The problem with these applications is that as powerful as they seem, they are peripheral to the author's intent. David's decision to stay home from battle provided the occasion for temptation, but it doesn't explain why David, the man after God's heart, would stoop to adultery and murder. The writer wants us to see that behind the bigger package of sins was the sin of despising God's grace. Applications must flow from that intent. Does Nathan's parable illustrate the power of a parable? Certainly. But that's not where the author goes with the incident. I'm not arguing that a preacher should remain silent about these elements of the story. I don't suggest that a preacher should never draw an application from them. But any mention of them should be in passing if the preacher's goal is to preach a sermon that communicates the author's intended meaning.

Advertisement

A More Excellent Way

How does a preacher extract an application based on the author's intended meaning rather than peripheral (though important) incidents in the storyline? I find it helpful to begin by asking, What does this story teach me about God and his relationship with human beings? Haddon Robinson reminds preachers that "the purpose of Bible stories is not to say 'you must, you should.' The purpose is to give insight into how men and women relate to the eternal God and how God relates to them."7

This takes us back to two concepts we worked with earlier: a story's vision of God and depravity factor. We should build application around the contours of these concepts. This is what distinguishes God-centered application from mere moralizing. Like the maxims in the book of Proverbs, our applications may sometimes sound like good business advice. They may resemble hints from Heloise, advice from Dear Abby, or concepts from Stephen Covey. But like the maxims in Proverbs, solid applications must be rooted in the fear of God.

Identifying the vision of God and the depravity factor helps the interpreter move from the ancient situation to the theological principle it conveys. The preacher can then bring the theological principle into the modern world and examine what it looks like when a listener lives his or her life in response to it (see figure 8.1). The exegetical idea you have already developed will usually express the ancient situation. The theological principle will be closely related or identical to the theological expression of the sermon's big idea.

The real challenge consists of moving from the more abstract theological principle to some concrete situations in the modern world. It's easy to get tunnel vision here. We tend to think in terms of applying the theological principle to people like ourselves. The challenge is to think outside our immediate circumstances. As a middle-aged husband and father, I have to think about how a theological principle will intersect with the world of a retired couple in their seventies who deal with grandchildren as well as children. I have to imagine how a theological principle informs the Christian life of a single mother who drops off her two boys at day care, works all day as a secretary in the university's chemistry department, then picks them up and spends her evenings trying to function as father and mother. As a male whose world involves fly-fishing, basketball, power tools, and Outdoor Life, I have to think about how a theological principle will affect the life of a female whose world may revolve around flower-arranging, aerobics, kitchen appliances, and Good Housekeeping. As a pastor with a modest income, I have to think about how a theological principle relates to a doctor who must decide whether she should plunk down cash for a sports car or a sport utility vehicle. I have to put myself in the world of the young husband and father who supplements the pittance he receives teaching third grade at a private school with a night job at a sawmill.