"Who is sufficient for these things?"
-2 Corinthians 2:16b ESV
About fourteen years ago I participated in an internship, and I sat in a room with seven other guys listening to Sam Storms say these words about the death of biblical preaching:
[P]astors have stopped preaching because they have stopped studying. In effect, they have stopped talking because they have little to say. If they do have a lot to say, it’s typically their own ideas and idiosyncrasies unrelated to the inspired text.
This next statement may sound harsh, but so be it: If you are not called to study, you are not called to preach. I’m not suggesting you need a seminary education or a Ph.D. (although both would be wonderful, if God so leads you). But I am saying that a prerequisite for consistent, effective biblical preaching is devotion on a daily basis to in-depth study of the Scriptures. The 19th century Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon once said, "If we are not instructed, how can we instruct? If we have not thought, how shall we lead others to think?" The lack of study may be traced to several causes, but I’ll note only two.
The first culprit is simple laziness or sloth . . . Second, there is a pervasive anti-intellectualism that has taken root in our churches. (Sam Storms, "An Appeal to All Pastors: Why and How Should We Preach - Part I")I was stunned. But, sadly, it resonated with my own church experience. We live in a time period when comedy is often valued above content. (While I personally like comedy, we should not devalue content--especially in preaching!) Style seems to matter more than substance. Entertainment seems to matter more than exposition.
Years later, while I was at seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, I sat astonished again. This time I listened to Al Mohler talking about the death of biblical preaching. He referred to a book from Neil Postman aptly titled, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Consider this excerpt from the back of the book,
Television has conditioned us to tolerate visually entertaining material measured out in spoonfuls of time, to the detriment of rational public discourse and reasoned public affairs. In this eloquent, persuasive book, Neil Postman alerts us to the real and present dangers of this state of affairs, and offers compelling suggestions as to how to withstand the media onslaught. Before we hand over politics, education, religion, and journalism to the show-business demands of the television age, we must recognize the ways in which the media shape our lives and the ways we can, in turn, shape them to serve our highest goals.Therefore, entertainment is shaping us dramatically. And as a result, it is spilling over onto politics, education, religion, and journalism. An entertainment-driven culture will desire entertainment-driven preaching.
Furthermore, years later, I picked up The Reformed Pastor which was written by the Puritan pastor Richard Baxter about four hundred years ago (i.e., 1656 to be exact). In it he writes this to pastors,
[T]ake heed to yourselves, that you want not the qualifications necessary for your work. He must not be himself a babe in knowledge, that will teach men all those mysterious things which must be known in order to salvation. O what qualifications are necessary for a man who hath such a charge upon him as we have! How many difficulties in divinity to be solved! and these, too, about the fundamental principles of religion! How many obscure texts of Scripture to be expounded! How many duties to be performed, wherein ourselves and others may miscarry, if in the matter, and manner, and end, we be not well informed! . . . Did Paul cry out, "Who is sufficient for these things?" And shall we be proud, or careless, or lazy, as if we were sufficient? . . . To preach a sermon, I think, is not the hardest part; and yet what skill is necessary to make truth plain; to convince the hearers, to let irresistible light in to their consciences, and to keep it there, and drive all home; to screw the truth into their minds, and work Christ into their affections . . . O, therefore, brethren, lose no time! Study, and pray, and confer, and practise [sic]; for in these four ways your abilities must be increased. (68-71)Still later, I read about the British pastor Charles Spurgeon who, in the 1800s, was warning against the “undermining of the authority of Scripture, which was resulting in worldly entertainment” in churches (Steven J. Lawson, The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon, 15). About a century later across the pond, in 1944, A.W. Tozer decried the “Hollywood mentality” which, he argued, was caught “from the movies” and impatiently seeks numbers, celebrities, and flash; Tozer compared this way of thinking with the New Testament, and he found it to be “unbelieving and earthly” (Lyle Dorsett, A Passion for God, 179-180).
Thus, entertainment is here; it has made its way into culture. The emphasis on entertainment is affecting public discourse (including the church). And, unfortunately, many preachers have simultaneously stopped studying. Instead, they choose to spend their time doing other things that are seen as more important.
What are we to make of this? Here are ten reasons that pastors should study.
(1) God chose to reveal Scripture in book form and it must be studied! The biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) require study. Theology requires study. Church history requires study. Ultimately, to know God's words, we must study!
(2) Pastors are charged to preach the words of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:10-4:8), and we are all charged to grow in knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18); this implies study! Moreover, teaching the church to obey Scripture is part of the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:20). No one knows God's words revealed in Scripture without studying them.
(3) God is serious about rightly handling his Scriptures (which means we must study!). Paul writes, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).
(4) How can we receive guidance from the Scriptures if we don't know them? This requires study. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105).
(5) We are ambassadors of Christ. We speak for him. Any sane person who is speaking on God's behalf should be concerned about saying the things that he wants us to say (and not misspeaking for him!). This requires study. Paul says, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20).
(6) Careful examination of the Scriptures is considered noble. This means, study the Scriptures! Luke reports, "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11).
(7) If Scripture is living and active, then we should study it! "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
(8) Scripture shows that knowing the truth leads to freedom. Therefore, we must study! John writes that "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).
(9) The Scriptures show us Jesus; we must study them! "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40).
(10) Consider Ezra's example--study the Scriptures! "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel" (Ezra 7:10).
Pastors, let's study Holy Scripture and feed the flock.
Bibliography:
-Baxter, Richard. The Reformed Pastor. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2007.
-Dorsett, Lyle. A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A.W. Tozer. Chicago, IL: Moody, 2008.
-Lawson, Steven J. The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon. Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust, 2012.
-Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York, NY: Penguin, 1985.