8 P R E A CH I NG T H E B IB LE
Temptations preachers face to give up on the Bible Phillip Jensen / Bible teacher and evangelist, Two Ways Ministries
MO O R E M AT T E R S W IN T E R 2 0 2
PRE ACHERS ARE NOT SPECIAL.
T
hey face the same temptations as every Christian. Like any of us, preachers are ruined through nancial greed, sexual immorality, or alcohol abuse. However, there are some specic temptations preachers face concerning giving up on the Bible. This topic assumes a whole theology of the preached word of God and the relationship of the word of God with the Bible. Accepting this assumption and the theology that lies behind it, I need to rst clear some of the ground for what it means for preachers to give up on the Bible. In Acts 20, Paul claimed to have omitted nothing of t‘ he whole counsel of God’. But Paul wasn’t claiming to have taught every verse of the lO d Testament in an expository preaching program. The whole counsel of God was t‘ he Kingdom’, t‘ he gospel of the grace of God’, r‘ epentance toward God and faith in the Lord e J sus Christ’ (Acts 20:22 0- 1, 24, 25,27). This ‘word of God’ that Christian preachers proclaim is more specic than simply the Bible. The word of God Christians preach is the gospel of e J sus Christ, for that is the message of the Bible. Those who preach God’s word must have the humility to ensure their words coincide with God’s words, found in the Bible. The connection between continuing with the inspired scriptures, preaching the word, and doing the work of an evangelist is seen in 2Timothy 4:5.31However, Biblical truth is truth with or without reference to the
Bible. Referring to the Bible does not make falsehood true—even the devil quoted the Bible. Furthermore, the commitment to scriptural evangelism required of the Christian preacher does not equate to preaching ‘oral commentaries’. Oral commentaries are neither preaching nor God’s word. Preaching is a complex and difficult social task that is expressed in many forms. It is insufficient to preach the word of God—we must preach it to somebody else. The preaching of the word of God must fit the situation and occasion. However, the Christian preacher must always aim to preach the word of God, regardless of the situation or occasion. Holding together preaching the truth and the listener need isn’t always easy. Thus, many of the temptations to give up on the Bible come from the preacher’s attempts to communicate with people. The preachers’ temptations often come from the hearers’ itchy ears demanding relevance, application, persuasion, and simplicity. The Bible’s relevance is in its
truth, destroying the falsehoods of Satan—not simply answering the questions people ask, but revealing the irrelevant hypocrisy of the world’s frame of reference and interests. Answering the world’s questions is usually accepting and even preaching the philosophy of the world. Preaching the gospel will address the problems of sinfulness that the world diagnoses incorrectly. For example, Jesus didn’t die to overcome power imbalance and patriarchy but sin and God’s condemnation. Closely associated with relevance is the demand for the sermon to be applied to everyday life. Yet the gospel transforms and renews minds rather than providing more rules and regulations to live by. The New Testament preachers did engage in persuasion, showing to the Jews the consistency of the gospel with Old Testament expectations. However, they did not recast the gospel to show consistency with the pagan world’s religion, morality or philosophy. Just the reverse—they attacked
