THE THEOLOGY OF PREACHING (PT.2)

Preaching’s Relationship to the Scriptures

Since the Protestant Reformation and resulting monumental shift back toward a Christianity based in, "Faith Alone, in Christ Alone, as taught by Scripture Alone, "...the enemies of the cross of Christ...(Php 3:18)", have attacked the Bible and its theological doctrines unceasingly, and have sought frantically to remove it as a repository of truth in the universe. Indeed, just since 1850, secular humanists, liberal theologians and higher criticism advocates of Scripture, have proposed more than 700 theories designed to undermine the authority of the Bible, all claiming to be the last word in cutting-edge academic research. Over 600 of these have already been scraped and discarded in the light of scientific discovery, archaeological finds, historical documentation, and literary scholarship, but they continue developing new psuedo-scientism speculations to replace the ones that have been discredited. (Luscher) So obviously, men don't reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them!

In this second segment of The Theology of Preaching, we will address Preaching’s Relationship to the Scriptures. Given the rich heritage of Scripture itself and the role that preaching has played, dating all the way back to days of, "...Noah... a preacher of righteousness... (2 Pet 2:5)", and even to the current day, it is difficult to over-emphasize the incredible responsibility of this calling, the demands it makes on the preacher, and the weight of it is often too much to bare. To honor and faithfully preach the Scriptures, is to make, “…God’s written word incarnate by speaking the biblical author’s words into the contemporary context. (Koessler)” No easy task of course, because he is attempting to bring this ancient text to life for a modern society, without changing the meaning of the text; he animates the text without altering it, ensuring that, "The written word is detached from its original context but is not freed from it. (Koessler)”

The preacher is not at liberty to take the original words out of their context, and manipulate them to say what he needs them to say, in order to address our modern circumstances, but this can be an exceedingly difficult challenge for the contemporary preacher. It must be understood that, “A sermon which focuses only on the concerns of the contemporary audience and pays no attention to the historical and literary context of Scripture, is actually co-opting the text instead of inflecting it, turning the living and active Word into a ventriloquist’s dummy. Such preaching is little more than a caricature whose hollow voice merely echoes the preacher’s own thinking. (Koessler)”

Clearly, we are not preaching our own thoughts, to fulfill our own purposes; it is, “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Col 1:28)” Yet, within this relationship, there still remains an allowance for the needs and concerns of the contemporary audiences to be addressed. Jesus Himself often acknowledged the needs of the people and tried to meet them of course. In fact, in His very first sermon He said, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED… (Luke 4:18)” 

Translating this to a modern audience illustrates the difficulties of making, “…the connection between what was said and what must be said… it isn’t always direct nor is it always obvious. [but] …Principles must be extrapolated and implications drawn for the contemporary listener. This is hard work, at least as difficult as the work of exegesis (interpretation of a text). It is, in fact, the counterpart to exegesis. (Koessler)” 

So, in essence, a common ground or balance must be found in relation to preaching the Bible, that allows for the letter of the law or the word to be proclaimed, while also finding room to allow the Spirit of God to speak into the lives of a modern audience through His word. A reverence and adherence to properly interpret the original context of the Scriptures, balanced with the freedom to make contemporary applications when and where they are needed. A failure to make this transition turns the modern-day preacher into a Pharisee, incapable of seeing the grace and mercy of God, through the veil of legalism. To the contrary however, the sufficient minister of the new covenant, “…not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Cor 3:6)”, is able to bring the healing balm of God’s word to bear upon the pain and suffering of this world, in the manner that Jesus exemplified. 

By Pastor Glen Mustian

Works Cited:

Koessler, John. Folly, Grace, and Power: The Mysterious Act of Preaching. Zondervan. Kindle.

NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.