I was asked by long-time fellow blogger John Brand if he could interview me about the subject of preaching. Here it is:
John’s site is www.preachersonpreaching.net (or here for the Facebook page).
Homiletics
The Heart of Hermeneutics – Part 4
A Relational Responsive Heart Check
The process of Bible study must begin “back then.” We need to look carefully at the text to see what was actually written. And we need to learn diligently what the author intended to communicate. Then we need to appreciate the intended impact of the text “for today.” That means a careful consideration of the love response that the text should stir in us, as well as the appropriate transformation in how we live our lives.
After studying a passage and seeking to interpret it as well as possible, consider the following facets of a relational responsive heart check:
1. God himself. Since every biblical text is ultimately a revelation of a personal God, ask yourself what this text has revealed about God? Is it revealing his nature, his character, his heart, his values? Is it revealing his Son in some way that you can ponder? The answer is yes. Every biblical text is a revelation of a personal God, so there will always be value in considering what that revelation should stir in your heart as you read it.
2. The Biblical characters. The Bible is much more incarnated theological truth than it is written code. That is to say, there are real people on the page. Theological teaching is usually wrapped up in real people, living in real situations. There is more narrative than any other type of text, which means lots of characters living out their response to God’s word. But every text has a narrative nature to it. Poetry offers a glimpse into a narratival setting, even if you don’t know the details. Direct communication like speeches and letters were not written in a vacuum. There was a situation and we are given the glimpse offered by an epistle penned purposefully for the recipients at one moment in their story. The Bible is ultimately a revelation of God. And that revelation is wrapped up in the people on the page. Be mentored by them. Learn from them. Allow your heart to engage with them as you watch how they responded to God.
3. The original recipients. The original author of each book wrote with relational intent. He wanted to do more than just transfer information. Each book was written to stir the hearts of the original recipients. Why not consider them? What did Moses want Israel to feel as they read his great foundational collection? What did Paul want to stir in the believers in Galatia, or in his representative Timothy serving in Ephesus? The text is ultimately about God, it presents itself with characters on the page, and it was written to real people in real situations. Ponder the intended impact on their hearts as you consider the impact on yours
4. Me. The original author of each book could not have known about me, but the divine Author has preserved the Scriptures, superintended the collection of the Scriptures, sovereignly overseen the translation of the Scriptures, and graciously provided the opportunity for me to own the Scriptures. He has given me if I am his child, a new heart that relishes the goodness of God in Christ. And so, I should look at the Scriptures to see my God, as well as be mentored by the people on the page, considering the impact for the original recipients, and overtly considering how the text should stir my heart as I read it.
5. Others. As I study the biblical text and consider how it should be stirring my heart, the result will not just be a Godward response. Yes, there should be wonder, awe, worship, praise, gratitude, devotion, and so on. But also, a God-stirred heart will be a heart that reflects God’s other-centred heart. How can what I am seeing in the text, which is stirring my heart in response to God’s revelation, be carried to others evangelistically or pastorally? At this stage, there might well be a stirring of prayer for others, even if the action of sharing remains in the future from the time I am studying the text. A truly relational response to the Bible will not just be Godward, but it will also spill over to others because we are relational beings.
Perhaps this five-point checklist can be helpful as we seek to more overtly recognize the role of the heart in the Bible study process. Look, learn, love, live.
The Heart of Hermeneutics – Part 1
Something is Missing in our Hermeneutics
Something is missing. Too much training in Bible handling is missing something critical. Either we get the technical interpretation elements well: such as recognizing the distance between the world of the text and the world of the contemporary reader, and seeing the gaps that need to be crossed (linguistic, cultural, geographical, religious, etc.). Or, we dump the technical process and lose both textual accuracy and authority as we treat the Bible like an ancient source of contemporary devotional material.
To put that another way, while some are stronger on the “back then” nature of the text, others are too quick to rush to a “for today” impact. Good Bible handling requires both a “back then” and a “for today” mindset.
We Must Cross the Divide
The traditional inductive approach to the biblical text requires that we cross the divide. We begin with Look! This is the observation stage of seeing what is actually in the text. What was written? What does the text say? Then we progress to Learn! This is the interpretation stage of making sense of the author’s intended meaning. What did the text mean? To look at the text and learn what it means requires that we cross a big gap and go “back then” in our minds.
But then we must also cross that divide to “today” and progress to Live! This is the application stage of seeing the life impact of the text. What difference does the text make to my life today?
So, we go back then to ask what does the text say? And also, what did the text mean? Then, having understood the meaning of the text, we then need to return to today and seek a biblically appropriate answer to what difference should it make?
Look — Learn — Live
Each stage is critically important.
We Tend to Favour One Part of the Process
Some so enjoy the academic pursuit that they dwell in the learn stage and seldom let the text change their lives. Others are so applicational in their approach that they seldom find out what a text really means before they start landing it in daily life. (Perhaps fewer get stuck in the observation stage. It seems like people are drawn to interpretation or application.) However, even when people are well equipped to progress through each stage with a well-grounded “back then” followed by an appropriate and diligent “for today” progression, it still seems like something is missing in our hermeneutics.
Applicational Preaching
So many people seem to want to listen to preaching that is “applicational.” I understand the impulse. After all, who would want to listen to non-applicational preaching? That sounds like preaching that is not relevant to my life and will not make a difference.
Actually, if we are talking about preaching that is relevant to life and genuinely transformative, then I am completely on board with that desire. The problem is that when we talk about “applicational preaching” it can fall short of what we really need. Here are some of the potential weaknesses:
1. Applicational preaching can place emphasis on action points and to-do lists. Now, there is certainly a place for knowing what is expected of us at the end of a sermon. If a passage gives an instruction that applies to us, then we should certainly note it and look to obey it. However, is the Bible primarily an instruction list for life? Some sermons give that impression, but perhaps that is missing something of the richness and purposefulness of God’s revelation.
2. Applicational preaching can point the listener in the wrong direction. When our preaching emphasizes what we must do, then the focus will tend to move toward our own willpower. Sermons that point the listener to their own discipline, their own choices, their own efforts, etc., are not the best sermons. And I don’t just mean they are not the most theologically impressive sermons. I also mean they are not the most effective sermons. Lives are not transformed by to-do lists. They can help, but they remain mostly on the surface. God is in the business of transforming lives from the inside out.
In order to see the full potential of any preaching or teaching ministry, I would encourage you to think about the ABCs of Application. Here is a brief explanation:
Bible Study Mistakes
I have recently posted a series of videos on common Bible study mistakes. We have probably all made some, or all, of these mistakes. Please take a look and see if these are helpful to you, or to anyone else you know.
Mistake 1: Proof-Texting – It is just so convenient to find a line of text that says what we want to say. But the danger is that we will not see the richness of the text as it was intended to be understood. It seems obvious once you say it, but it is good to remember that what God made it say is always better than what we can make it say! Click here for this video.
Mistake 2: Collapsing Correlations – When you are reading and you see something that reminds you of something else . . . perhaps a saying of Jesus, or a different epistle, and then you collapse both passages in together, then you are collapsing your correlations together. Easily done, but what if that other passage doesn’t mean the same thing? Click here for the video.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Background – Sometimes it is just easier to read the passage and ignore whatever background may be relevant to your study. Who has the time to think about distant geography, ancient customs, and foreign politics? Well, if we want to understand the Bible, we need to make sure we don’t ignore the background. Click here for this video.
Mistake 4: Genre Override – Apart from sounding like a cool concept, what is genre override? It is when you take some of the rules of interpreting a genre and let those rules run roughshod over your interpretation of the passage. “Since this passage is apocalyptic literature…” is the start of many misleading sentences! Of course, we need to be sensitive to the genre, but that is always a support to our being sensitive to the passage. Click here to find out more.
Mistake 5: Imposing Meaning – Our goal in Bible study is exegesis, that is, drawing out the meaning of the text as intended by the author. But when we impose meaning, we are doing eisegesis. That is, reading into the text what we want to see there. God’s Word is better than yours, or mine! Click here for more.
Mistake 6: Isolationist Confidence – Bible study is something we may do on our own a lot of the time. But we must be wary of isolationist confidence. When it is just me and the Bible, I can easily become overconfident in my own opinion. I may be on the right track, but very superficial. Or I might be wandering off into new (therefore heretical) theological territory. We need to think about the role of the community in our Bible study! Click here for this video.
Mistake 7: Tone-Deaf Reading – The Bible is not just a data store that we are to mine for theological truths or applicational points. It is interpersonal communication and so we need to make sure we are sensitive to the writer’s tone as we seek to make sense of what is written. Here is the link to this video.
I will probably add a few more, in due course. As ever with these things, if you are able to like, share, comment or subscribe to the YouTube channel, it is all helpful in encouraging the algorithm to share this content. Thanks!
Here is the playlist that contains these videos, plus others that are all related!
8 Reflections on Preaching Through 1 Peter
In our church, we have just completed an eight-week series in 1 Peter. Here are some brief reflections that may be helpful:
1. This epistle is relevant. I know that is not breaking news to you, but it bears underlining. 1 Peter speaks to people that felt like oppressed outsiders in the society in which they lived. It did then, and it does now.
2. Suffering may be necessary. We have lived through decades of relatively little suffering, but times seem to be changing. Suffering is not permanent, “now for a little while.” And suffering may be part of the plan, “if necessary.” In 1 Peter 1:6 we are introduced to the possibility that suffering is not the result of bad luck, but divine providence. As we come towards Easter we have the ultimate example of deliberate and planned suffering.
3. Biblical background helps. There is the situational background of the readers, forcibly moved from Rome and repatriated to these five regions of modern Turkey. There is the historical background of Peter’s life and experience. Keeping that in mind, as he would have done, is helpful to shine a light on his call to be prepared (3:15), to stay humble and to resist the devil (5:6-9), etc. Then there is the textual background of Peter’s biblical awareness as he wrote. For instance, the situation behind Psalm 34 seems to be shining a light on much of Peter’s writing in this epistle.
4. Difficult texts still have simple points. Preaching the end of 1 Peter 3 and the start of 1 Peter 4 is not easy territory to navigate. There is the timing, location and content of Jesus’ preaching in 3:19; then the reference to Noah in 3:20; followed by the awkward reference to baptism in 3:21. It is exegetical difficulty piled on exegetical difficulty. I chose to give some minutes to explain that complexity, but not before I emphasised the simple point of this section: Jesus suffered and Jesus was victorious. It helps to keep a clear picture in mind when trying to make sense of the complex.
5. The letter has a strong DNA. God’s pattern is for suffering now to be followed by glory later. It was true for Jesus, it was true for Peter’s readers then, and it is true for Peter’s readers now. Suffering and then glory: this idea works its way through the entire letter.
6. Variation can help a series work well. We had a team of preachers on this series. One of the messages was preached in first-person. It came in the middle of the series and really helped the series to not feel monotonous in style. Different preachers helped the series, although it was important to make sure we were preaching a coherent series.
7. Non-Suffering forms of Christianity lead to harm. We seem to live between two extremes. One is the fatalistic idea that disaster is coming no matter what. The other is the idealistic idea that we should always be healthy, and wealthy and travel in a private jet. What is the healthy middle ground? It is not a gentle form of health and wealth – that is, things should generally go well for us if we simply trust, pray and obey. Many Christians seem to want to live with their basic orientation towards good circumstances. No, the reality is that we live in a fallen world filled with suffering. So let’s turn from gentle forms of health and wealth, and let’s engage a fallen and sin-marred world with our hope reaching out beyond this suffering to the glory to come. Our hope is not in our experience but in the character of our good God and his plan.
8. 1 Peter should prepare us for difficulty, but stir us to trust! Every problem we face in this world is a problem that exists within creation. 1 Peter urges us to look beyond this realm to the eternal realities. We look outside of this realm to the God who is so much bigger, the God who cares for us. “The dog bit me,” ~ yes, but God is bigger. “But it was a big dog,” ~ so what, God is bigger. “But it was a lion,” ~ it doesn’t matter, God is bigger. “Actually it was a killer whale.” ~ Ok, but God is still bigger than any problem we can face in this realm. What’s more, he already came and suffered, and is now sitting in victory. So we can be humble, be watchful, and be hopeful. We get to stand in the true grace of God whatever may come our way.
There are plenty more thoughts generated by two months in 1 Peter. But hopefully this list is a motivational starter for now…
____________________________
I have a series of videos on 1 Peter 2:1-10 that focus on the interpretation phase of Bible study. You can find them in this playlist:
Studying the Bible – Learn!
I have completed a series of videos that detail the Learn phase of the Bible study process. Using 1 Peter 2:1-10, I look at the kind of thinking that goes into learning what a passage means. Good observation of the details in a passage will set us up to accurately learn what the text means as we study to determine the original author’s intended meaning. So, what goes into interpreting a Bible passage?
First, Look! We need to take time to notice what is in our passage. Here is a one-video summary of the Look! stage for this passage. So, onto the Learn stage:
1. Context: Historic – When was the passage written? What was happening at the time? What prompted the author to write it? What can we understand about the relevant cultures, the occasion for the writing, the situation at the time? (Click here for the video.)
2. Context: Written – The passage you are looking at sits within a book and therefore there is a written context to consider. What has come before your passage? What flows out from it? To understand a passage, you have to wrestle with the flow of the whole document. (Click here for the video.)
3. & 4. Content: Details – Remember all the details that we spotted in the Look stage of our study? Now we need to seek to understand them in light of the context of the passage. (Click here for the first video and click here for the second video on details!)
5. Content: Flow – How do the details work together in the flow of thought in this passage? It is so important to not only understand details, but to understand them in their most immediate context! (Click here for the video.)
6. Intent – What did the author intend to achieve through writing this passage? Are there clues within the passage, and are there indications within the book as a whole? (Click here for the video.)
After the Look! and the Learn! stage of Bible study, we will then move on to the Love/Live response (what should the text stir?) Here is a one-video summary of the Love/Live phase for this passage.
I will release another series that uses a different passage but focuses on the Love/Live phase instead of the Learn phase as I have this time. Hopefully, that makes sense! Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you can see the new videos as they are released.
7 Ways to Mishandle a Bible Story
The Bible is full of stories. And we preachers are full of ways to mishandle them. God has richly blessed us with the stories in the Bible. Each one reveals God’s heart and character. Each story is designed to point our hearts to Him and to stir our faith in His word and character. So, how can we go wrong?
Here are seven ways to mishandle a Bible story:
1. Skip – This is the assume-and-ignore approach. We can easily assume that everyone knows the story and so we skip the chance to tell the story. Instead, we put our homiletical energy into preaching about the theological ponderings triggered by the story. Why do we assume that everyone knows the story? Actually, why do we assume that what we have to say about it is of more value than what it actually says? Even if people do know the story, tell it anyway, and let God’s word work in your listeners.
2. Flip – This is the heretical approach. We can easily misdirect our listeners and end up preaching heresy inadvertently. Take the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10 for an example. It is easy to put all the initiative in Zaccheus’ commitment in verse 8. Then his salvation is affirmed by Jesus in verse 9. Voila, we are saved by our own commitment to Christ! Except, we are not. Jesus had already taken the initiative in verse 5. Jesus had already rescued Zaccheus. The exuberant generosity of verse 8 is a response to God’s grace, not a prerequisite for it.
3. Moralise – This is the fleshly approach. Since everyone naturally tends toward the notion of earning something with God, we can always and easily jump to what Bryan Chapell calls the “Deadly Be’s” – be like, be good, be disciplined. So with Zaccheus’ story? In verse 7 the crowd grumbled. Let’s not be like them, let’s not grumble. That verse is in the passage for a reason, but that little life lesson is not the reason. It is there to emphasize the wonder of what Jesus did for Zaccheus. It is not there to nudge us towards better behaviour.
4. Lecture – This is the historical-and-cultural-lecture approach. Use cultural and historical insights to bring the story to life, not to cut the story to death. How did the tax system work at that time? How might middle eastern hospitality respond to Jesus’ passing through the town? Where were sycamore-fig trees in relation to Jericho? Shine a light on the story and keep telling it, don’t end up giving a series of historical lectures trigged by the details in the story.
5. Over-reveal – This is the punchline-first approach. So with Zaccheus, you might state the first point as, “Jesus came to save the lost, verses 1-4.” Oops. In the passage, verse 10 comes as a surprise. The whole text has worked to point the reader to Zaccheus’ efforts to see Jesus. Then in the end it turns out Jesus was the one doing the seeking and the saving. Why give it away at the start? Do what the text does. Don’t “tell the punchline before the joke.”
6. Flatten – This is the lifeless-outline approach. Again, with the Zaccheus story, your points could be mind-numbingly flat: Jesus seeks the lost, Jesus rescues the lost, and Jesus reassures the lost. Honestly, I’m bored just writing that outline, even if it is fairly accurate. While it is true that the story develops in movements, it does not mean that the sermon has to sound like a logical progression through completely parallel points. That outline could work, but it needs a serious injection of energy.
7. Lose – This is the too-many-stories-along-the-way approach. The story of Zaccheus is a gripping little narrative if it is told well. But if you use every trigger point to tell another story, you will lose it. I once knew a tax collector . . . I had a short friend once . . . I have a fun tree-climbing story . . . I remember a grumbling crowd in 1987, etc. Let other illustrative materials be fairly succinct so that the focus remains on the main narrative of the sermon.
How else might we mishandle a Bible story? Biblical narratives are a dream for us preachers – let’s learn to handle them well so that they can do their mighty work in our hearts and those who will hear us!
________________________
Click on this image to see the YouTube playlist of videos on Bible handling:
7 Ways to Cultivate a Church Culture for Gospel Growth
When churches think about sharing the gospel with visitors, we can easily jump straight to outreach strategies and event planning. But here are seven ways to cultivate a culture for greater gospel growth in the church – foundational pieces that need to be put in place:
1. Gospel Clarity – Make sure your church is clear on the gospel, consistently clear. We can easily fall into using Christian language in a sloppy way. The gospel is good news, not vague news. So do not settle for a gathering of people that are united by church tradition, or who know how to behave a certain way and dress like they belong. Speak about the transforming power of meeting Jesus and following Jesus. Present the good news of who Jesus is and what Jesus did for us on the cross. Feature the importance of the resurrection as a historical fact and the basis of genuine faith. Explain what it means to respond, to repent, to receive, etc. Do not assume a vague gospel agreement in preaching, or in conversation. Too many churches rely on a specific event and a specific speaker to give a gospel message. There is a place for special events and overtly evangelistic speakers, but the church should have the good news of Jesus in its DNA, permeating its culture.
2. Loving Community – The church is not just another social club in a society full of social clubs. The church is a family that does not make sense. Why do these people love each other like this? There should be a level of love, concern, practical support, patience, graciousness, and warmth that is genuine and profoundly different from any social club in society. A healthy church will grow in diversity. Everyone will not be the same. Obviously, if a town is full of very similar people, then that will impact the church. But few towns are! There should be diversity of race, of class background, of education level, etc. Then the unity of believers in a church community will be magnetically attractive to visitors who don’t experience that kind of family warmth anywhere else – in many cases, not even at home. This takes more than labeling to be genuine. It is not enough to say from the front, “we are a church family.” It has to be true. Live it out at the leadership level and encourage mutual care wherever you can. For example, don’t overcrowd the schedule with meetings so that people don’t have space in the week to connect relationally.
3. Obstacle Removal – Will visitors feel awkward? The church is a very different subculture than the world around. It will feel different, but it does not need to feel unnecessarily awkward. In our church, we have often said that we only want visitors stumbling over the gospel and Christians loving one another. We do not want them feeling like they do not know where to go, what is happening, if their children are safe, if they will be embarrassed, if they are welcome, etc. When I was in seminary, in one class, we were required to attend a religious service of a different religion. The benefit was huge. Most of us had always gone to church so it just felt normal. But thrown into a different subculture, we became profoundly self-conscious. It taught us to try and imagine coming to church as an outsider. What could we do to make that experience warm and welcoming, rather than starkly awkward?
4. Whole Experience – What does a visitor experience when they park their car or arrive at the venue? Do they know where to go? Are they welcomed and introduced to children’s workers if they have children, or helped into conversation with someone who will be sensitive to their being first timers? Will the service itself be explained in non-jargon terms? Will they know if they are supposed to stand for singing and when? Will there perhaps be a simple explanation of why Christians sing at all? Will the location of Bible readings be given in Bible code, or will there be a page number given if people are using the church Bibles? Will “normal people” who are not officially welcoming guests be genuinely friendly too?
5. Assume Visitors – When we started our church, we had a period of several months where we were learning how this new church was going to function. We did not actively promote the church at that time. There was no website, no signage, etc. People were welcome, but our focus was on getting used to functioning in a new way. Every week we opened the service as if guests were present. The small number of believers would sometimes look around with a grin, fully aware that there were no guests present. Why would we do that? Because they needed to grow in confidence that when they did bring someone along, it would be a safe environment. We don’t want our people hesitant to invite others to church. It can be risky to a friendship if you invite a colleague and their experience is poor. So, the experience has to be consistently trustworthy. A number of people in our church had past church experiences where some weeks the preaching was guest sensitive, but other weeks when you would hope no guests were present. We had to work to earn trust and cultivate a culture where guests could come any week.
6. Every Service – Every service is a gospel service. Obviously, there are sometimes church business meetings that are restricted to members. But a normal church gathering on a Sunday (presumably) has the potential to attract visitors. They could be there because they are visiting family members. They could have found the church online. They could be looking for a church, or passing a couple of hours in a one-off visit. But the point is, we should not be wishing they would come back in four weeks’ time when there is a special guest-friendly gospel service. It is possible to make every gathering guest friendly, and it is possible to make every sermon relevant to everyone.
7. Driving Values – Is the church driven by tradition, by the preferences of influential people, or by defined values? If the church is driven by denominational tradition, then there will be plenty of opportunity for what is normal to actually be strange to first-time visitors. At least explain it but consider changing it if necessary. If the church is driven by the preferences of influential people, then there will be plenty of ways in which the church is quirky for guests. It is harder to explain an eclectic set of church features when they are present because of someone sitting in row three. Changing this internal power dynamic will be necessary for genuine gospel growth! As much as possible, seek to define the values of the church and aspire to be a church that God will trust with newcomers and new believers. The whole congregation may find it uncomfortable to be consistently and genuinely welcoming to others. By identifying its value, the leadership can then model buy-in and help the whole church take the steps necessary to live out that church value.
God may bless outreach strategies and special events whenever you implement them. But my sense is that deliberately cultivating a church culture ready for gospel growth in these seven ways will prepare the church for greater fruit from outreach and special events. What would you add to the list?
_______________________________________________
Click on this image to find the playlist of Enjoying the Word videos from Cor Deo:
Studying the Bible – Look!
I have completed a series of videos that detail the Look phase of the Bible study process. Using the triumphal entry passage in John 12, I look at the kind of details that we need to notice as we look at a Bible passage. The more closely we look at and observe the text, the easier it will be to accurately learn what the text means in the next phase of our study. So, what type of details are we noticing?
1. Who? – Who is being referred to in the passage? How are they being described? Who do the pronouns refer to? This is the first and, in some ways, the most important detail to notice. Why? Because the entire Bible is primarily a revelation of God and so noticing who is in the passage should get us thinking about God from the very beginning. (Click here for the video.)
2. When? – Are there any time references in the passage? Perhaps a time of day, or a point on the calendar. But it is not just about explicit time references, there is also the whole issue of tenses. Is something written with a tense that stands out – perhaps a reference to the past or the future. (Click here for the video.)
3. Where? – Does the passage refer to any locations? These could be geographic (i.e. Jerusalem), or circumstantial (sitting on a donkey), or they could be out of this world (God’s throne). Notice any details to places or locations in the passage. Do you need to check a map to note a specific location? (Click here for the video.)
4. What? – This is a catch-all question! What is repeated? What seems to be significant? What other details are you seeing in the passage? What key terms are being used? (Click here for the video.)
5. Which? – Which other passages are feeding into the passage you are looking at? These could be earlier Biblical content that is being quoted or alluded to in the passage you are studying. Or it could be earlier passages in the same book that are influencing our understanding of the passage we are studying. (Click here for the video.)
6. How? – How did the writer choose to write the passage? Is it a narrative, poetry, or discourse? At the Look stage, we don’t need to conclude why they did it, but we do need to notice how it was written. (Click here for the video.)
After the Look! stage of Bible study, we will then move on to Learn (what does the text mean?) Here is a one-video summary of the Learn phase for this passage. And then there is the Love/Live response (what should the text stir?) Here is a one-video summary of the Love/Live phase for this passage. I will release another series that uses a different passage but focuses on the Learn phase instead of the Look phase as I have this time. Then another focusing on Love/Live. Hopefully, that makes sense! Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you can see the new videos as they are released.
Biblical Preaching 