3. Not acknowledging our dependency on commentators and tools will make them need us more than their Bibles.
Sometimes my listeners have been impressed that I know so much about the history of Thessalonica, or the geography of Babylon, or the cultural climate of Corinth. “Wow! The pastor is a first-rate scholar, and I would be lost without him.” But with a trip to the Christian bookstore or a click of the mouse to bible.org, my listeners can be as scholarly as I am!
There is a danger in exposing our congregations to the benefits of modern study tools; they may become more biblically knowledgeable than the pastor! But what an incredible phenomenon that could be. Many of the preachers who decry the woeful deficiencies in the biblical understanding of most Christians today are just as deficient in helping believers overcome this problem.
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Since the discovery that I am one such pastor, I have tried to call attention to the wonderful tools that are available to any serious Bible student. When I start a series on a book, I create powerpoint slides that show the commentaries, books and sermon websites (yes, the sinister secret of the trade!) that I will use in my preparation. To go the extra mile, I will try to get copies of these materials for our book table. I want the congregation to know that we are in this together, that studying the Scripture is a community project.
Imagine a church where the members love and appreciate their pastor’s preaching, not for its brilliance and its scholarship, but for its simplicity. Imagine Christians who say, “My pastor shows me how to study the Bible for myself, and I have been deeply blessed by it.” As I survey the current state of the congregation that I am blessed to shepherd, I realize I have a long way to go, but I am grateful for learning some hard lessons along the way.
Lord, help us preach the Word in such a way that your sheep can be transformed by your Word. Help them fall in love with the Bible all over again. And help us fade to the background. Lord, help us decrease that you might increase.
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Greg Dutcher is Teaching Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Abingdon, MD.