I recently had the privilege of speaking at the Josiah Venture Spring Conference.  What a joy to spend those days with great people in a beautiful place, enjoying an excellent Bible book! 

In light of that time, I have been pondering the idea of being mentored by the biblical text.

To begin the series of messages, I suggested that if we could time travel, we would be changed by spending half an hour watching Jesus, Moses, Daniel, Paul, or whoever. 

If we could just be there and see them in action, we would be mentored by the experience. But we have the Bible!  So why not allow the experience of the text to mentor us? 

Time spent watching Jesus (in this case) should surely mark our lives in significant ways.

Here are some thoughts on “Preaching as Biblical mentoring”:

1. The move from then to now is essential, but the move from text to sermon can be overdone

I have seen sermons so crafted that listeners may marvel at the sermon construction but lose the passage.  Maybe our sermonic work of art is not as valuable as the inspired text. 

After all, whatever we can do with the text is not as good as what God did when He inspired the text.  So perhaps we need to consider how to let the passage drive the message more in our preaching. 

2. Overly crafted wording can hide rather than reveal the inspired text

In the detail of the sermon, do we demonstrate our linguistic skill rather than elevating the text itself?  Our wordcraft may impress listeners, but is our goal to impress them? 

Surely our pastoral goal should be for them to encounter God Himself in His word?  Let us make it our goal to communicate rather than to exhibit our craftsmanship.

3. The shape of an overly crafted sermon can hide rather than reveal the shape of the text

I remember one moment as a student in a class. I was the member of our group who went up to write our outline on the whiteboard. 

“That is incorrect,” the teacher declared, “you have to make all the points parallel.” I was taken aback and responded, “But, isn’t that the shape of the passage?”  The teacher looked at the Bible. “Yes, it is the shape of the passage, but your outline has to follow the rules of rhetoric, so it is wrong.” 

I politely pointed out that Haddon Robinson (who was in charge of the preaching department at that seminary for many years) had taught us to reflect the shape of the text in our sermons. 

It became clear that there was a point of difference between these two excellent teachers. I’m with Haddon. Let’s aim for sermons that reflect the shape of the text rather than squeezing the text to fit our rhetorical expectations and standard sermon shapes.

4. Overly crafted rhetoric can hide rather than reveal the experience of the text

As we preach, we should communicate clearly, with good organisation and a thought-through structure. But sometimes, our sermons can hide the text and keep listeners from experiencing the tensions and contours of a passage. 

So let’s use whatever skill we can, but remember that our goal is not to present the work of art that is our sermon. No, our goal is to bring our listeners into a rich experience of the passage and, in doing so, to encounter God as He reveals Himself there.

5. We should preach so listeners can “see” the movie projected in their hearts

I find it helpful to imagine every listener with a movie screen in their hearts.  If I prayerfully and carefully present the message to them, a movie should form on that screen. 

It is easy to offer theological insights and speak theoretical truths.  But those screens will remain blank. However, suppose I can effectively describe what is on the page. In that case, my prayer is that they will not only understand it but also experience it. 

And when they experience it, it will change their lives. It can be like being mentored through the text by God revealing Himself in that passage.

I am sure there are more angles to consider on this subject.  Perhaps too much of our ministry uses the Bible, begins with the Bible, or connects to the Bible, but what people really need is to experience what God has given us in the Bible. 

Supremely, the Bible reveals Him. Let’s prayerfully shape our ministries so that people can encounter Him and not simply learn theological truth at arm’s length.

Peter Mead is mentor at Cor Deo and author of several books. He blogs at Biblical Preaching.