One of my goals as a pastor is to build our church on the Word of God. I want my congregation to be a word-saturated congregation. However, typically when we say that in conservative churches it’s just a warm-up for the preaching rant that follows. Well, I totally believe in preaching. In fact, I think it is the most important thing I do for my congregation. I believe it sets the agenda of the church and transforms lives. But, it has its limitations. Consider this quote by Jonathan Leeman from his book Reverberation:
The problem here, however, is that God’s Word is not always massaged throughout the life of the congregation, like yeast through dough. People show up on Sunday for the sermon, and often do little more. The ministry of the Word stops at noon. … The ministry of the Word indeed begins in the pulpit, but then it must continue through the life of the church as members echo God’s Word back and forth to one another. The word reverberates, as in an echo chamber. In a real echo chamber, sound reverberates off walls. In the church, it’s the hearts of people that both absorb and project the sounds of His effectual Word.
Here’s the point. Preaching is more often than not, by nature, general. It’s hard for any one sermon to get into the specifics of one’s life. It happens but not normally. Usually it presents general theology and themes and principles that do indeed set one’s course and change one’s affections. But what needs to be added is the careful, prayerful, speaking of God’s Word into each other’s lives … particularly where we see areas of weakness or sin. Preaching is a shotgun. One to one exhortation is a rifle. See the difference? My encouragement is for church members to take God’s Word, from your devotional or SS lesson or sermon, and speak it into each other’s lives. Don’t know how?
I plan on writing more on this but just try and see what happens. For starters, just tell others what God has been teaching you or share a verse you have been impacted by lately or discuss the sermon. Just do something.
Good Book!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading!