The Diminishing Role of the Bible in Preaching
I am never surprised when I hear unBiblical statements from preachers who are in the Word-Faith movement. People like, Benny Hinn, The Copelands, Joyce Meyer, and Jesse Duplantus have every right to preach things that our contrary to the Scripture. Why do they have the right to do this? Simple, they do not believe that the Bible is God's final revelation to man. They believe that God is still giving special revelation. They believe they are the receivers of special revelation. Thus, they can say all sorts of things that are not in the Bible and declare that it is revelation from God.
When your personal theology allows for specific prophesy you can play fast and loose with the scripture. I one time listened to a young student preach, and she said in the middle of her sermon that after she had a fight with her lost parents God spoke to her and said to her that her parents were funky and to pay no attention to them. She truly believed this is what God said. There are two basic problems with this type of reasoning. First, the Bible tells us to honor are parents; even when we don't like what they do. Second, her understanding of personal specific revelation gave her statement as much authority as Scripture. This is why the Word-Faith movement is so dangerous. When a preacher says that God told them this or that, then that statement should be written in the Bible. That statement has as much authority as John 3:16 or any other Bible passage.
What has disturbed me more than those in the Faith movement is the diminishing role of the Bible among Baptist preachers. I am hearing more and more sermons these days where the Bible is playing a secondary role to the preachers thoughts and objectives. Topical preaching is the cause of a lot of the problem. Topical preaching takes place when the preacher has a topic that he wants to talk about, and he then finds Biblical passages that relate to the topic. This type of preaching often leaves the Bible as nothing more than a reference book. The authority falls upon the preacher's thoughts not the Bible. Nevertheless, most preachers preach topical messages on a regular basis. Topical messages do not have to be unBiblical, and some are right on the money. However, topical preaching often causes preachers to take Biblical passages out of context to meet their sermon writing needs. This is dangerous, and should be avoided.
A more serious Biblical problem is the lack of proper Biblical interpretation that arises from poor study habits and lazy exegesis. Out of all the sermons I have heard from Baptist preachers,there are two that stick out in my mind as the worst. The runner-up is a sermon I heard from an evangelist preaching in Marion, Ohio. (I will not give the name of the evangelist because I do not want to cause his ministry any harm.) The sermon title was "God Will Burn Your Barley Fields". This evangelist used I Kings 14 as his text. Absalom was King David's wayward son. Absalom murdered a brother and was in exile. Joab, David's general, convinced David to forgive Absalom. David did, and Joab brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. David set some rules for Absalom, and Absalom did not like the rules. To get Joab's attention, Abasalom sent some of his servants to burn Joab's barley fields.
This text is fairly simple, but this is how the preacher interpreted it. If you don't do what God wants you to do, God will burn your barley fields. If you drink, God will get you. If you smoke, God will get you. I am sure you can figure the rest of the sermon out. According to his interpretation of the text, Absalom is the God figure. Joab represents us. I am still trying to figure out how the one who did what was wrong became the God figure in this message. This was the height of sloppy exegesis. The preacher should be embarrassed, but because a few people came forward he was happy.
The worst sermon from a professional Baptist minister that I heard took place in Mansfield, Ohio. It also was done by a full time evangelist. Shockingly, his sermon was about Absalom as well. In I Kings 18, Absalom is riding a horse through the woods running from a battle. Absalom has beautiful, long flowing hair. His hair gets caught in a tree branch. He comes off his horse, and is hanging by his hair. His enemy finds him and kills him. I will not explain to you the faulty interpretation. All I have to do is give you the title of the sermon and you can figure the rest of it out. The title of the message was, "When God Hung A Hippy".
These two sermons are extreme cases of bad preaching. However, I still hear many other sermons that teeter on heresy due to lazy and poor study habits. We must call all ministers to take the preaching of God's word seriously. We are not to use the Bible to get what we want. We are to preach the Bible, and let God do the rest. Biblical preaching is sorely needed in today's church. It is difficult and hard to do sometimes. It can be frustrating and painstaking. However, it is exactly what we should be doing, and there is no excuse for a preacher not to do it.
When your personal theology allows for specific prophesy you can play fast and loose with the scripture. I one time listened to a young student preach, and she said in the middle of her sermon that after she had a fight with her lost parents God spoke to her and said to her that her parents were funky and to pay no attention to them. She truly believed this is what God said. There are two basic problems with this type of reasoning. First, the Bible tells us to honor are parents; even when we don't like what they do. Second, her understanding of personal specific revelation gave her statement as much authority as Scripture. This is why the Word-Faith movement is so dangerous. When a preacher says that God told them this or that, then that statement should be written in the Bible. That statement has as much authority as John 3:16 or any other Bible passage.
What has disturbed me more than those in the Faith movement is the diminishing role of the Bible among Baptist preachers. I am hearing more and more sermons these days where the Bible is playing a secondary role to the preachers thoughts and objectives. Topical preaching is the cause of a lot of the problem. Topical preaching takes place when the preacher has a topic that he wants to talk about, and he then finds Biblical passages that relate to the topic. This type of preaching often leaves the Bible as nothing more than a reference book. The authority falls upon the preacher's thoughts not the Bible. Nevertheless, most preachers preach topical messages on a regular basis. Topical messages do not have to be unBiblical, and some are right on the money. However, topical preaching often causes preachers to take Biblical passages out of context to meet their sermon writing needs. This is dangerous, and should be avoided.
A more serious Biblical problem is the lack of proper Biblical interpretation that arises from poor study habits and lazy exegesis. Out of all the sermons I have heard from Baptist preachers,there are two that stick out in my mind as the worst. The runner-up is a sermon I heard from an evangelist preaching in Marion, Ohio. (I will not give the name of the evangelist because I do not want to cause his ministry any harm.) The sermon title was "God Will Burn Your Barley Fields". This evangelist used I Kings 14 as his text. Absalom was King David's wayward son. Absalom murdered a brother and was in exile. Joab, David's general, convinced David to forgive Absalom. David did, and Joab brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. David set some rules for Absalom, and Absalom did not like the rules. To get Joab's attention, Abasalom sent some of his servants to burn Joab's barley fields.
This text is fairly simple, but this is how the preacher interpreted it. If you don't do what God wants you to do, God will burn your barley fields. If you drink, God will get you. If you smoke, God will get you. I am sure you can figure the rest of the sermon out. According to his interpretation of the text, Absalom is the God figure. Joab represents us. I am still trying to figure out how the one who did what was wrong became the God figure in this message. This was the height of sloppy exegesis. The preacher should be embarrassed, but because a few people came forward he was happy.
The worst sermon from a professional Baptist minister that I heard took place in Mansfield, Ohio. It also was done by a full time evangelist. Shockingly, his sermon was about Absalom as well. In I Kings 18, Absalom is riding a horse through the woods running from a battle. Absalom has beautiful, long flowing hair. His hair gets caught in a tree branch. He comes off his horse, and is hanging by his hair. His enemy finds him and kills him. I will not explain to you the faulty interpretation. All I have to do is give you the title of the sermon and you can figure the rest of it out. The title of the message was, "When God Hung A Hippy".
These two sermons are extreme cases of bad preaching. However, I still hear many other sermons that teeter on heresy due to lazy and poor study habits. We must call all ministers to take the preaching of God's word seriously. We are not to use the Bible to get what we want. We are to preach the Bible, and let God do the rest. Biblical preaching is sorely needed in today's church. It is difficult and hard to do sometimes. It can be frustrating and painstaking. However, it is exactly what we should be doing, and there is no excuse for a preacher not to do it.
posted by Foundes Community Church @ 5:44 AM
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