Dear
Friends,
Now that
I am semi-retired, I have the freedom to worship in different churches on
Sundays. I appreciate experiencing the variety of services-music, fellowship,
preaching styles, and the overall reaction to visitors.
One
of the aspects I am particularly interested in noting is whether the pastor’s
message provides a clear life application for the listener.
I
might hear a well delivered message with excellent exegesis and a clear sermon
outline, but frequently one thing is missing- the message is lacking life
application.
It
may be an excellent bible study, but it fails to equip the listener with
specific and practical ways to live out the biblical truths of the message.
We
are not only "to be hearers of the word but doers of the word," and
helping the hearer translate what he hears into what he does is an important
part of the teacher’s responsibility.
The
Bible is clear about the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to
"equip the saints for the work of ministry," and pulpit teaching is a
very important way that this goal is achieved.
One
seminary professor who teaches preaching recently stated that leaving out
practical application for the message is the number one problem in preaching
today.
People
may hear a wonderful message, but how will it make a visible difference in the
way the hearer lives?
Part
of a pastor’s responsibility in preaching is to equip members for service, and
he misses an important opportunity to equip his members to live out their faith
when he fails to provide them with specific ways to do it.
Too
often our preaching assumes that our hearers will make the connection between
the 'what' and the 'how to'- the message and the ministry. We expect our
hearers to figure out the application for themselves, but often they don’t know
how to do this.
We
may conclude it is the work of the Holy Spirit to do the application but are we
not the tool of the Holy Spirit and are we not responsible to help hearers
discover specific ways the message applies to their lives?
The
Holy Spirit may be speaking through us, but our people are not always making
the connection between the message and their ministry. They may not know that
every member is a minister, and so they wonder what the ministry looks like for
them. How does what I hear help me impact and influence the lives of those
around me?
Pastors
may spend large amounts of time developing their messages and yet spend little
or no time providing specific ways the hearer can live out the truth of the
message.
"Knowledge
puffs up, but love builds up." (1 Corinthians 8: 1), and many of us have
known believers who are storehouses of biblical knowledge, and yet are carnal
and combative, always trying to hammer truth into people's lives. Such people
are in desperate need of learning how to live out and apply the pulpit truths
that can impact the lives of their friends and neighbors.
Some
worshippers may have enough faith to move mountains, and yet if they don’t
learn practical ways to express that love they gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:
2)
Each
Sunday, worshiping should come away from the service with concrete ideas of how
to put into practice the message they have heard.
I
close with some questions teachers might ask to insure they are equipping
members to link biblical truth with biblical action
1.
Am I modeling the conviction that the Bible is an equipping manual?
2.
Do I write equipping goals for each sermon?
3.
Do I remind people that we are all learners called to use our gifts in
ministry, and do I challenge and encourage them to accept their role as
ministers?
4.
Am I modeling that I am just a learner like everyone else, and that I too need
to be equipped?
5.
Do people walk out of the service able to verbalize specific things they can do
to live out the message they have heard?
Those
in the pulpit are the Holy Spirit’s tool to help equip every member for
ministry. We are bridge builders, connecting the timeless truths found in God’s
Word with today’s culture, and in doing so, helping transform hearers of the
Word into doers of the Word.
Yours
in faith and friendship,
Tom
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