Preaching and Teaching: Why the Church Has a Pastor

(And why that’s a good thing for all of us)

We live in a world full of experts. We have teachers for school, coaches for sports, counselors for emotions, and an internet full of opinions about everything. So why does the church still set apart a pastor—and why is his preaching and teaching so central?

Scripture answers more concretely: Christ gathers His Church by giving her His Word—and He gives that Word in two closely related, but distinct ways: preaching (kerygma) and teaching (didachē). A faithful pastor does both.

Preaching: Christ proclaimed to sinners

Preaching is the public proclamation that announces what God has done in Jesus Christ for sinners. That’s why the New Testament speaks the way it does:

• “Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name…” (Luke 24:47)

• “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23)

• “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17)

• “Preach the Word… reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2)

Preaching isn’t mainly “explaining religious ideas.” It’s Christ delivering His gifts—calling to repentance, forgiving sins, creating and sustaining faith through the Gospel. The Lutheran Confessions put it plainly: the ministry exists so that we obtain faith through the Gospel and Sacraments (Augsburg Confession V).

Teaching: Christ forming disciples over time

Teaching is not the same thing as preaching. Teaching is the steady instruction that forms Christians who actually know what Christ has commanded, can confess it, and can live in it. Jesus commands this explicitly:

• “Make disciples… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20)

• “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another…” (Col. 3:16)

• “Entrust [the faith] to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2)

Teaching is where catechesis lives—Bible class, confirmation, instruction for parents, and the ongoing formation of Christians in Scripture, doctrine, prayer, and vocation. The Lutheran Confessions assume this kind of instruction as normal Christian life, and the Catechisms were written precisely to support it.

Why the pastor is called to do both

Scripture doesn’t split preaching and teaching into unrelated disciplines. It joins them.

• Christ gives “shepherds and teachers” to build up the Church (Eph. 4:11-12).

So the pastor is not merely a Sunday preacher, nor is he simply a classroom instructor. He is called to both:

• Preaching: Christ proclaimed to sinners the forgiveness and faith.

• Teaching: Christ’s Word patiently handed on so Christians are formed and grounded.

The LCMS describes this the same way: pastors “proclaim forgiveness, preach and teach God’s Word, administer… Sacraments and provide faithful pastoral care.”

What this means for our congregation

This is where it gets practical. If a pastor is truly a teacher of the Church, then the Church expects more than “a few inspiring talks.”

1. We gather for preaching because God gives life through it.
   God creates and sustains faith through the proclaimed Word (Rom. 10:17). Preaching is not a warm-up act. It’s a chief way Christ serves His people.

2. We receive teaching because Christ commands discipleship.
   The Church doesn’t only proclaim forgiveness; she also forms Christians in what Christ has commanded (Matt. 28:20). Teaching is how the faith is handed on clearly and faithfully.

3. We understand that Christian education is not religious window-dressing.
   The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations, in A Theology and Philosophy of Lutheran Education (CTCR, 2025), explicitly frames Lutheran education as grounded in Christ and shaped by the proper distinction of Law and Gospel—including student discipline as an occasion for both consequences and the declaration of forgiveness in Christ.

4. We treat the congregation’s school as part of the congregation’s mission.
   Lutheran schools are connected to Lutheran worship and the Divine Service, and call the Lutheran school “an integral part of the mission and ministry of the congregation.” (LCMS Reporter)

A quiet gift in a noisy world

A culture that prizes quick inspiration tends to neglect patient formation. And a culture that loves information often resists the proclamation that actually claims us and calls us to repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But Christ gives His Church pastors anyway—men called to preach His Gospel and teach His Word, so His people are forgiven, strengthened, and kept in the truth.

The public ministry is the office by which “the Word of God is preached and the Sacraments are administered” in the name of the congregation.

That’s not bureaucracy. That’s Christ’s care.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

So when your pastor teaches—whether from the pulpit, in Bible class, with children, or in a living room—don’t think, “Why does he keep teaching?”
Think: Christ is keeping His promise to speak to His people.