Many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, are entirely confused about the meaning of the word "preach." Three examples of this misunderstanding will illustrate the problem. (1). First, young people will say to their parents, "Don't preach to me!" By this they mean, "Don't be telling me what I should or shouldn't be doing." (2). Second, a punk rock group called The Skallywags has a song called Don't Preach to Me where they express anger toward cultural pop stars like Madonna and actress Susan Sarenden by singing, "Take your soapbox rants and your politics and stick them where the sun don't shine." (3). And finally, after Lebron James watched a very inspirational video of Sports Illustrated Sportskid of the Year, a video about a boy who runs triathlons while pushing or pulling his six-year old cerebal palsy brother, he said to the media, "I don't have to preach anymore because I will just show that video and my older son will know what he's supposed to do for his brother."
All three above examples illustrate that most people believe the word preach means to moralize, to tell people what they should or shouldn't be doing. That is not the definition of the biblical word "preach." Sadly, most obtain this definition of preaching by observing the stereotypical behavior of those wrongly called preachers, men who shame their listeners over their poor behavior on Sunday morning and moralize them with "shoulds" and "oughts." Whatever it is these men in the pulpits are doing, it can't be rightly called preaching, at least as the Bible defines it.
The biblical English word preach translates the Greek word kerusso. This Greek word means "to herald, to announce, or to proclaim something new." The etymology of the word comes from the ancient Greeks who heard a rooster crowing as he announced the rising sun. The sound the rooster made is like how the word kerusso sounds when you say it in Greek. Thus, the word kerusso came to mean "to herald, to announce, or to proclaim something new." When a rooster preaches (kerusso), he doesn't shame or moralize the person who oversleeps. That's not the job of preaching. The rooster simply announces the sun has risen. The closest modern comparison to the Scriptural word kerusso is news broadcaster. When you listen to the news, you want to find out something new! The news broadcaster doesn't shame the listener, he reveals something new in the world!
So, too, the biblical preacher is one who tells his listeners something new about Jesus Christ, the risen Son. Paul said "Unto me has been given the grace to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). Notice, the riches of Christ are inexhaustible. You can search, and search and search, and never even come close to discovering all there is to know about Christ. See Him in Creation. See Him in the patriarchs. See Him in the sacrifices. See Him in Israel's festivals. See Him in Bethlehem. See Him in the Gospels. See Him at Calvary. See Him in eternity. Announce and proclaim Him. See Him as the one to be revered. See Him as the solution for every problem. O that preachers today would be like Anacreon's harp, an instrument that refused to play any other song but a song of love. Though Anacreon wished to sing of the mighty deeds of Hercules and the feats of the sons of Atreus, the harp refused. Only if the song was about love would the strings of the harp vibrate. So, too, may the vocal chords of preachers only vibrate while announcing and proclaiming of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. Anything else is not real preaching.
In summary, preaching is not moralizing people or even motivating people. Preaching is when a preacher meditates on Christ and is mesmorized by His riches, and then goes out and proclaims by memory all the good news that he himself has learned about Christ.