A good friend sent me a link a blog post by Tullian Tchividjian about the importance of a tri-perspectival approach to preaching (you can read the original post here). Essentially, he is arguing that those of us who preach the Word are obligated to not simply exegete the text, but our culture and ourselves at the same time. The goal isn't simply to bring out the meaning of the text, but to expose the cultural idols as well as the idols of our heart. I fully agree with him.
But this made me reflect a bit on my own journey in preaching.
After I became a follower of Christ, I landed in a small Plymouth Brethren (PB) assembly where I discovered my gifts and started teaching in the church.
The PB have a number of strengths as a movement - one of which is their emphasis on exegetical teaching. I was on a teaching team that took that strength to a whole new level.
We would choose a book of the Bible and then teach our way through it from beginning to end. No pansy topical preaching for us - we would deal with issues as they came up in God's word. And if that meant preaching on Christmas Sunday about a man in Corinth who slept with his step-mother - so be it!
We not only taught straight through the text - we paused on every word. In fact, we even preached on the comma's. The goal was to eke out of the text every drop of nuance and meaning. It took us - no exaggeration - years to teach through the book of Romans.
In recent years, God has humbled me in many ways (confessedly, not enough - thankfully humility is a process). I have come to look at myself during those years as a bobble-head Christian. I knew a lot. I studied a lot. I taught a lot. I thought I knew more than most other people. And, meanwhile, my heart was shriveling up - and my pursuit of God became more of an academic affair than a love affair. My spiritual body was dwarfed by my spiritually inflated head, and I became a bit absurd.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 described my head and heart. I had (or thought I had) knowledge - but struggled privately with a lack of passion for God. Of course, this dismayed me and I would beat myself up - I would read more scripture - I would fast and pray - I would teach more vehemently, beating up the people in the pews for the flaws I saw in my own heart. The reality is that my pride was killing my heart's ability to love God and others.
The answer eluded me for years. But it was simple. I needed to apply the gospel to my heart. I needed to recognize my sin - my pride and idolatry. I had to repent of pride in my so-called knowledge. I had repent of my devotion to (idolatry of) the method of detailed exegetical teaching. I had to repent of seeking knowledge about God above seeking a true, deepening experience of God. I had to repent of standing over the Word in order to dispense it to others instead of standing under it in order to let God dispense grace to me.
Systematic biblical exegesis is essential to godly preaching. We need to tear into the Word of God and examine it. But that is not enough. Biblical preaching requires more. We must allow the Word to exegete our hearts before we can claim to be able to accurately exegete the Word. I must learn to live the gospel before I can effectively lead others into a deepening experience of God's grace.
But this made me reflect a bit on my own journey in preaching.
After I became a follower of Christ, I landed in a small Plymouth Brethren (PB) assembly where I discovered my gifts and started teaching in the church.
The PB have a number of strengths as a movement - one of which is their emphasis on exegetical teaching. I was on a teaching team that took that strength to a whole new level.
We would choose a book of the Bible and then teach our way through it from beginning to end. No pansy topical preaching for us - we would deal with issues as they came up in God's word. And if that meant preaching on Christmas Sunday about a man in Corinth who slept with his step-mother - so be it!
We not only taught straight through the text - we paused on every word. In fact, we even preached on the comma's. The goal was to eke out of the text every drop of nuance and meaning. It took us - no exaggeration - years to teach through the book of Romans.
In recent years, God has humbled me in many ways (confessedly, not enough - thankfully humility is a process). I have come to look at myself during those years as a bobble-head Christian. I knew a lot. I studied a lot. I taught a lot. I thought I knew more than most other people. And, meanwhile, my heart was shriveling up - and my pursuit of God became more of an academic affair than a love affair. My spiritual body was dwarfed by my spiritually inflated head, and I became a bit absurd.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 described my head and heart. I had (or thought I had) knowledge - but struggled privately with a lack of passion for God. Of course, this dismayed me and I would beat myself up - I would read more scripture - I would fast and pray - I would teach more vehemently, beating up the people in the pews for the flaws I saw in my own heart. The reality is that my pride was killing my heart's ability to love God and others.
The answer eluded me for years. But it was simple. I needed to apply the gospel to my heart. I needed to recognize my sin - my pride and idolatry. I had to repent of pride in my so-called knowledge. I had repent of my devotion to (idolatry of) the method of detailed exegetical teaching. I had to repent of seeking knowledge about God above seeking a true, deepening experience of God. I had to repent of standing over the Word in order to dispense it to others instead of standing under it in order to let God dispense grace to me.
Systematic biblical exegesis is essential to godly preaching. We need to tear into the Word of God and examine it. But that is not enough. Biblical preaching requires more. We must allow the Word to exegete our hearts before we can claim to be able to accurately exegete the Word. I must learn to live the gospel before I can effectively lead others into a deepening experience of God's grace.
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