from the heart

Exposition and Exclamation

“Boring.”

With this one word, many people describe their opinion of expositional preaching. Problem is, they’ve probably never heard expositional preaching delivered with passion! It may be they’ve heard preaching that ends with “zzzzzz,” instead of preaching that ends with “!”

Preaching through the Scriptures should never be boring, routine, or lackluster. These are the very words of God! The ideal for exegesis and exposition is not a monotone explanation of each word, but an outcome of observation, investigation and interpretation of the text in which the preacher makes exciting discoveries that simply must be proclaimed with an exclamation mark!

We don’t have to use topical preaching to capture the attention of people. Every book of the Bible has several series of powerful messages for the people we face on Sundays. When we have invested time in prayer and preparation, when we have gleaned feedback from a trusted creative team and when we are in touch with our people, we are able to frame these series and allow the Scriptures to captivate their hearts.

For example, in preaching through the book of Colossians verse by verse, I’ve identified several series to highlight over a six month period of time.  I’ve studied through the book itself, outlined the basic breakdowns and worked to understand the culture of that day – which was similar to our own culture today.

Colossians 1 is very much focused on the sufficiency of Christ.
It details for the Colossian believers that the answer for their lives is found completely in Christ – and in no other wisdom, knowledge or person. Taking that understanding, I’ve decided to approach this first series in Colossians by pointing out that Christ is what most people are missing in their lives. They are looking for that missing wisdom, knowledge, supernatural power and purpose – and Christ is all that and more. So, Colossians 1 will be a seven part series, entitled, “Missing!” Playing off the popular “Lost” TV series, I’m planning on introducing each message with the video testimony of a person who shares what was “missing” in their lives before Christ became their Lord. The element that was missing will correspond with the text for that day.  In my messages, I’ll simply honor the text, and share that Jesus is that missing element in their lives.

Colossians 2 turns toward spiritual roots and growth.
Using the metaphor of the plant that Paul gives us in verse 7, I’ll preach several messages under a series entitled, “Like an Oak.” The church I pastor has a huge oak tree on the property that has weathered time and storms for many, many years. I’ll use pictures of that tree to hammer home the message of Colossians 2 and how spiritual roots keep you strong. When I finish the series, the image of the tree will continually remind them to sink their roots down deep in Christ in order to grow strong in the Christian life.

Colossians 3:1-17 highlights the “exchanged life.”
Since Paul clearly teaches that we are to lay aside the old and put on the new, I’m going to entitle that series, “LifeSwapping.” By Christ’s power, we are swapping our “old” life for His “new life” in us.  The text specifically shows us what attitudes and actions we are to swap out, and what those are to be replaced with.  Again, I’m using a title that is a play on words off a TV series, but you’ve got admit, it’s intriguing!

Colossians 3:18-4:1 give us a focus of family and work life.
I believe I’m going to title that series, “All in the Family.” Over several weeks, these verses will take us through an emphasis on wives, husbands, children and fathers. After that, Paul emphasizes the bondservants and masters, which has application to our workplace. So, we’ll be talking about the literal family as well as the corporate family.

Colossians 4:2-18 are words that involve ministry.
These verses detail the ministries of prayer, preaching, encouragement, maturing, and following through. The various names Paul lists emphasize various ministries through various people. It is a small picture of the church at work. Like so many sailors doing their jobs on the deck of a ship, we have a picture of teamwork. Let’s call this series, “Sailing Into the Future.” The words will challenge your people to fulfill the ministry they’ve been called to, and to “man the deck” for moving forward in the seas of our culture.

Over six months time, our people will come to understand the sufficiency in Christ, spiritual growth, how to be transformed in our attitudes and behaviors, family and work life, and then be encouraged in ministry. It’s a pretty good diet for building people’s lives, and it all comes out of one book. I can’t wait to preach it – with exclamation!

Transformational Preaching

The desire of most pastors I know is the same. They want to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ and they want to see consistent “transformation” take place in those lives. The big question for us all, then, is this one: “What, exactly, can we do from the pulpit to see transformed lives?” How we answer this question will determine where we spend our preparation time each week, it will determine what our sources are for the message we preach, and it will determine our entire approach to the weekend messages we preach. So how do we answer the question? After more than 20 years of pastoring and preaching, I’ve come to several conclusions concerning the subject of preaching that transforms lives.

First, I’ve concluded that entertaining people does not transform lives. Since people are clearly focused on entertaining themselves today, it is foregone conclusion for most preachers that we’ve got to do a little entertaining ourselves. If we can just grab their attention, if we can just keep them listening, then there comes a time when we are able to slip the gem of truth into their hearts and the light bulb of revelation may occur. After all, we are in competition with the various forms of entertainment today, whether we admit it or not, and people do have decreased attention spans.

While I’ll be the first to say that I’m interested in getting people’s attention, and I admire those that are so gifted in this area, I’ve noticed that people often talk about enjoying such preaching, but rarely have I heard that they’ve been changed by those messages. Believe me when I say, “I want people to enjoy my messages!” But more than that, I am called to be concerned about repentance, transformation, and renewing of minds.

Second, I’ve concluded that, over the long haul, preaching the hottest topic of the week cannot result in balanced, renewed living for our people. Because people are so selective in their listening habits, we know that the subject of the message is critical. Most of us think, “I’ve got to have the right topic, the right title, and the right approach – or I’ve lost them. By choosing a relevant issue to preach on and by making the Scripture speak to that issue, we put our time and energy into building the bridge between Scripture and people, trusting God to touch their lives. Generally, this is commendable!

After time, however, our people begin to need the steady diet of a more balanced approach to preaching. Life consists of far more than the latest marriage secret, getting our finances in order, and what signs are pointing to the end times. Again, I’m an advocate of preaching about all those issues, but life is more than these. It is hard for people to care much about the end times, when they are really not too sure about their relationship with Jesus Christ. It is next to impossible for a member of our congregation to apply a great principle on marriage when he/she is struggling with condemnation or guilt.

Third, I’ve concluded that while my presentation is extremely important, my content deserves far more time and attention. If I am not careful, how I present truth can take on more importance the truth I present. While Jesus was a master of presentation, it was truth that came first Clearly, there were times when He was simply blunt and direct! The Pharisees certainly didn’t get many of the “light moments” we sometimes try to factor into our messages. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that my time in study and devotion to God’s Word pays far richer dividends than the endless search for the best story, the catchiest video or the perfect drama. Do I use all those? Oh, yes, indeed! But those things serve a secondary purpose to what is absolutely primary – the sharing of the Truth of God’s Word.

Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31b-32 (NAS) The truth we share is actually the agent for transformation. If I can see God’s Word for what it is, the seed that is planted and that will bring forth true spiritual fruit, then I can realize the more seed I plant the greater the fruit. How we do that from week to week is the quest, and I'll try to do that in a practical way among the articles you find here.

Tackling Tough Topics

Pastors who have a heart for their congregations really want to equip them for life, and in this day and age it is not an easy proposition. Just list the really controversial issues of the day and compare them to the same kind of list of a generation ago – we’ve come a long way the wrong way!

People are asking questions we don’t always feel prepared to answer. Homosexuality, pornography, child molestation, drug and alcohol use, and the list goes on and on. Yet, this is where our people live and it is where their conversations take place. If we can’t help them know what to say, we’re missing the mark of our preaching.

If the church (and the preacher) doesn’t provide a biblical answer to the questions people are asking today, we become irrelevant and people go elsewhere to find their answers. All along, however, there has been and will be a word from God on the question – whatever the question is! The expositional preacher must find that answer and give it to a hungry church and world.

How can a preacher remain committed to biblical exposition and still tackle the tough topics that people are dealing with? Remember, there is nothing new under the sun. What is pulling people away from truth and purity was around in Jesus’ day as well. The answers that the prophets, kings, apostles and Jesus Himself gave are still just as powerful today. That is why we preach the Bible.

While systematic biblical exposition involves preaching through entire books of the Bible, general exposition is an approach that can be used powerfully to preach through key topics without preaching the entire book. Using the same kind of background studies, and honoring the text in the same way one would in systematic exposition, the issue that so badly needs addressing can be thoroughly confronted through general exposition.

Some time ago, the issue of pornography became huge where I was ministering. I felt a deep conviction to bring a clear word from God about the subject. I wanted it to be thoroughly biblical, spiritually powerful and culturally relevant. I knew that any word of warning that simply came from a man would not do the job. People did not need to hear me saying, “Don’t do it.” They needed to hear from God. That is why it is so important that we proclaim the Word, as opposed to simply talk about issues.

In my reading, I was led to Proverbs 7, where Solomon warns his son about “a young man lacking sense.”With vivid detail and almost shocking imagery, Solomon details the step-by-step path into lustful destruction. He describes the sense of excitement, the appeal to the eyes, touch, smell and taste. He shows the danger of an impulsive decision by the young man to follow the object of his lust and the resulting shame. Solomon gives a final result of his actions – quite haunting in and of itself. “For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.” Proverbs 7:26-27 (NASB)

Reading the passage over and over, I realized God had given a powerful warning for the descent into immorality that had direct applications to the issue of pornography. I didn’t have to find a message – it found me.

The power and authority of addressing the issue of pornography from a biblical basis was greater than anything else I could have done as a pastor who wanted men and women to be set free from it. They heard a warning from me, but realized the words were from God. I could speak freely of the certain results of that kind of choice – having been given a clear consequence from God’s Word, and they saw a passage they may never have seen before in that light. From that point on – God’s Word had an unmistakable message regarding the sin in their lives.

To the preacher who will rely on the Sufficiency of God’s Word, there will always be an answer to the questions being asked today. It is not a matter of “coming up” with an answer. It is also never a matter of your creativity in how you address it – it is simply a matter of seeing how God has already (and creatively) spoken on the subject, then taking that word and delivering the message to the people.

Such preaching transforms lives.

The Expositional Church

One of the great strengths of an expositional church is the consistent diet of God’s Word. This means that we cover all the words of Scripture in a way that honors the text itself, remains within the original context in which the passage was written, and allows every word of Scripture to speak for itself. We believe people are far more interested in hearing what God has clearly said than they are with hearing what someone says that God may have said. In other words, if the words of Scripture are truly inspired by God, why would we sacrifice THAT kind of content with creative communication that talks “around the words” without actually focusing on them?

While the ideas of the Bible are inspired, the actual words that were written are equally inspired. Therefore, not only is what God says important, but the way in which He says it is equally important. To focus on this kind of teaching is to help people become biblically literate and to help them learn to discover God’s truth for themselves. You’ll remember what God says to you in a personal encounter with Him far longer than you’ll remember what a preacher—any preacher—may say. Part of the aim of the expositional church is to encourage people to discover truth for themselves and to exhort them in personal discovery of God’s voice through the Bible.

There are weeks when the text surprises me with what it says and times when I am overwhelmed with the truths I discover. The entire Bible is the infinite source of daily wisdom. Let me encourage you to plunge into it and to make the discovery of a lifetime.

X-Rated Preaching

We live in an “X-Rated” world. In other words, very little is censored. It is all hanging out there for everyone to see and experience. Explicit movies and pictures sell. Whether we’re talking about sex, war, violence or politics, people want the raw edition. They want to see what has been forbidden. They want to look, then decide for themselves whether it was good or bad. This is the world we live in – it is what it is.

How do you think “G-Rated Preaching” fares in such a world? By “G-Rated Preaching,” I mean preaching that covers only the safe stuff. It is preaching that avoids the controversial issues of the Word, and preaching that tries to make everyone happy. In my estimation, this kind of preaching doesn’t fare too well. It produces a “blah” factor to the service, and it fails to equip people to deal with what they have to face every day. The church of the Sixties was criticized for not taking on the issues of the day. While the Viet Nam war raged overseas, and the national response created division at home, the church seemed silent. While sexual freedom began its 30 year run, little was being said from the pulpits of our land about such things, even though the Word has much to say about each of those issues.

Did God give us a bland Bible that is ill-suited for communicating with a world hungry for answers? God forbid we think that!  I believe it’s time for “X-Rated Preaching.” That is, we need to learn to preach where very little is censored. Every word, every key thought, every nuance of the passage should be laid out for all to see and experience. Explicit preaching convicts! Whether we’re preaching a text that speaks to sex, violence, marriage or money, the attention of people in the congregation will be riveted to the Word as it pierces like a sword and cuts like a surgeon’s scalpel.

“X-Rated Preaching” has several elements:

It is eXpositional. By that, I mean that this kind of preaching takes the systematic or general approach of going word-by-word, and verse-by-verse through a text, unpacking the truth – and leaving no idea out. When a preacher takes his people through a book, chapter, or text, he is bringing more than what he chooses to bring to the pulpit. He is bringing what the Lord Himself has chosen. It is sometimes awkward, but never boring.

It eXposes the text in every way. It exposes the culture, the context and the people to whom it was first written. It allows the text to come alive, with specifics and examples that rivet the listener to how God addressed the issues of that day. When we “honor the text,” we keep from dumbing down the power of His Word. We prevent the practice of “steering clear” of controversial issues. We equip our people to take on the tough stuff, and remind them that God has something to say about nearly everything.

It eXegetes the words of the text. The words themselves have incredible meaning. Paul noted that “All Scripture is inspired (God-breathed)…” 2 Tim. 3:16

Simply, this means that every single word God gave us was a carefully chosen word issued forth by the Holy Spirit Himself as he spoke through yielded men. To “exegeting the words” means to take the direction of the message from “out of” the actual words and the actual text. People would far rather hear about what God says about the subject than hear someone say what they think God may have said. There is nothing blasé about “thus says the Lord!”

In the same way explicit pictures leave mental images in people’s minds that stay with them for many months and years, the explicit images of the Bible are designed to help people remember what God has said and done. The original languages that we work with when we prepare are languages that flavor and color words in far greater ways than our own modern language. They create a vivid imagery that God intended His people to have. 

For example, in preaching through the book of Joshua, I brought our people to one of the most unforgettable images in the Old Testament. After crossing the Jordan, God asked Joshua to circumcise the entire younger generation, then called the place Gibeath-haaraloth, or  “the hill of foreskins.” (Joshua 5:3) Take a moment to think about that one. I don’t believe anyone in the congregation was dozing off when I unpacked that Hebrew name. They were all pretty much awake and most of their mouths were open at the stark picture God Himself painted. And I’m really sure that those Israelites remembered.

Now, I could have skipped that part, but what better image than that to remind people of the importance of circumcising the flesh of their hearts before going forward with God? (I would have never, in all my creative life, come up with that word picture. But God did.) We should never be ashamed to speak about what God has written to us.

My point is this. God’s Word is filled with creativity, powerful word pictures and is IN ITSELF the truth that people need. When we are as serious about using it all as He intends for us to be, people hear, remember and are transformed by the truth we preach.

I challenge you today to make thorough, uncensored preaching your practice. By doing so, you honor God’s Word for what it is, the all-sufficient Truth that sets men free.

 

Transformational Preaching #1

 
            Jesus said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31b-32 (NAS) The truth we share is actually the agent for transformation. If I can see God’s Word for what it is, the seed that is planted and that will bring forth true spiritual fruit, then I can realize the more seed I plant the greater the fruit. How we do that from week to week is the quest!

For the preacher who really wants to connect, one of the greatest temptations is to take a stroll through the websites or books of popular communicators in order to see what they have been preaching. While I love reading such books, and habitually check out key websites, it can be counterproductive. For some, there can be a rising panic in the heart that says, “Oh, man, they are really hitting the big topics -I’ve got to cover that stuff!” And so it goes in one’s mind, until what we have are preachers emulating other preachers in some degree. Sounds good, but I doubt there are any lasting results.

On the other hand, there are those who plow through whole books of the Bible and find trouble connecting with the person in the pew. While their intention is admirable, their homework could be somewhat deficient. It may be that the Bible book which has been selected is best used for another place or another time, or the method of the preacher is shrouding the power of the Word.

I’ve got a great word to introduce to you at this point. The word is “balance.”   

The desire and need for balance in our preaching is what compels us to insure we have the biblical content at the same time we have relevant communication. One time-tested principle to remember is that we must be biblically-based and culturally relevant. While this applies to all of church life, it especially speaks to us as preachers.

There are three things that guide us to balance in our messages, and I’ll deal with them one at a time:

                First, balance begins with an in-depth understanding of the Word. “Well, of course!” you say. Who’d ever argue with that? I suggest that the study habits of preachers today would argue with that. Most pastors today are like a poster child for multi-tasking. We’ve got a million plates spinning and are driven in many ways to keep them going. And yet, quite contrary to that kind of life, the in-depth understanding of God’s Word is found in quietness and solitude. Jesus modeled solitude more than once, and He already knew the content!

                 One of the great books I’ve read in recent years is a book called, The Contemplative Pastor” by Eugene H. Peterson. While Peterson’s pastorate may be radically different from yours, his principle of contemplation is great advice for every pastor. How can we truly bring a Word to our people if we do not take the time for intimacy with God and His Word? Peterson encourages pastors to “schedule in” the time for study, prayer and interaction about Scripture. He reminds us that people tend to defer to the objective issue of “my schedule” and allow me time that I’ve planned to use for this purpose. I can tell you this; if you don’t plan your time, others will. And you won’t like what they plan for you. A joke around the office at one church I pastored was, “God loves you, but I have a wonderful plan for your life.” Plan well your week for study.

                 My personal practice is to inductively study through any book of the Bible that I am about to preach through. This method of study involves letting the passages speak for themselves to me, instead of me looking for “key truths” in them. The difference is this. I can “make a truth fit” a passage, but the power of the Word involves letting the truth flow from the passage. I get this only when I spend the time to read, observe, interpret and apply over many hours.

                 There are times when I use bible study materials to do this, as in going through a personal “Precept Upon Precept” study when they are available. At other times, I am simply cutting and pasting a book onto a word processor file and then marking the text as I go through it. It never ceases to amaze me how truth emerges with time – truth that is of a deeper variety than a casual glance or perusal would bring.

                 On average, I’ll spend between 10-15 hours studying Scripture and preparing the message each week. There are weeks I spend more time than this. But you must know, I fight for that time. I wrestle with the schedule, my own tendency to want to get up and “do” something and I am tempted to be “with people” when I need to be with the Word. Ultimately, I have to win the battle for time in order to be effective.

                 My encouragement to you today is to begin exercising this principle – even before we look at the others we’ll look at. Just do it – and watch God’s Word begin to work more powerfully into your preaching.

 

Tranformational Preaching #2

             As preachers, we’re on a quest to connect our people with the agent of transformation – the Scriptures. The quest is made more difficult by our culture, by the attention span of our people, and by our limited time. While we have the seeds of change available to us, how we plant those seeds in our peoples’ hearts will be a critical decision.

I remind you of an important word for us to know that helps us in our quest – and that word is “balance.” The desire and need for balance in our preaching is what compels us to insure we have the biblical content at the same time we have relevant communication. To be both biblically-based and culturally relevant, three things must be present.

First, an in-depth understanding of God’s Word which is brought out of a habit of time with God and His Word is non-optional. If you don’t have this, your lack of it will place you on the sidelines, not in the game, in this quest for transformational preaching. Oh, people may like what you say, and you may stimulate them in some way, but transformation will take place in spite of you instead of because of you. Our last article treated this subject.

Second, balance is forged in the realm of relationships with real people who struggle with real issues. One of my seminary professors made a statement 25 years ago that sticks with me today. “The most important word in the English language is the word ‘relationship.’” He’s right. Everything good in life comes through relationships and I bring this into our preaching mix because real relationships with real people help us understand what people are asking and how we can answer their questions. Now, I’m not saying you have to be a counselor to be relevant. I am saying that those preachers who have no real relationship with the people they preach to will be seen by those people as being too out of touch to be relevant.

            Being out of touch with people can hurt us in the pulpit. It can really hurt us. I remember some of the criticisms of the church in the 60’s, and how people felt that the church was too remote from what was happening in our country. We were in the Viet Nam war, and our population was struggling with all the issues that encompassed, yet the church was silent on the issues.

            America was also plunged into the midst of a sexual revolution – and again the church seemed to be ignorant of what people were thinking – and doing. We can’t afford another era like that in the church! We were, to a large degree, out of touch.

On a more personal level, people are immersed in complicated problems financially, relationally, internally and corporately – how can we connect with them apart from our relationships with them?

We know that God speaks to all issues through His Word! Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, picked up his pen and wrote powerful reproofs and warnings to a wandering Corinthian church. No words were withheld – no subject was taboo. Because he knew them he could speak with relevance to what they were doing. The same Holy Spirit works today through us as preachers.

            A preacher friend of mine said to me the other day, “I bring up the subject of sex in my messages regularly.” When I asked why, he said, “I pastor in New York City, and this is what bombards them day and night. To not treat it as a common subject is to be irrelevant to them.” He’s not saying that sex is the main subject matter, but he is saying that they, like the Corinthians, need to constantly have sex put into proper biblical perspective. He’s relevant in that sense.

Here’s the point – to be relevant, we must be involved with our people. There are several ways I do this.

1. I maintain e-mail contact with a large number of people. Yes, it is a huge consumer of time. And yes, I could delegate that to someone else. Being able to hear from our congregation and guests, on the other hand, allows me to hear how something has impacted them and lets me in on what they are facing from day to day.

2. I try to listen to people and “hear” between the lines.

3. I have a feedback team who gives me great insight into my messages each week and a few staff members that are unafraid to give constructive criticism.

4. I mentor people, and in those mentoring relationships I am privileged to hear the “real story” of what is happening in people’s lives.

            These are places to begin. The bottom line is to let your relationships guide you as you pray, read the Scriptures, and prepare to speak in a transformational way. Our next column will tackle the third point - balance is completed when we learn to build bridges of communication so that real truth meets real life issues.

Transformational Preaching #3

            As preachers, the quest to connect our people with the Scriptures is paramount. Since the Scriptures tell us that the seed for transforming lives is but one thing – the Bible itself – our challenge becomes, “How do I best put the Word in peoples’ lives through my preaching?

To this we must have “balance” in our messages. The desire and need for balance in our preaching is what compels us to insure we have the biblical content at the same time we have relevant communication. To be both biblically-based and culturally relevant, three things must be present.

First, an in-depth understanding of God’s Word which takes place as we spend time with God in study and prayer is non-optional. If you don’t have this, your lack of it will virtually unusable in the hands of God. Since you are to be His messenger, if you fail in this category, He may simply put you on the shelf.

Second, balance is forged in the realm of relationships with real people who struggle with real issues. The greatest advice I’ve ever been given is this little line: “The most important word in the English language is the word ‘relationship.’” That statement speaks to relevance. To be relevant, we must be involved with our people. 

1. Maintain e-mail contact with your people. 

2. Listen to people and “hear” between the lines.

3. Create a feedback team to get honest evaluation and constructive comments.

            4. Mentor people (you should be doing this anyway) and let God teach you through those mentoring relationships how to connect with real life issues.

Third, and finally, balance is completed when we learn to build bridges of communication so that real truth meets real life issues.  Why do we need to build bridges of communication? The answers are myriad. One reason is that Jesus built bridges to the people in His teachings. He used frequent word pictures, drew illustrations from nature around him, he used mysterious pauses where He drew lines in the sand before the Pharisees, He asked heart-rending questions. He told intriguing stories He is the master communicator.

Another reason is that people are wired to see variety in communication. Studies show that people lose interest in a TV program if the image doesn’t change every 3 seconds. What does that say about the pastor who stands in one place for 40 minutes and never varies his tone of presentation? It says he’s already lost many of his people.

Preaching to a “remote control” generation is challenging. Standing and delivering spiritual information to people who can take the internet and get some of that same information in seconds – and who are used to doing so on a regular basis – places us as pastors in dilemma. Pastors typically fall into one of three categories:

1) We determine to change nothing, and preach as though it were another era..

2) We become ultra creative, but lose the significant content of the Word that will change people’s lives.

3) We look for balance. We become creative without compromise. We use creativity to illustrate, to introduce and to conclude, but we never cease emphasizing the truth of God’s Word, and never cease emphasizing the words of God’s Truth!

             Balanced preaching in this light is what I call “creative exposition.” I still do my primary study in the text of Scripture. I still put in those hours in prayer and word studies. I still preach through the Scriptures and honor the texts. I still read the Word to people as we begin, and highlight each segment of the text. I just creatively introduce, illustrate and conclude. I spend time determining what my resources are to keep them in a listening and hearing mode. After all, if I know they are listening, and I realize that what I’m giving them will change their lives, I sense I’m moving into those great moments of transformation that we all pray for on a daily basis.

             I preached a recent message on forgiveness, entitled “Life Won’t Wait on the Unforgiving” out of Matthew 18. I asked my creative team to find suitcases and bags to litter across the stage before the service, and I introduced the message by talking about the baggage of unforgiveness that people carry. Throughout the presentation, I picked up various pieces and talked about various areas of unforgiveness, and finally I led the people to imagine having to carry it all. The application of the text was to forgive, and we showed them a picture of getting rid of baggage. It was simple, effective and memorable. Lives were transformed.

             You get the point. Use all your resources, not just your words. Cultivate stories, video clips, and other people to help you illustrate. Make it fun to preach and exciting to listen to, but never, ever lessen the transformational content of God’s Word.

             Then watch as God blesses His Word, never allowing it to return void.

 

 

 

 

 

Hard Times for Expository Preaching

Expositional preaching has fallen on hard times. In an entertainment-hungry world, and with an increasingly entertainment-hungry church, it would appear that there is just too much serious stuff in exposition for it to appeal to anyone today. We think it doesn’t have the pinpoint “zing” that we can create by delivering message candy of hot topics and controversial issues, so pastors are rejecting exposition in growing numbers, it seems. 

One state-wide church leader of a major denomination recently shared with me that he could name only three pastors in the entire state of over 1,000 churches that he knew used exposition on a regular basis. The result, he says, is growth without depth. It means a growing number of people are not being equipped to deal with life, yet are in church week after week.  It means that Christ-followers have little more success than the world in overcoming the challenges of life because their leaders are doing little more than touching the surface of the truth that sets men free.  Believers cannot handle the serious stuff of life, because they aren’t hearing the serious stuff of the Scripture. Faith does still come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

It is hard to argue with the statistics that demonstrate how little difference there is between the world and the church in America.

The George Barna Research Group reveals an alarming trend. When surveying “born-again” Christians, that is those who know they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and who believe they’d go to heaven when they die because of Christ’s death on the cross for them, here are the results:

*Half of born again Christians (46%) agree that Satan is “not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” (2005)

*About one-third of born agains (33%) believe that if a person is good enough they can earn a place in Heaven. (2005)

*28% of born agains agree that “while he lived on earth, Jesus committed sins, like other people,” compared to 42% of all adults. (2005)

*Born again Christians are more likely than non-born again individuals to accept moral absolutes. Specifically, 32% of born agains said they believe in moral absolutes…(2002)
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=8

As leaders, we must answer to that problem, one way or another. These are the kinds of people that are in our churches, so why would less than half believe that Satan is a literal being, and over a third believe that works will get one into heaven? How could over one-fourth of those folks surveyed believe that Jesus committed sins? Why is it that only one-third of those who are born again believe in moral absolutes? Need I answer that question? Oh, well, I will anyway – they are not being taught what the Scripture says by their pastors and leaders where they worship. And, by default, if it is not important to the leaders, the followers don’t believe it is important for them to go the Scriptures at home for themselves.

Years ago, while pastoring a church that was experiencing slow, but steady growth, I found myself at the crossroads of life and ministry. Just down the road, less than one mile away was a burgeoning mega-church that was doubling in attendance every year. I knew the pastor was a good man, as creative a communicator as you can find, and I knew their growth was at least in part due to his style of communication. I found myself wanting to either criticize his methods or copy them. Why? Because I wanted his results, that’s why! My ultimate decision, however, was not to criticize him, nor to emulate him, but to ask, “What has God called ME to do? What has He promised to bless?”

The conclusion, brought on by many other factors as well, was life-changing, both for me and the people I lead. Isaiah 55:11 was a verse God branded onto my heart, “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 (NASB-95) Reading the entire passage of Isaiah 55:6-13 brought me to realize that God’s ways of reaching and changing men are far better than mine. His thoughts have far more significance and power than even the best of my ideas and efforts. His word is like the seed that is planted – it sprouts true fruit that demonstrates changed lives.

His Word does what only the Word can do. The Word builds faith, it increases one’s knowledge of God, it builds endurance in times of temptation, it gives direction and guidance for everyday living. It convicts of sin and corrects into the right way of living. In a word, it transforms.  

My challenge to you is to ask the two questions that changed my ministry. “What has God called ME to do? What has He promised to bless?”