Last time we raised the issue of how easily people take a biblical detail and turn it into a deep conviction.  Consequently as preachers we have a responsibility to train people to appropriately apply the Scriptures.  So many are so good at being so focused on misapplied details that they fail to respond to the intended message of the text.  So, three thoughts about application in our preaching:

1. Do it. As I’ve said and written many times, we must not abdicate our role by simply handing over to God the matter of “applying the truths we have seen in His Word.”  He does, and He uses us as part of that.  Some people in our churches are fascinated by the Bible and will chat about historical and linguistic and cultural and all sorts of other details with us.  Yet they may never move on to applying the Word to their lives.  We must model that understanding is not enough.  What does it mean?  And also, how should I respond to this? 

2. Expand it. Don’t always offer the same applications – be good, be better, try harder, witness more, pray more, etc.  For one thing this is moralism rather than Christianity.  But also be sure that your applications aren’t always to do lists.  People in some churches get overwhelmed with lists of hints for better living and are scared by their Bibles, not because of the awesome God they might encounter in its pages, but because of the ticker tape parade effect if they open their Bible and the half sheets of bulletins with to-do lists should spray out and cover their living room floor.  Application is not just about conduct and behavior.  It is also about beliefs – show people that changing their belief system in light of Scripture is critical application.  It is also about affections and values – show them that having their heart moved is the deepest and primary need in responding to a personal God revealing Himself in the pages of Scripture.

3. Restrict it. Application of the Bible can easily be carelessly done (especially, it seems, in the area of convictions about how things should be done).  As preachers we need to implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, help people to learn how to apply the Word.  This will involve pulling people back from wrong approaches, as well as training in right approaches.  I paraphrase Haddon Robinson’s comment that “there is more heresy per square inch in the area of application than in any other aspect of Bible study.”

In the next post I want to offer some approaches to application that we should be careful of and train people to avoid.