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I thought that the goal of a message from the Bible was to tell people what the Bible says and how it applies to our lives. But I was missing a crucial step that’s essential to avoid losing people as you speak. I didn’t realize the importance of organizing my talk around a central idea. Let me share why that’s important and how you can do it.
Just because you’ve sat through a bunch of sermons and Bible studies, it doesn’t mean that you understand what makes them work when they do or fall apart when they don’t. Let’s dissect some of the most common reasons an otherwise interesting Bible message lacks power or impact. Then, hopefully, next time you have an opportunity to give a talk, you’ll know where to start.
When you first start reading the Bible, it’s all so new that just taking it in can be overwhelming. As you begin to read more consistently, though, you can’t help but notice that stories about Jesus are often repeated in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In fact, Jesus’ teachings are often repeated also. As you wonder why, you might be told that the gospel writers are each giving an account of the event from their own perspective like witnesses to a traffic accident. And that much is true, but the reality is a little more complicated, and it affects how you should read what they’ve written. Let me explain.
Christians love the Parable of the Prodigal Son. And why wouldn’t we? There’s drama, loss, family tension, crisis, and reconciliation – all the ingredients of a great story! While it’s one that we love, there are lessons that we seem to keep missing when we read it. Jesus’ parable wasn’t just told as a beautiful illustration of the gospel. It was told in response to the grumbling of the religious elite over his eating and drinking with sinners (Luke 15:1-2). There are 3 lessons we can’t afford to miss.
So, you’ve decided to read the Bible. You open the passage. You read it a couple of times and you notice some interesting things. Your curiosity takes over. Why is that there? Why is it phrased that way? Why didn’t they say this instead? Before you know it, you’ve spent the entire time you had set aside for Bible study going down rabbit holes and, in the end, learning very little about what God was likely trying to teach you. I had an experience like this yesterday. And it reminded me how critical it is to look for the right things and ask the right questions as you read the Word of God. Missing the forest for the trees is a real danger in Bible study and it’s one that we can all avoid. Let me explain.
Have you ever wondered how much confidence you should put in the four gospel accounts that open the New Testament? Are they just legends? Should we read them as reliable accounts of what Jesus actually did? Could they have preserved Jesus’ teachings after such a long time? These are questions I asked when I first began to investigate Christianity, but a course that I’m taking in the gospels with Wayne Baxter this term has given me greater clarity in understanding them. Let me share what I’ve learned.
It’s hard not to be cynical in our world today. Internet ads make ridiculous claims to unwary consumers. Fake testimonials promote bogus products. Glory-seeking preachers claim miraculous healings. One by one, the frauds are exposed, but they’re replaced by new ones just as quickly. Not surprisingly, objective, rational people are left scratching their heads. Why can’t people be more critical? Why don’t they check the facts? Why won’t they listen to science? Enter the gospel stories. While they contain some good teaching and moral advice, the claims of miracles make them hard for a rational person today to take seriously. Walking on water? Feeding the 5,000? Giving sight to the blind? What do you do with these?
Last time I talked about the importance of learning Proverbs with your children. The problem remains though: how do you teach them? Because there are thirty-one chapters, many advocate reading a chapter every day of the month. There’s probably value in that practice, but with younger children, I’m convinced that less is more. Let me share a few of the things that helped us.
Over the years, we’ve done many different things for family devotions. But learning verses from the Book of Proverbs has been a highlight. I think Proverbs has had the biggest impact of any book of the Bible in helping my parenting and shaping our family’s character. Let me share what I’ve learned about why learning Proverbs with your kids is so helpful.
When I was in university, I tried to tackle some of the Russian classics on my summer break. At first, I found the complexity of them overwhelming. The challenge was that they had so many characters and they all had multiple names and different people used different names to refer to each other depending on the nature of their relationship. I came to the conclusion that you need to be prepared to just spend the first hundred pages trying to figure out who everyone is and how they’re connected. Once you get past that, they’re fascinating stories. Those books showed me the importance of a reading strategy.
