Phillip Brooks said something along these lines: He never went to his study and looked in the Bible that he didn’t see his people’s faces running across his study. When he went out to meet his people, his study would beckon and he would see the Bible.

This tension is not a reason for frustration. When studying a passage, pause and consider who would be directly helped by it. Take a moment to pray for them. Then get back to study. When meeting people, perhaps on a Sunday at church, do the reverse. Between conversations consider what passage would help the person you just spoke to, again fire a quick prayer for them. Then press on to the next interaction. In reality every passage holds value for everyone in the church, but allow your mind to make specific connections anyway.

This mental exercise can bear ministerial fruit. With practice you will find yourself more naturally bringing helpful Bible texts into conversations, and more naturally bringing relevance and application into your preaching.

As preachers we live in a tension between people and passages. Embrace the tension and learn to thrive in it.