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.
This world can be a sinister place. I was recently on a missions team serving abroad, and we heard testimonies from several local believers. One told of his times in prison – a place ordered more by the structure of the dangerous mafia than by any attempt at protecting human rights from the authorities. Another told of his religious family – a home where this eleven-year-old boy was beaten up by his older brother every time he dared to go back to church, and that at the instruction of his parents. Another told of his time in the military, where he discovered just how evil a totalitarian communist ideology can be in reality.
Whether it is by crime, religion, or ideology, the evil of this world is evident all around us. If we scratch the surface of society, we will find all of this lurking today. No country is free of crime, and the level of organization often goes way beyond what we can imagine. Billions live under the threat of their religion, a threat that uses family members to beat any hint of turning, and ideologies that require everyone to think the same replace God with government and treat people as collateral damage in an ideological march towards utopia. Well, they did not die out in 1990 – the same old ideas keep coming back dressed in new garb.
In Psalm 17, we find three cries to God from David’s mouth (see v1, v6, v13). His cry was essentially: I am innocent, they are attacking me, but I am confident in God (see v1-5, v6-12, v13-15). Let’s look at these three sections and see if this Psalm might stir us to cry out similarly. After all, the same God is still the best refuge from wherever the threat comes!
Introduction (v1-5). In the first verses of the Psalm, David’s cry is based on asserting his innocence. We know from many other places that he knew of his guilt. His cry was not for protection because he deserved it. No, his vindication came from God’s presence, not from his own perfection. Nevertheless, there is a place for recognizing that we may be innocent with respect to a specific threat, and it is right to cry out to God in the face of injustice. Whether that be criminal activity, religious persecution, or ideological threats, we can and should cry out to God for his protection.
God protect me from the evil people (v6-12). The description of the malicious threat is very vivid. David doesn’t just say they are violent and threatening (v9); he goes on to give four descriptions. Three descriptions use human body references; the fourth is from the animal kingdom. Their heart lacks compassion, their mouth speaks with pride (v10), and their eyes are set on sinister plans (v11). These verses could describe the mafia bosses running a prison, the religious family members intent on guarding family reputation, or a totalitarian regime marching towards its ideological utopia. Whatever way evil dresses up, underneath lurks the same sinister roar – the lion. David described his chief antagonist as a lion eager to tear. Peter used the same imagery of Satan in 1 Peter 5:8. There is great evil in this world, so we need a great God in whom to find refuge.
In Psalm 17, David described God in the preceding three verses. He also uses three human body descriptions, followed by one from the animal kingdom. Notice the description: your ear, right hand, and eye (v6-8). As we draw near to our great God on the throne, we find him to be a wonderfully good God. His ear inclines to hear even the weakest of whimpers. His loving right hand has all the authority needed to protect us from every evil this world offers. His eye is on us. The phrase “apple of your eye” is an English figure of speech, but the original language refers to “the little person of your eye” – that tiny reflection in the pupil that reveals the whole focus of the eye. What a gloriously intimate description – an inclined ear, the loving and full authority of the right hand, the attentive and affectionate eye. Then the animal image? We are hidden in the shadow of his wings!
Conclusion (v13-15). David finishes the Psalm with one last call for God to act. He desires deliverance. Those who are against him are living for this world. They want to gain power and wealth, to have something to pass on to the next generation.
In contrast, what matters to David? His ultimate goal is not just victory but God’s visage (face). It is not just about getting a response but about enjoying a relationship with God. It is not about protecting his inheritance but about having intimacy with God.
God’s goodness can be celebrated in each of the three situations mentioned at the start of this article. The prisoner may have lost the protection of the mafia leader he was close to. Still, he met a church pastor who came into the prison and told him about Jesus. Today, he follows Jesus and visits two prisons he once occupied to tell others about Jesus too.
The eleven-year-old boy never saw most of his family follow Jesus as he does. Still, he pastors a church that reaches out to the marginalized of society. He also enjoys telling others that the brother who beat him up for attending church is a believer and a missionary in a foreign land.
The soldier serving in a communist military realized after three years just how evil the totalitarian regime was in reality. But God allowed him to be tasked with listening to foreign radio stations to discover any plans to invade his country. Instead, he heard the good news of Jesus broadcast in his language. Today, he pastors a church and delights in telling others about the goodness of God!
Whatever evil is evident in your context or working away behind the scenes, seek refuge next to our good God’s throne. When we see how good he is, we will want nothing else!
For several generations, some of us have lived with relative stability. Yes, our cultures have shifted and changed. And yes, we have seen our military forces participate in conflict. But seismic shifts that rock our world have not been so familiar to many of us. The past few years have changed that. If the world can change so suddenly, then maybe we would do well to be ready for significant events. Actually, if we are involved in church leadership, we should be both preparing our people for the future and preparing ourselves for major moments that will surely come.
Recently, my wife and I enjoyed another anniversary and took some time together in Psalm 46. This is a great passage to soak in for your own benefit. And it is a great passage to be ready to share with others both before and when the need arises. It is a Psalm of healthy hiding.
When the constant stream of news is suddenly shattered by something genuinely significant, where can we go? When the normal rhythm of daily tasks grinds to a halt because something huge is happening, how can we find safety? And when we look beyond the normal news narrative and see such significant and terrible agendas at play, who can be trusted? Psalm 46 points us to the answer.
Psalm 46 falls neatly into three stanzas, neatly demarcated by a Selah to give us the opportunity to contemplate. The first stanza establishes a key thought that is then picked up in a refrain at the end of stanzas two and three. It is a clear Psalm, easy to read, and probably well worth committing to memory!
Stanza 1 serves to establish a truth that will weave through the whole Psalm. Our refuge and strength is God himself, and our God is always accessible to us. The result is that we will not fear. Four situations are described to underline how secure we are in our God. Even an earthquake, even mountains being relocated, even raging seas, even the normal secure boundaries of creation trembling – even if the whole created order should revert to utter chaos, we will not fear. The character of God is more trustworthy than the apparently permanent mountains and boundaries of the seas? Yes. Selah.
Despite appearances in the first three verses, I do not think the writer is really focused on natural disasters. He seems to be using them as descriptions of having your world rocked. Even a hypothetical upheaval that impacts everything considered permanent and stable would not undermine the reality of God being our ever-present refuge and strength.
In the second stanza, from verses 4-7, the writer zeroes in on the threat of war. He begins with two verses describing the tranquil city of God, the place where he reigns and is present. And then, just as our hearts calm to ponder the hope of one day experiencing life in that city, verse 6 breaks in with a reminder that in this world everything is going crazy! The nations are raging and tottering, like mountains falling into the seas. When geopolitical change crashes down around us, and we might add, when the ethical foundations of society are completely turned upside-down beneath us, then we find ourselves experiencing a seismic shift from the stability we have always known.
But the truth of the first stanza is the anchor for us. Our God is the LORD of hosts, he is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
Let’s pause and ponder that refrain for a moment. The LORD is the God who makes promises and keeps them; he is faithfully committed to following through on his plans and purposes, and he will continue to care for us. He is also so very strong. He is the LORD of hosts – the God of angel armies. One angel killed 185,000 Assyrian warriors in one night – presumably powerful, intimidating, physically impressive, well-armed Assyrian warriors. Imagine two angels. How about ten? What if there were 100? Now try to picture a number so big that it could not be counted – that is the army of heavenly hosts. Our God leads that army, and that God is with us. And since that God is our refuge, we run to hide in him.
In light of that truth, the final stanza, from verses 8-11, invites us to come and consider what God has done. Implicitly, then, we are also to consider what he will do in the future. God ends wars, he topples powerful foes, and he will take away every weapon. The armies of the world – whether they fight in military uniform, or with any other costume of control –will one day be commanded to stop! To stand still. To be quiet. Hush. Know that God is God. Know that he will be exalted above all.
This world can generate raging nations, swelling armies, plotting despots, powerful dictators, destructive terrorists, and no end of new versions of evil. But it can never generate anything or anyone that is more powerful than our God. He is the God of angel armies, and he is with us. He is our fortress, and we must run to hide in him. The refrain repeats in verse 11. This truth needs to repeat in our hearts and drive us to him whenever this world generates the slightest hint of fear in us.
When threats rise up, everyone hides. One option is to run to God. We know that he is bigger than anything in creation. We know that he wins in the end. And yet, we often struggle to believe that he is with us, or that he will do anything when we cry out to him. What if I have to face more than discomfort for my faith and God does not immediately show up? What if standing for what I know is true costs me pain and suffering – is he still a fortress even then? Psalm 46 is an anchor to the truth that God can and must be trusted in the darkest of times.
The other option that many seem to choose is to hide their heads in the sand. Just live life pretending there is no threat. How often does the media reinforce the distraction of this perspective? Stories get spun so that we think the threat is coming from the opposite direction. When we have more information than ever before, are we actually growing more numb, and maybe more dumb, the more we watch our screens? There could be a genocide taking place all around us, and yet we are trained to have our gaze redirected to Hollywood’s latest newsflash. Our propensity to hide our heads in the sand is supercharged by the media we lean on so heavily.
When the news stirs fear in you, do not choose distraction and pretend all is well. Instead, hide in a healthy way – running into the fortress that is our God. That is, our God, the God of angel armies, the God who has chosen to be with us.
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:
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!
What does gathered worship do? Sometimes it can make our souls soar. Other times not so much. It is easy to understand why non-believers scratch their heads at Christian worship. If I saw a small group of people awkwardly singing, listening to someone talk about an old book, and sharing a tiny amount of bread and wine, I’d scratch my head too.
As I anticipate returning to Poland for the European Leadership Forum, I am reminded of the sacrifices made by so many during the Communist era. Russian Baptist pastor, Yuri Sipko, remembers Christians who were sent to prison camps or lost their jobs or their children. “Without being willing to suffer, even die for Christ, it’s just hypocrisy. It’s just a search for comfort.” Challenging words, but ponder this thought: “You need to confess him and worship him in such a way that people can see this world is a lie.”
What does gathered worship do? It declares that this world is a lie.
At the end of Revelation 3, we find that famous verse about Jesus standing at the door and knocking. He was knocking on the door of the church at Laodicea, but would they open the door and let him in? They thought they had everything they needed, but actually, they desperately needed Jesus. As we turn to chapter 4 and John’s great vision from Jesus continues, we find the heavenly door is open for John to come up and participate in the ultimate worship gathering.
In Revelation chapters 4-5, we get to glimpse the ultimate worship gathering, and it reminds us what gathered worship does. Here are five things that gathered worship does:
1. Worship centres us around God’s throne. (4:1-2) In worship, we are invited, by Jesus, to gather at the throne of God. In Eugene Peterson’s Reversed Thunder, he points out how we live in a world that feels like a storm-tossed sea. We are thrown all over the place by every wind, every wave, every advert, every news story, every problem, and every threat. But as Christians, we have an anchor that holds us firm, gives us a circumference, and centres us. God is on the throne, so there can be a constant source of stability in my heart and life. Gathering with God’s people to sing his praise is an anchor point in the frenetic chaos of life.
2. Worship gathers God’s people around his throne. (4:3-11) In this glorious vision, there is layer upon layer of rich meaning. The vibrant colours seem to reflect God’s holiness and justice, as well as his life-giving nature as the Creator. The 24 elders probably represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Church (there is debate on all these details, of course). Perhaps they represent God’s great work through the centuries to reveal his plan and rescue people for himself. Then there are the four living creatures – a picture of God’s creation (noble, strong, wise, and swift), and some have seen here four glimpses into the person of Jesus Christ. God’s people, God’s creation, all falling down and worshipping God on the throne. In worship, we are united together, not only with one another but also with God himself, in the uniquely trinitarian worship we find in the Bible.
3. Worship points us to Christ and his payment. (5:1-7) At the start of chapter 5, John is struck by the disconnect between God’s greatness and the need of humanity. The sealed scroll, Earth’s title deed, God’s plan of judgment – its existence underlines that no human is worthy to open the seals. Even apart from the judgment context of Revelation, our gathered worship cannot be satisfied with just lauding God the Creator for his power and majesty. Christian worship always points us to Christ and his payment. John turned to see the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and was confronted by the slain Lamb.
4. The Lion/Lamb Redeemer stirs greater songs of worship. (5:8-13) When God’s people encounter God’s goodness and grace, they sing. Moses, Miriam, Deborah, David, Mary, Angels, Jesus and the Disciples, Paul and Silas – they all sang. When we become aware of who he is and what he has done, then we will sing too. In chapter four, there were two songs to the Creator (4:8, 4:11). Now the singing swells as more voices join in and more richness is reflected in two songs to the Redeemer (5:9-10, 5:12). Finally, there is one song to both the Creator and the Redeemer combined (5:13).
5. Worship finishes with a great Amen! – the ultimate reality of God’s person and plan is definitively affirmed! (5:14) If you think about it, we humans have a history of saying no to God. We are all quite adept at saying no. But Revelation 4-5 underlines that in the end God’s great yes will overcome every one of our noes. In worship, we are confronted by the reality of God the Creator King on his throne, and of God the Redeeming Lion/Lamb, and we cry out, “Yes!” When we worship together, we get a pre-taste of what is to come. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Gathered worship is like an anchor to both the future, when all our questions will be answered, and to the ultimate reality in the present – that God is on the throne and he has redeemed us.
So what does gathered worship do? It declares that this world is a lie. More than that, it centres us around the throne of God – for God is on the throne whatever we may be facing down here. It gathers God’s people around his throne – for God is worthy of every note of praise that can be uttered by any part of his creation. It points us to Christ and his payment – for we worship not only in response to the majesty on the throne but also to the scars on that Lamb. It stirs us to sing greater songs of worship – for God the Creator and our Lion/Lamb Redeemer. It definitively affirms the ultimate reality of God’s person and plan – for in the end we will cry out our great “Yes!” and “Amen!” to God.
Whether we are gathering in a great crowd at a Christian event, or with a handful of dear saints on a Sunday, let us appreciate the privilege of gathered worship and declare with joy that this world is a lie.
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Sipko quote from Live Not By Lies, by Rod Dreher, p185-6.
As we come to another Easter, our minds and hearts will be drawn back to the cross and the empty tomb. This is the central hinge of human history, and ground zero of our faith. As followers of Christ, we should never stray too far from his passion if we are going to follow him well, do good theology, or seek to offer hope in this world. We are a people birthed, marked, shaped, and transformed by the cross and the empty tomb.
God gave us four Gospels, and all four essentially offer a preparatory retelling of the ministry years of Jesus, followed by a slower and more detailed account of the Passion Week. That means we have many column inches given to other aspects of that first Easter. As well as the crucifixion and the resurrection, we also have a lot of details about Jesus’ clashes with the authorities, the Last Supper and Upper Room, Gethsemane, and the arrest and trials of Jesus. Let’s take just the trials, in particular. What might we notice as we move towards another Easter?
1. The trials did not all happen in one night. There are six trial hearings that occur between the arrest of Jesus and his crucifixion. However, the Jewish authorities had long determined that he was guilty and deserved to die. As we read through the Gospels we find their growing animus, their utter rejection of his authority, and their determination to put him to death. This final night of trials was the end of a process, it was not the beginning.
2. The trials are divided between the religious and the Roman. Jesus was arrested by a group of temple guards, with some Roman soldiers added to the posse. He was taken first to Annas for what is effectively a pre-trial hearing, then to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin during the night, and then for a brief ratification of their decision at first light. The focus of these religious trials was Jesus’ teaching and identity. Then the Jewish leaders took him to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, for the Roman trial. Here the focus was his threat to Roman rule, and the emphasis had to shift to political concerns. Pilate offered a political peace offering to King Herod, a Roman-installed Tetrarch who had previously sent a complaint about Pilate to Caesar. Herod had wanted to meet Jesus but soon sent him back to Pilate for the sixth and final trial of that night/morning. Three religious trials. Three Roman trials.
3. The trials feel rushed and disorganized. The Jewish authorities had planned to arrest Jesus and deal with him before he could slip away from Jerusalem, but not during the feast. And then, during the Last Supper, Jesus revealed to Judas that he knew about the planned betrayal. Their secret was out, and so they rushed a plan into action. The rush resulted in them struggling to find two witnesses that would agree in front of the defendant during the night trial, and then coming to Pilate without a clearly defined charge in the morning. It all seems so chaotic and rushed – because it was. They were not planning to execute Jesus on that particular day. We can see that God’s plan for the timing required crucifixion on that particular day. The authorities were not in control.
4. The trials helpfully point us to other key characters. As we read through the trial accounts, we come across a number of incidental characters. There are soldiers mistreating Jesus (quite likely to have been Samaritan conscripts, since the Jews would not have joined the Roman ranks). There are the members of the Sanhedrin gathering in the shadows. There is Pilate’s wife, whose dream only increases Pilate’s superstitious nervousness around this decision. And there are some major characters too – Pilate was the most powerful man in the region. He was used to criminals cowering and begging for mercy but was amazed at the silent strength of Jesus. Peter had promised to die for Jesus, tried to kill for him in the garden, and then found himself in a series of mini-trials by the fire in the courtyard. Peter wept bitterly at his failure, but Judas’ grief was different. He was confronted by the deathly darkness of despair and plunged to his death that night. As you read the trial accounts, notice everyone who is mentioned.
5. The trials shine a glorious light on Jesus. And as you read the trial accounts, be sure to focus particularly on Jesus himself. The arresting party wasn’t in control. The mafia don of Jerusalem, Annas, was not in control. The High Priest was not in control. Nor Pilate the governor. Certainly not Herod the visiting King. No, the only one showing control, dignity, clarity of purpose, and strength of character, was Jesus himself. Watch for when he remains silent. Take note of what he says when he speaks. See how he supplies the Old Testament quotes that the High Priest needed to seal the decision. Recognize his gravitas before Pilate. Just as Jesus’ words from the cross help to shape our theology, so should his words in these trials. Jesus came to rescue us at such a great cost. And Jesus came to reveal the heart of his Father with such great clarity.
As we head into another Easter, let’s be sure to watch Jesus closely in the biblical text. He is our humble and regal Redeemer, rescuing us and revealing God to us. Thank God for Jesus, and thank God for the beautiful way he navigated those last hours before the cross.
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Join us for a mini-series that show how to study the Bible:
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…
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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:
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?
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.)
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.)
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.
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!
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Click on this image to see the YouTube playlist of videos on Bible handling:
Biblical Preaching 