During the course of the discussion last week, the subject of what preaching should be came up. I wanted to explore those topics together, the idea of the need for depth in Bible study and the discussion of the nature of preaching.
To what degree should preaching model good Bible study? In what way can the principles of good Bible study be displayed in the assembly? Is there any way the gathered congregation can grow together in understanding the Bible?
Or is that a better topic for one-on-one teaching? Or for Bible class? Small group studies? I’m one who believes that there are many things that can be accomplished in a smaller setting that can’t be done in the main assembly. Yet I also know that, in most congregations, we’re missing a significant portion of our members if we limit ourselves to other settings. Plus the only time that the congregation hears the same thing is in the main assembly.
How would you go about raising a congregation’s biblical reading level? What would be the best ways to go about it?
I have a program to raise both Biblical reading levels AND tithes!
You set a program of quizzes that get progressively more in depth. As someone passes the quizzes, the amount they are required to tithe drops.
Now, stay with me here. As people study in order to lower their tithe levels, they gain a deeper understanding of the Word, and as a result, the importance of tithing. So their increased Biblical knowledge encourages them to keep giving at the same level or even increase their sacrificial giving above what was previously required! Two birds, one stone.
(This theory is yet unproven…)
Of course, I believe preaching must be the result of a sound engagement with the scriptures but I don’t believe preaching needs to be a live exegesis of scripture. Instead I believe preaching must all encourage and challenge the hearers to embrace the reality envisioned within scripture so that it becomes the way of life for the hearers. As a Christian, I am ultimately asking of scripture how it addresses the beliefs and values that Jesus lived his life by and calls me to follow him in living.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
Tim, you have pushed one of my buttons: why is 11am different from 10am? Why can a sister speak ALONE at 10 but not at 11?
When I have the occasional opportunity to speak at 11, I make it a dialogue. I don’t ask rhetorical questions, rather encouraging verbal responses from ANYONE who will.
Understanding Paul as I do, the purpose of ANY/ALL gatherings of Christians on whichever day of the week is to perform as many “one another” verbs as is practicable for the size of the gathering. The preaching should be such as to encourage/edify the hearers so that they will be loving siblings, neighbors, citizens, whose primary mission is to display Christ to all who see/hear them.
If/when outsiders are present, they hopefully will come away in awe at the deep love they have just witnessed. I was taught several years ago that confessional testimony should be encouraged and opportunity given for such with NO hesitancy because the outsider will hear/see Christian dirty linen. What better way to demonstrate our commitment to the body and loving responses. The visitor will go away saying, “Those people are serious about their Christian walk. I wonder how I might enjoy/participate in that.”
The 11am pulpit is NOT the time to answer that question, much better discussed one-on-one over coffee in the privacy of a home.
Preaching that is not focused on Jesus is not worthy of the name. But it also must get down to basics of how He shows us the way to live our lives.
The focus of preaching is not the doctrine of the Church, but the Lord of the Church. Sometimes, that means we must deconstruct some of the idols we have constructed – and the best way I know to do that is by looking at how Jesus interacted with the Pharisees (because we are so much like them in so many ways). However, if that is all we do, we will still miss the point. We must also see how He interacted with His disciples – and with the publican and sinners of the world. We must see how He interfaced with the powerful – and with the weak.
The preaching event needs to make Jesus come alive. He is living. He is not a “dead hero of our faith” but our living Lord. We need to make Him live by passionately telling His story in a way that makes it our story as we learn to walk with Him.
That, to me, is the goal. May I ever find more and better ways of doing this!