I’ve been to churches that are almost dogmatic about expository teaching. Usually such churches are not a fan of topical teaching because, according to the logic, teaching on various topics in the Bible avoids dealing with other passages of scripture that would not be encountered in a more systematic expository approach. Usually, the promise is that doctrinal topics and difficult passages will be dealt with as encountered in the expository approach to scripture. Expository teaching in my experience is virtually synonymous with teaching through entire books of the Bible.

Topical teaching, on the other hand, usually deals with a single topic, for example, a particular doctrine and collects supportive verses from across the Bible. Churches that approach the scriptures topically will move from topic to topic based on whatever the pastor or teacher chooses. It’s interesting that a pastor is either topical in their style or expository. One or the other.

There are pros and cons with either approach.

The big pros to topical teaching:

• Topical teaching is great for covering basic doctrines which are defined from various passages throughout scripture. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity can only be taught by pulling together the defining scriptures from across the Bible.
• This approach is also better for going deeper into a particular path of study.
• It can be more timely and useful for addressing specific issues manifesting in the culture or in a church. Sort of “just in time” teaching.

The primary cons of the topical approach are:

• It can indeed avoid topics that should be taught.
• It may be driven based on the teacher’s preferences and strengths, which could leave some significant gaps in biblical exposure to the congregation.
• Also, there may be no continuity from week to week as the teacher skips all over the map.

The primary pros of the expository approach:

• This approach will indeed touch on the vast array of topics encountered in most book studies.
• It also maintains continuity and consistency in teaching from a single book.
• It does offer the opportunity to address difficult passages a teacher might not otherwise cover.

There are a few potential cons of the expository approach:

• It can take a long time to work through a book of the Bible. The church I used to attend (a very good church) was committed to this approach. The elder who teaches most of the time was working through the book of Romans, which took him 14 months to complete.
• In rigidly working through a particular book of the Bible, while it does touch on a variety of topics, can avoid others that may be more timely and important to the specific needs of a church. Not all books touch on all things.
• In the determination to get through the book, particularly a long book, the opportunity to dive deep when interesting doctrines or difficult passages are encountered is usually ignored. The promise of a deeper dive into difficult topics is rarely delivered in the haste to just move on to the next verse. The difficult passages maybe get 30 seconds of air time. This is my experience with expository teaching. It’s unfortunate.

A Combined Approach

In my own little home church, I combine the best elements of both approaches. I started teaching through the gospels (all at the same time in a harmonized approach). I started at the baptism of Jesus because I wanted to focus on his life and ministry. As I proceed through the chronology of the Lord’s ministry, I dive deep in to particular topics that I encounter. For example, I did a 3 week study on baptism and uncovered some things I did not realize before. I found baptism is a very rich and highly developed doctrine in the New Testament. I did not feel the 3 week study did it justice. But we learned some things we didn’t know before. So expository became topical when necessary to achieve better understanding.

My advice to pastors is to let expository teaching drive the overall path but to be flexible about transitioning to a topical approach when the opportunity to deep dive into specific doctrine is presented or needed by the situation in your church. Another option is to use Sunday morning teaching for the expository teaching and have small groups address the topics in more detail. This requires the small groups to remain aligned with Sunday morning teaching but offers opportunity for the more in depth teaching for those who desire it.