As a Christian we must always place the Lord before the Church. Often the church gets a self importance about itself which is out of line. You often see in the Old Testament that God despised worship that in form seemed correct and yet the worship was totally apostate.
Often you find in the Old Testament that Israel had went very far astray and the few who remained faithful were considered dangerous outcasts. It is not always so radically different in the church today.
Often we find that the churches neglect many parts of biblical teaching. There are very few churches in the current day who have a conscious desire to teach on all of scripture. Many churches actively (consciously or not) seek to not speak on many topics in the bible.
One current preacher of high esteem committed to exegetical preaching said that he makes a point of never preaching on giving! How can such a position be tenable. Jesus had a great deal to say on the topic, and scripture through out has a great deal to say.
You see at least this preacher is honest that he will not preach on the topic instead of hiding the fact, but his commitment to exegetical preaching is compromised by a refusal to ever preach on a topic which the bible finds to be important.
Exegetical preaching is of course faithfully teaching scripture. We cannot faithfully teach scripture if we knowingly refuse the ever speak on topics scripture finds important.
Of course the topic of money in the current day is very difficult to speak of in our culture. But what that means is that more than anything it is a topic which demands to be preached on.
Often people suggest that sexual promiscuity is the great error in American culture. There is truth in this, but money and greed are more likely the largest issue in the American church.
I have heard a great deal of sermons in many churches on sexual purity, but almost never a sermon on money or giving. You see the proof of greed being the greatest thing undermining the membership of the American church is that the church cannot even speak on the topic.
All scripture is useful for teaching and instruction. If we wish to be truly faithful to scripture there are many hard things on which to preach which are not popular. The bible never really is entirely popular in any age because in each age it meets sinful man and tells him the way things are.
Showing posts with label preacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preacher. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Why Many Pastors Struggle with Narrative Texts
Many American pastors struggle with narrative texts in scripture. The reason is quite simple. Most pastors have a tendency in the current day to isolate texts. The failure to use scripture to interpret scripture makes narrative preaching quite difficult.
You see texts in scripture can never be seen in isolation. It is somewhat easier to faithfully isolate a piece of Paul's writing, but still the preacher's sermon is poorer for it.
The modernist revolution hit biblical interpretation in a hard way even amongst conservative circles. There is a scientific method of interpreting scripture even in most conservative seminaries that tends to be overly rational and apply principles to interpretation which are too rigid.
I once heard a pastor remark on Paul's exegesis of an Old Testament text that any student in a seminary who did such exegesis would receive a failing grade. He was of course correct, but you see it simply means that principles which are too rigid have been brought into modern interpretation.
Each text in modern interpretation (even conservative interpretation) is seen in isolation. Rather we need to not isolate texts as they are. Often I feel the tendency of pastors is to preach on far too few verses.
Not only is the text in isolation but the text is one verse. To get better preaching it seems necessary that texts cannot be isolated from the entirety of the Bible and it seems that preaching may often be helped by taking large chunks to preach form.
Finally pastors will be better served to not pre-determine the format of their sermon. A three point sermon used by many pastors pre-determines in a sense what the text will say. It is not a rational approach to fit the word of God into a pre-determined mold.
Maybe in the text God has made only one point and maybe God has made seven points in the text. Many sermons would be greatly helped by at least at times moving away from a pre-determined format.
Of course it takes time to consider a text in a way that someone might vary their delivery of it. Of course you see that time is never wasted. Even if the format is kept, the openness to the text is important. The less presuppositions we bring to a text of what it will say and how it will flow, the more likely we will understand a text.
You see texts in scripture can never be seen in isolation. It is somewhat easier to faithfully isolate a piece of Paul's writing, but still the preacher's sermon is poorer for it.
The modernist revolution hit biblical interpretation in a hard way even amongst conservative circles. There is a scientific method of interpreting scripture even in most conservative seminaries that tends to be overly rational and apply principles to interpretation which are too rigid.
I once heard a pastor remark on Paul's exegesis of an Old Testament text that any student in a seminary who did such exegesis would receive a failing grade. He was of course correct, but you see it simply means that principles which are too rigid have been brought into modern interpretation.
Each text in modern interpretation (even conservative interpretation) is seen in isolation. Rather we need to not isolate texts as they are. Often I feel the tendency of pastors is to preach on far too few verses.
Not only is the text in isolation but the text is one verse. To get better preaching it seems necessary that texts cannot be isolated from the entirety of the Bible and it seems that preaching may often be helped by taking large chunks to preach form.
Finally pastors will be better served to not pre-determine the format of their sermon. A three point sermon used by many pastors pre-determines in a sense what the text will say. It is not a rational approach to fit the word of God into a pre-determined mold.
Maybe in the text God has made only one point and maybe God has made seven points in the text. Many sermons would be greatly helped by at least at times moving away from a pre-determined format.
Of course it takes time to consider a text in a way that someone might vary their delivery of it. Of course you see that time is never wasted. Even if the format is kept, the openness to the text is important. The less presuppositions we bring to a text of what it will say and how it will flow, the more likely we will understand a text.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Greatest Hindrance to Scriptural Interpretation
The greatest hindrance to scriptural interpretation is human cleverness. The bible says many things which are difficult to understand, but the vast majority of its teaching is very simple and plain.
Often a theologian or preacher is most in danger of theological error when they move into the Greek to explain what a text means and the meaning is not evident in the translation. It is often simply that the theologian or preacher does not like what the text means.
If you ever see a theologian or preacher seem to shift the meaning of the text with interpretation of Greek watch closely what they say on the topic in the future. Usually you have found a hole in their theology and in each subsequent text on the same topic the issue will be skirted or similarly handled.
The teaching of scripture is almost never so complicated that it requires a five to ten minute lesson on the meaning of Greek words to understand a text. Learning is at many times more neutral than is expected in the modern world. It can be used for good or evil.
Certainly learning is overall something which promotes good, but it does not change the human condition. The heart is deceitful above all things and a falling back into advanced learning to avoid the plain teaching of scripture is very common in the current day.
The bible is really a very plain book. It repeats the important messages it has repeatedly and in many forms. The bible is very insistent on being understood on critical points. That is why it repeats the same truths over and over in different styles and terminologies.
Often a theologian or preacher is most in danger of theological error when they move into the Greek to explain what a text means and the meaning is not evident in the translation. It is often simply that the theologian or preacher does not like what the text means.
If you ever see a theologian or preacher seem to shift the meaning of the text with interpretation of Greek watch closely what they say on the topic in the future. Usually you have found a hole in their theology and in each subsequent text on the same topic the issue will be skirted or similarly handled.
The teaching of scripture is almost never so complicated that it requires a five to ten minute lesson on the meaning of Greek words to understand a text. Learning is at many times more neutral than is expected in the modern world. It can be used for good or evil.
Certainly learning is overall something which promotes good, but it does not change the human condition. The heart is deceitful above all things and a falling back into advanced learning to avoid the plain teaching of scripture is very common in the current day.
The bible is really a very plain book. It repeats the important messages it has repeatedly and in many forms. The bible is very insistent on being understood on critical points. That is why it repeats the same truths over and over in different styles and terminologies.
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