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THE HERESY OF APPLICATION (p. 20)
Haddon Robinson, professor of preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, explains how to keep error from creeping in to application.
You’ve said that more heresy is preached in application than in Bible exegesis. Why?
Preachers want to be faithful to the Scriptures, and going through seminary, they have learned exegesis. But they may not have learned how to make the journey from the biblical text to the modern world. They get out of seminary and realize the preacher’s question is application: How do you take this text and determine what it means for this audience? Sometimes we apply the text in ways that would make the biblical writer say, “Wait a minute, I wasn’t doing that.”
What makes Bible application so prone to error?
In application we take what we believe is the truth of the eternal God, which was given in a particular time and place and situation, and apply it to people in the modern world who live in another time, another place, and a very different situation. That is harder than it appears.
Let’s say you know a passage can’t be applied in literal terms today. How do you determine how to apply it?
One thing I always do with a passage is abstract up to God. Every passage has a vision of God, such as God as Creator or Sustainer. Second I ask, “What is the depravity factor? What in humanity rebels against that vision of God?” These two questions are a helpful clue in application because God remains the same, and human depravity remains the same.
FREEDOM FROM LESS-THAN-PERFECT MOTIVES (p. 28)
Whether or not our motivations are wholly pure, we’re called upon to preach. Craig Brian Larson, pastor of Lake Shore Assembly of God in Chicago, explains how to avoid a sense of condemnation.
During my preaching ministry, each of the following motivations has passed through my mind: The desire to entertain for the sake of my own popularity. The desire to impress others. The desire to lay the stepping stones for moving to a larger church.
How do I avoid a lingering sense of condemnation in my battle for a pure heart? The answer for me lies in three assumptions.
I have variable motives more often than mixed motives.
The term mixed motives suggests that fallen motives energize everything I do. But my motives are really variable. Usually I preach from a pure heart. A selfish desire surfaces now and then, but I recognize it, realign my thoughts, and return to noble motives.
Overlapping interests are not mixed motives.
Paul taught the Corinthians, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (1 Cor. 9:9-10). Apparently God approves if complementary interests not only occur to me but even motivate me. I can preach both to glorify God and to pay the bills.
God is bigger than my small motivations
God can use even wrongly motivated preachers, as Paul told the Philippians in chapter 1. My struggle with wrong motivations does not mean all is lost.
How do I best correct my motives that are truly wrong? Not through blinders (acting as though my motives are always pure) or obsession (attacking the dirt in my soul until I focus too much on my sin and too little on Christ).
The answer is balance. My name is Brian, and I am a sinner saved by grace. I will combat fallen motives until this life ends. I am sensitive to my motives, and when they veer from kingdom purposes, I will repent. Although I am imperfect, Christ has called me to preach, and he will work through me as I depend on him. God’s Word is stronger than my weakness.
BEFORE YOU PREACH (p. 35)
Preaching Today editor Ed Rowell offers questions to ask now that may save a sermon later.
I ask these questions to give the sermon focus:
- In one sentence, what is this sermon about?
- What theological category would this fit under?
- What do I want my listeners to know?
- What do I want them to do?
- What do I want them to become?
- How does this sermon fit with the larger vision?
Two questions help me make the sermon relevant:
- So what? That is the relentless question of pragmatists.
- Oh really? Many people are conditioned by life to discount every promise they hear by about 90 percent.
Several other questions help me preach with passion:
- Do I believe this message will make a difference?
- Has this sermon made a difference in my life this week?
- Have I earnestly prayed for God to speak through me?
- Have I used the material of others inappropriately?
- Have I tried to make myself look better than I am?
- Will my listeners know I care about them?
PREACHING HELL IN A TOLERANT AGE (p. 42)
Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, shares how to bring up the cheery subject of eternal damnation.
“I cannot reconcile the very idea of hell with a loving God.” This may be the main objection contemporary secular people make to the Christian message. But to preach the good news, we must preach the bad. How?
Preaching to traditionalists
People from traditional cultures and mindsets tend to have (a) a belief in God, and (b) a strong sense of moral absolutes and the obligation to be good. Traditionalists are motivated toward God by the idea of punishment in hell.
But traditionalists may respond to the gospel only out of fear of hell, unless I show them Jesus experienced hell for them. This must be held up until they are attracted to Christ for the beauty of the costly love of what he did.
Preaching to postmoderns
People with more secular and postmodern mindsets tend to have (a) only a vague belief in the divine, if at all, and (b) little sense of moral absolutes, but rather a sense they need to be true to their dreams. Here are four arguments I make in preaching hell to them.
Sin is slavery
When sin is seen as slavery, and hell as the freely chosen, eternal skid row of the universe, hell becomes much more comprehensible to contemporary secular people.
Hell is less exclusive than so-called tolerance
The apparently inclusive approach is really quite exclusive. It says, “The good people can find God, and the bad people do not,” which excludes moral failures.
The gospel is also exclusive, but a more inclusive exclusivity. It says, “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. You can be welcomed and embraced fully and instantly through Christ.”
Christianity is more personal.
The postmodern “sensitive” approach to the subject of hell is quite impersonal. To say that any good person can find God is to create a religion without tears, without experience, without contact.
There is no love without wrath
But a wrathless God cannot be a loving God. Any loving person is filled with wrath when someone he or she loves is ravaged.
It is only because of the doctrine of judgment and hell that Jesus’ proclamation of grace and love are so brilliant and astounding.
MY UM, UM, ANNOYING PULPIT MANNERISMS (p. 49)
Kenneth Quick, pastor of Parkway Bible Church in Scarborough, Ontario, explains how he overcame them.
Like static on the telephone line, annoying pulpit mannerisms can make hearing the message difficult. To identify annoying preaching mannerisms:
Listen to yourself on tape
I noticed I felt the need to fill every empty space with sound, a common distracting mannerism.
Use anonymous questionnaires
I ask for an honest response to a series of questions: are there any distracting mannerisms that bother you?
To eliminate a mannerism, I focus on one per month. I have done everything from videotaping my sermon, asking people to evaluate me for improvement, and putting reminders on the pulpit.
FROM B.C.TO 11 a.m. (p. 52)
Steven D. Mathewson, pastor of Dry Creek Bible Church in Belgrade, Montana, describes how to preach an Old Testament narrative.
Identify the author’s intent
Old Testament narratives communicate truth differently than do letters or poems. Literary components help me identify the author’s intent:
Plot
. Generally, plots unfold like this: (1) Background, (2) Crisis, (3) Resolution, and (4) Conclusion. A story’s central idea is usually in the interplay between the crisis and resolution.
Pace
Helps me see where the writer places emphasis, creates suspense, or wants to determine my attitude.
Dialogue
The primary place to look for meaning in the story is in the characters’ statements.
Development of characters
Literary scholars identify protagonists (central characters), antagonists (forces arrayed against central characters), and foils (characters who heighten the central character by providing a contrast or parallel).
Details
Hebrew stories are lean, so details usually fore-shadow drama.
Preach the whole story.
The block of narrative must be large enough to possess a background, crisis, and resolution.
Select a vantage point
The most common method is to tell the story as a narrator. Another is to tell the story through the eyes of a character.
Build the outline from the story
Instead of proceeding from one theological concept to another—from point one to point two—a narrative sermon unfolds in a series of moves. Here are three ways to build a narrative outline:
1. Cue off the story’s crisis and resolution.
2. Cue off the scenes of the story.
3. Switch from story to idea to story. The first half proceeds inductively to the big idea; the second half proceeds deductively and develops the idea.
Include details
Sermons on biblical narrative hinge on the preacher’s ability to present the scenes of a story in vivid color.
PREACHING THE PROPHETS WITH HONOR (p. 57)
Elizabeth Achtemeier, recently retired adjunct professor of Bible and homiletics at Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, explains how to preach these overlooked books.
Here are four qualities of the prophets—qualities needed in any sermon we preach from the prophets.
The prophet loves God’s people
The stereotype of prophetic preaching is making judgments and castigating people’s sins. But the prophets all proclaim salvation as well.
The prophet points out God at work
The primary function of the prophet in Israel was to illumine where and when God was at work in his world. Prophetic preaching points every simple event to its deeper relation to the will of God.
The prophet cannot be claimed by any group
We must abandon our attempts to identify the prophets’ proclamations with one of our social programs or sets of ethical principles.
The prophet calls for communion with God
The call for a living relationship with God is the central demand of the prophetic literature, and it is, therefore, the key for all attempts to preach from the prophets’ writings.
THE EVER-MORE-DIFFICULT MARRIAGE SERMON (p. 60)
Bob Russell, minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, explains how to preach graciously about lifelong commitment in an age of divorce and remarriage.
Most people want help with their marriage, even when they believe there’s nothing more to do. Here are some principles I’ve found helpful in speaking redemptively on the topic:
Use positive examples, without glamorizing
I hold up successful marriages as examples, without overglamorizing marriage.
Include everyone
When preaching about marriage, it’s easy to make certain people feel excluded. So I listen to people who have experienced what I have not—divorce, singleness, abuse, or whatever. I also include specific, one-line references to those situations. People need to know that I know they are present, and that the message is for them too.
Balance hero and goat
I balance my use of illustrations in which I’m the hero or our family is ideal, with illustrations that show me as the goat or that highlight our struggles.
Bring up sex—discreetly
When anyone begins to talk about problems, needs, and expectations in marriage, sex always is at the top of the list. Yet I’m more discreet about how I discuss sex than I was fifteen years ago. Back then I might have used the word intercourse in a sermon. Now I use the word intimacy.
Point to practical help
Many people need additional, practical assistance following the sermon.
CREATING A SINGLES-FRIENDLY SERMON (p.65)
Susan Maycinik, editor of Discipleship Journal, gives insights on how to preach to 40 percent of today’s adults.
For me and for many singles I’ve talked to, Sunday morning can be the loneliest time of the week. Sermons, announcements, even the way classes are structured can communicate we’re not part of the program.
Yet singles are the fastest-growing population group. How can you welcome single adults?
Listen and ask questions
Seek out people of different ages who are single for different reasons. The issues and needs important to a 23-year-old who’s never married can be vastly different from those of a still-single 39-year-old, or of someone whose marriage ended in divorce, or of a widow.
Use language carefully
A simple change in wording can draw immense gratitude from your single members. For example, refer to “roommates and friends” as well as “spouses and children.”
Keep statements biblical
The Bible honors marriage, but it gives an equal (or arguably, higher) place to the single life.
Choose topics for all
Most singles expect to hear a family-oriented sermon now and then, but a five-week or three-month series on marriage and family issues gives singles the message: “This church is not for you.”
As a single adult, I have seen that what my pastor communicates about marriage and singleness can profoundly affect how I see myself.
AFTER A SUICIDE (p. 84)
In this Leadership Classic, Randy Christian, pastor of adult education and families at Beaverton (Oregon) Christian Church, writes of the best way to serve those left behind.
When suicide strikes, the survivors often find that few friends are able or willing to help. We can have a tremendous ministry to those left behind.
Being honest with painful facts
This starts with speaking plainly, saying “suicide” instead of euphemisms like “the unfortunate incident.” Grieving can’t be completed, and healing can’t come, if dishonesty takes over.
Accepting “outrageous” feelings
We must not short-circuit survivors’ feelings, no matter how objectionable. The question is not whether people should have these feelings. The question is this: What feelings are there, and what is the healthiest way to express them?
Leaving judgment to a higher court
By refusing to pass judgment on the one who committed suicide—even when the bereaved want such a judgment—we encourage the survivors to leave judgment in God’s hands.
Replacing rejection with acceptance
A police chaplain met with a young woman whose husband had killed himself while arguing with her. She felt so rejected that she believed she was the most worthless person alive. The chaplain sat with her for hours and called her the next day. By his words and actions he was saying, “God accepts you.”
Remembering the power of presence
The temptation is to think we must have exactly the right words. It helps to realize the value of simply being there. I purposely allow a period of silence.
Pointing to forgiveness
Two kinds of forgiveness may be needed. The first involves the survivor who feels somehow responsible for the suicide. A second kind of forgiveness is the ability to forgive the person who committed suicide.
Standing with those who have experienced the pain of suicide is a special opportunity to serve. To them we represent God, and they usually take seriously our ambassadorship. That does not require perfect performance on our part.
RADICAL MINISTRY IN RAW SURROUNDINGS(p. 94)
In this photo essay, Nancy Pastor follows a ministry couple as they take the Homeless Church Bus into San Francisco’s warehouse district.
TRUST WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING (p. 106)
Bill Oudemolen, pastor of Foothills Bible Church in Littleton, Colorado, shares the story of his wife’s struggle with infertility and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome—and how they learned to depend on God.
OPERATION COURAGE (p. 112)
General (Ret.) H. Norman Schwarzkopf explains how to lead when the going gets tough.
In a time of crisis, how much should a leader mask his or her own fear?
Fear is a natural defense mechanism that sharpens your senses and your wits. There’s no reason to hide your fear if it’s rational. What you do need to guard against is allowing fear to paralyze you or cause you to react irrationally. Leaders must demonstrate that they understand the danger and are in command of the situation. The right attitude is, “We will face that which is causing our fear and prevail.”
How can a leader instill confidence in people facing a fearful situation?
First, focus on your strengths. Second, you must somehow impart faith to the people you are leading; faith in you as a leader, but also faith in the cause. Then they must have faith in themselves. And, of course, faith in the Lord—for if the cause is indeed just, he will ultimately prevail.
What are the essential qualities of courageous leadership?
Character is the fundamental attribute of all great leaders. Competence is important, certainly, but if you had to sacrifice one, you would give up competence before character.
1997 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us
