We’ve all heard it said. “Our pastor is a better teacher than a preacher.” The implication, of course, is that the pastor would be better suited to service at a seminary or theological school.

What they are really saying is that their pastor’s sermons are dry and uninspiring, which doesn’t sound like very good teaching, come to think of it. I can tell you, as one who routinely hires people to teach at seminaries and theological schools, that this common understanding of a teacher is not the kind of person I am excited to employ.

What is the difference between preaching and teaching? I have posed this to thousands of students over the years. It seems like a straightforward question with an obvious answer. It’s one of those things where we know it when we see it, but perhaps the difference is harder to articulate.

My students always say the same thing – essentially that a teacher instructs and a preacher inspires – or that teaching is all about helping listeners/students master content while preaching is about changing lives.

Frankly, this approach, as intuitive as it might seem, is an affront to teachers everywhere. Any teacher worth their whiteboard would loudly proclaim their desire to change lives. The best among them might assert that they can be as inspiring as any preacher, and perhaps even more so.

Preachers, likewise, would not want to be limited to something as seemingly frothy as inspiration. Most preachers I know pride themselves on their capacity to communicate content in ways that are informative and instructional. Of course, that might not be where the preacher wants to leave things. A preacher certainly wants to inspire the listeners to take this instruction and translate it into meaningful discipleship. But that would be the same of the effective teachers that I know.

The primary terms for preaching (kerusso) and teaching (didaskw) are used almost interchangeably in Scripture. When Jesus opened His mouth to introduce His famous sermon on the mount, Matthew describes him as teaching (Matthew 5:2). Paul instructs Timothy to preach the Word with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:2).

While these terms fit to the same broad semantic field of meaning and practice, they are not necessarily exacting in their definition. It might be suggested that preaching is the broader term – perhaps even that teaching could be a subset, or one of the roles that a preacher assumes as part of the larger task of proclamation.

Teaching, then might focus on the instructional aspects of the preacher’s work, the clarification of text and truth, and the intellectual discernment leading to an understanding and appreciation of the historic and contextual implications and what the text implies for a new contextual situation. It involves the careful exposition of a text, the parsing of the terms, and the clear articulation of the various factors leading to understanding.

It is not that the preacher must express every data point and concept that occurs within the text or preacher’s imagination. Though at the very least, the preacher hasn’t done the job if the listener hasn’t learned something of applicable value to her or his faith and practice.

When I think back on the teachers that have blessed me, I don’t remember their content. I’m sure that I learned some kind of meaningful content from Mr. Giesbrecht and from Ms. McAskill. Mrs. Robinson and Mr. Zelinski almost certainly offered informational and conceptual ideas that were formative for me. All of that is in me somewhere, though I might struggle to recall the chapter and the verse. What I do remember is the character of these great teachers and the way by which they inspired me.

Great teachers are always more than their instruction and great preachers are never less than their instruction. It is the integration of these elements that listeners respond to. Preachers teach and teachers preach. Let’s pray we never become satisfied with anything less.

Kenton C. Anderson is President of Providence University College and Theological Seminary in Otterburne Manitoba.