Educational theorist Elliot Eisner notes that every educational event has 3 layers of curriculum:

1) Explicit: what is directly taught
2) Implicit: what is assumed (culture, class, education level)
3) Null: what is omitted/ignored

All 3 are always present and teaching.

As a pastor, I have found this a really helpful way to think about preaching. Seminary teaches us about the explicit curriculum of preaching—what we say (our exegesis, interpretation, explanation, illustration, and application).

Needless to say, explicit curriculum is tremendously important. But it is also the most obviously important. The implicit and null curricula are easily overlooked.

Below I reflect some on how I try to consider these aspects of preaching (and teaching) in the church.

For implicit curriculum, I try to force myself to see the assumptions of my preaching. For example, when I use “we/our,” who am I assuming that refers to? Christians? Presbyterians? Americans?

Similarly, what educational or class background does my preaching assume? Do I assume that everyone attended college? Or that everyone grew up in an intact nuclear family? Do I use accessible vocabulary? Or assume that people should know who Calvin or Bavinck are?

With every assumption, I am teaching the congregation about what is normal and socializing them into some community. Unexamined assumptions are often inhospitable and create additional stumbling blocks. They can also have a tremendous deforming effect.

For null curriculum, I try to force myself to see what I’m not talking about. It is, of course, difficult to see what is not there. This may be things I am consciously avoiding because they make me uncomfortable. But also things I just don’t see because they aren’t my experience.

For example, I rarely explicitly talk about politics because I want people to feel liberty in how they vote. But if I constantly omit politics as a topic, I am teaching my people by omission that the gospel has nothing to say to their political imaginations.

We are never not teaching. Congregations learn that the things we consistently omit do not matter. Thinking about the null curriculum of my preaching has been convicting and challenging. But preachers must do it if we are to be faithful in handling the Scriptures.