Scripture Speaks (and doesn't need our help)

The difference between the two is startling. On the one hand, one can preach by coming up with a mandate (compatible with the Bible or not), and then go to the Bible in search of support for it. On the other hand, one can preach by coming up with a question or an issue, and then looking to see what the Bible mandates about it... if anything at all. And yes, there is a dramatic difference between the two "hands."

Let's back up, and perhaps get a little foundation as to why there is such a dramatic difference between the two approaches to preaching. There are a few core doctrines, or things that we believe to be true, about the nature of the Bible. Let's take a look.

To begin with, we believe the Bible to be the "Word of God." Unfortunately, that phrase is used so often that it's almost become a surname of the Bible, losing the significance of its meaning in common speech. Suffice it to say, we believe that God--the real and living God--really communicates to us today through the words that are written on the pages of the Bible.

But let's dig a little deeper than that. How exactly have we come to this conclusion that the Bible is the real word of the real God? Well, we believe that He inspired it--we believe that He was in a supernatural and intimate relationship with the many authors and editors of the many books of the Bible. We believe that He interacted with real human beings in real faith communities across time periods and cultures, working through their uniquely human personalities and perspectives, to cement the timeless truths about who He is and how He interacts with His beloved people. Inspiration was the mechanism by which the Bible claims to be the Word of the One Who Inspires.

God inspired faith communities through His real Spirit. This Spirit now illumines us, or makes the truths cemented in the Bible effective in our minds and hearts. Picture it this way: God turns on the "lightbulb over our heads" as we encounter His truth in the Bible. It's that "Ah hah!" moment where a truth is integrated into our very lives. We believe that the truth of the Bible, our belief in it, and our obedience to it (see the entry entitled "faith") to be spiritually transformative. As we encounter it, as the Spirit illumines us to it, as we believe it, and as we obey it... we become more and more like the Word himself, Jesus.

So those are the doctrines of Scripture--that's what we as evangelical Christians believe it to be, and that's how we believe God uses it to work in our lives. So, back to where we began. In light of these truths, how are we to share this Word? How are we to teach it? To preach it? To use it in conversation?

Well, when we go to share, teach, or preach it, we have to remind ourselves that that this Word is effective in and of itself. There is a real God whose real Spirit really interacts with real people, and really illumines them to the effective truths in the Bible. And while He might use us as tools in this process (or He might not!), make no mistake: He is the one who does it, and does it with our without us.

(A little aside: as you read that, what's your first reaction? Are you jumping to defend the need to explain it? The need to study and understand it rightly? The need to preach it faithfully? Careful. While all of those things are good and have their respective place, their respective place is not first and foremost. What is first and foremost is God and His truth that He effects in the lives of those He has created and loved. It's important that we keep the right order.)

When it comes right down to it, the thing that "makes" this truth effective in the lives of those who read and hear it is God's Spirit. One can preach, teach, and share with great conviction and emotion, and should do so appropriately. But it is not the teacher or preacher who is the catalyst. It is God's Spirit Who Is the catalyst. The preacher and teacher does not make a Scripture "relevant;" it already is relevant. We have already sinned, and we stand here and now in need of a Savior. This is objectively and already true for all of us. And the Spirit already stands ready to illumine us to our objective reality. He has already inspired the biblical authors to communicate this truth.

So as we discover this truth in the Bible as we read and study it, and as we allow the Spirit to illumine us to it, it becomes imprinted on our hearts. As we let the Bible speak its redemptive message to us first, we are able to preach and teach faithfully and effectively. As we rediscover these truths over and over again through a vibrant connection with God's Spirit, we communicate them with the Spirit's power. We don't need new ways to communicate old ideas; we need the Spirit to awaken our hearts to the beauty and power of God's timeless truth.

Let's go to God's Word with our questions and let the Spirit answer us, instead of using God's Word to support our own answers. And let's preach and teach in such a way that we encourage people to encounter the living God by his living Spirit through his living Word... instead of handing them our boiled-down, simplified, relevantly-packaged version of it.