While approaching the Bible reverently, we must constantly distinguish responsible interpretation of Scripture from personal or corporate application. Of course, in hortatory passages the line between the two becomes thin; or, better put, it becomes easier to move from one to the other. But unless we preserve a principled distinction we are likely to succumb to many harmful interpretations.
For instance, we may so quickly pursue “what the Bible means to me,” greatly emphasizing “to me,” that we completely ignore the distance between ourselves and the text, and compromise the Bible’s historical specificity and thus the nature of God’s graciously given verbal revelation. Worse, the morbid person given to endless introspection will glumly focus on all the passages that establish human guilt; the triumphalistic extrovert will fasten on everything that shouts of victory; the self-seeking hedonist will find passages that speak of life and joy. It is far better for all Christians to read every part of the Scripture, think it through on its own terms, discern, so far as possible, its contribution to the whole of the canon, and then ask how such truth applies to themselves, and to the church and the society of which they are a part.
Because the Bible is God’s word, it is vitally important to cultivate humility as we read, to foster a meditative prayerfulness as we reflect and study, to seek the help of the Holy Spirit as we try to understand and obey, to confess sin and pursue purity of heart and motive and relationships as we grow in understanding. Failure in these areas may produce scholars, but not mature Christians.
Above all, we must remember that we will one day give an account to the one who says,
“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” (Isa. 66:2)
- D.A. Carson, Collected Writings on Scripture
Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:14-15). We cannot call on Jesus unless we believe in him and we cannot believe in him unless we hear of him from the lips of a herald. Faith begins with words.
The answer to this question is really rooted in the previous two posts. But to restate what I said on Monday, most of what people consider to be good preaching really isn’t good preaching at all. A preacher simply entertaining a congregation isn’t preaching. A speaker that is able to move an audience emotionally doesn’t mean that he is a good preacher.
Expository preaching differs from topical preaching, in fact they are in direct contradiction to each other. In topical sermons, the Bible passage is used as support material for the topic. In expository sermons, the Bible passage is the topic, and support materials are used to explain and clarify it. Expository preaching solves all the problems that are created by topical preaching.
I am immensely grieved when I see the extent in which many Christian churches today, especially in America, have decided that their strength lies in making themselves more appealing to the world. The popular Christian leaders of the day exemplify this attitude when they soften their public rhetoric, not out of a proper sense of meekness, but to purposely veil the hard truths of Jesus Christ because they know that proclaiming these truths will lessen their stature in the eyes of the world. In some ways, these Christian appeasers are like a town sheriff in the Old West who throws off his gun belt so that everyone will like him, only to find the criminals taking advantage of his kindness and ransacking the town that he swore to protect.