Preaching

I recently came across this paraphrase of a talk Mark Beeson, Senior Pastor of Granger Community Church, gave at their Innovate Conference last week.  Tim Stevens, the Executive Pastor there, took some notes and posted it on his blog.

Mark was talking about innovative preaching, and made a point that I have found to be very true when it comes to communicating God's truth to emerging generations:

"Many preachers/teachers start with the Bible, then Exegete the text, then Apply, then Illustrate. Nothing wrong with that method. But culture has shifted. Many (maybe most) question the veracity of the Scripture. It is no longer positioned by the majority of Americans as the authoritative guide for life."


"Another way to teach: Start with real life (the human condition), then Exegete life, then go to the Bible to see what it says about the human condition, then Apply/Illustrate."


Here's what I really like about his statements:


1. It does not do violence to the authority and power of God's written Word.  It still recognizes it as the truth that can transform, and the truth to which we need to connect people.


2. It recognizes the place where most people are coming from today - churched or non-churched.  We just plain don't have this common cultural assumption any more that the Bible is a revered book, and that everything it says is true and valuable for life.  In fact, exactly the opposite is the case a lot of the time.


3. It creates space for communicating God's Word creatively and in a way that actually speaks to a person's life.  


If you think about it, this is almost exactly what Jesus did as he spoke in parables.  He told a story that any one from his audience could identify with, helped them find themselves in the story, and then caught them by surprise with God's truth.  


I think that's what is so amazing about what Jesus did when he spoke in parables.  God's truth was always the biggest, and inspired the most awe.  God's truth informed the story, and not the other way around.  You were pulled in, shocked, moved, or motivated - not by some sentimental human story - but by this radical God who was intervening in it and empowering you to do something and to be something that you knew you just couldn't do and be on your own.


And that is what is most important to remember when communicating God's truth by starting from real life - God's truth is the biggest, and God's truth should inform the story; not simply be captured by it.  The danger when starting from a story instead of from the Word is that you manipulate God's truth to conform somehow to your story - i.e., the story is the thing that is the biggest, or the source of motivation and change.  


But this isn't what Jesus did.  He didn't employ sentimentality or some cute little anecdote ("chicken soup for the spirit") as a way to move his listeners into the reality of God's truth.  In fact, it was often times exactly the opposite.  The pastor was the bad guy and the Middle-Eastern foreigner was the good guy in the story of the Good Samaritan.  The responsible brother reacted wrongly but the disrespectful son reacted properly in the story of the Prodigal Son.  Often times when Jesus would tell a story, God's truth wasn't captured by the story and its expected or assumed outcome and application.  Rather, it stood in opposition to it, and turned the tables on it, to the point where the listener was able to see that they weren't really on God's side, even though they maybe thought they were at first.  They'd have to make a decision, having been confronted with the reality of a God who was real, who was moving, who was bigger than them, who was desiring of their allegiance, and who had the power to change who they were.


So, starting with a story is a great way to communicate the truth of God.  I've done it a number of times when I preach, and when I am sitting across the table from someone who doesn't yet know Jesus.  But it's God's truth, not story, that'll get them.