is he comforting? Is he promising?

Locating God’s action in a passage becomes an essential element of sermon preparation: Is God rebuking? Is he comforting? Is he promising?

Because his task is to recreate the text’s action, the preacher is granted the freedom to move beyond the literal words of the passage. To convey a “warning” effectively to a modern audience, he might use a modern-day illustration or a cautionary tale. Or he might use humor or a specific metaphor (like a “lighthouse”) to evoke the same sense of guidance and safety found in the biblical text. Moreover, the preacher may also use his body in addition to his words, employing hand gestures or emotional tone to reinforce the message’s urgency.

Preacher as Ambassador

Some fear that using imagination makes the sermon about the finite, flawed human preacher rather than the infinite, perfect divine Word. However, God has always worked through human agents and natural means. God parted the Red Sea through the physical act of Moses raising his staff and hand over the water (Ex. 14:16). God inspired Scripture through the distinct personalities, idioms, and metaphors of human authors (2 Pet. 1:21).

To be fair, there are some words of caution that I should give around selecting and using illustrations in preaching. First, good illustrations lead people into the text being preached, rather than distracting from it. They provide a “way in” to a passage that may be hard to access because of things like historical context or cultural differences. Second, illustrations should have a point to them. They should be used to emphasize the main idea of the text. Stories that are tangential or self-referential may be interesting, but may not be ultimately helpful or edifying. Third, when using illustrations from your personal life, use wisdom on how you portray yourself. There’s a temptation to be too self-deprecating on the one hand and to be viewed as the “hero” of the story on the other. Don’t embellish the story by saying too much or too little about yourself. Remember that the goal of preaching isn’t to put yourself on display, but Christ.

As “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20), preachers are commissioned to speak on his behalf. In doing so, Christ speaks (the divine, supernatural personal agent) through human preachers with their distinct personalities (the finite, human personal agents) as they use explanation, illustrations, idioms, metaphors, humor, emotions, stories, anecdotes, and imagination (natural instrumental means).

Deep down, we’re creatures of imagination and emotion. We see evidence of this in the Bible’s songs, poems, and psalms. We also see it in the worlds of imagination our contemporary worship songs draw us into. But can we do the same with contemporary expository preaching? Can it be called “expository” preaching if we accommodate the imaginations, stories, and emotions of the finite human preacher?

The answer is yes. Expository preaching’s aim has always been to preach both exposition and exhortation, explanation and application. By employing speech act theory, we see that expository preaching isn’t just about repeating propositional facts. It’s about using every imaginative tool available to ensure the action of God’s Word is felt and understood today.

Whether we call God a “lighthouse” or use a modern anecdote, our goal is to be true to the text’s intent while being true to the audience’s need for a transformed heart.