By J. Kent Edwards
Parents ask this question on a daily basis. “Should I microwave some TV dinners or make a salad? Or maybe I’ll boil some spaghetti and open a can of sauce. Oh forget all that . . . the traffic is terrible, I think I will just get some Taco Bell take out.” The decision about what to serve for dinner every night is significant. Your menu choices affect the long-term development of every member of your family. Healthy choices help families thrive. Menu plans littered with take-out burgers, Kraft dinners and Pizza Hut will result in long-term problems.
Pastors make similar decisions for their church families on a weekly basis. Every week, every pastor wonders, “What’s for dinner?” What spiritual food will I serve up to my congregation this week? The decision about what to preach is not incidental. Your choice impacts the spiritual health and development of the people you lead. How do you decide what to preach? What criteria guide your decisions? Even if you are committed to preaching Scripture, the question remains: What portion of the Bible will you preach this week, month and year? What parts will you not preach? Why? Many preachers regularly decide to preach topically — to bring Scripture to bear on a subject that a biblical author never specifically addressed. Topical sermons on ‘how to date’ or ‘how to handle stress’ can be helpful and biblical. And topical sermons are not necessarily second-rate sermons.
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In my 25 years as a pastor, however, I have chosen not to feed my congregations a steady diet of topical preaching. My practice has been to preach through the books of the Bible — to preach the ideas that the biblical writers have placed within the natural units of the Scripture they were inspired to write. Why?
I’m not that smartSome preachers seem to overflow with penetrating and insightful series ideas that perfectly fit with the felt needs of their audience. Not me. I try to know my people well, and a couple of times a year I will preach topical sermons that I believe are both relevant and necessary, given a particular cultural or congregational situation; such sermons seem highly effective. But every week? It seems presumptuous for a preacher to always know what God wants their congregation to hear. I struggle to understand what my own heart needs, and I suspect that many of my colleagues do as well. How else do you explain that so many topical preachers are all saying the same thing? Many admit to borrowing (or buying) ideas from other topical preachers. But this practice would seem to defeat the purpose of preaching a topical sermon in the first place.
I’m not that holySin is the best-proved doctrine of the Christian faith. I see it in my culture. I see it in myself. I am convinced that every part of my being has been warped by sin; including my ability to select sermon topics for my people. I am convinced that left on my own I would do nothing but ride around on my favorite hobbyhorses. I can think of no more effective way to transform God’s people into my image rather than His. Preaching books of the Bible helps keep me make sure that God’s agenda is accomplished in the lives of my people — not mine.
I’m busy