Preaching: How do you think through this whole issue of application as you are dealing with the text or the biblical theme? Walk me through that process as you think through how this applies to the lives of people.
Warren: The big thing is building a bridge between then and now. You have interpretation on one side, you have personalization on the other side, and in the middle you have the implication. The key is always finding the implication of the text. The interpretation — commentators tend to live in that world. Personalization — communicators tend to live in this world. It’s a fine line, and you can fall off on either side. It is easy to be biblical without being contemporary or relevant. It is easy to be relevant without being biblical. The test is right there in the middle, walking that fine line.
We don't have to make the Bible relevant — it is — but we have to show its relevance. What is irrelevant, in my opinion, is our style of communicating it. We are tending still to use the style from 50 years back that doesn't match who we are trying to reach today.
When I start with an application, I first start with personal application. Nearly 20 years ago, I wrote a book on Bible study methods, on how to apply the Bible. It sold a couple hundred thousand copies. In fact, Billy Graham picked it up and gave it to every evangelist in Amsterdam. In it I talk about a dozen different ways to apply Scripture, so you start with your own life and you make applications there. A lot of it is just simple stuff like: Is there a sin to confess, a promise to claim, an attitude to change, a command to obey, an example to follow, a prayer to pray, an error to avoid, the truth to believe. Is there something to praise God for? So, I start looking at it like that.
I also go back to the paradigm of
2 Timothy 3:16. Doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness is basically these four things: What do I need to believe as a result of this text? What do I not need to believe as a result of this text? What do I need to do as a result of this text? What do I need not to do as a result of this text? That is doctrine for reproof, correction, and instruction of righteousness. So, I use that format. Start with personal application, then you go for the implication — what people need in their lives.
The biggest thing I would say about application is that every pastor eventually gets to application. I'm just saying he needs to start with it, not end with it. A lot of guys need to start where they end their sermon. They will do about 80 to 90 percent explanation and interpretation in background study, and then at the end there is a little 10 minute application. Now, that is OK if you have a highly motivated group of people who just love Bible knowledge, but the Bible says there are a couple of problems with Bible knowledge. In the first place, it says knowledge puffs up but love builds up, and the Bible says increased knowledge without application leads to pride. Some of the most cantankerous Christians I know are veritable storehouses of Bible knowledge, but they have not applied what they know. They can give you facts and quotes, and they can argue doctrine, but they’re angry, very ugly people. The Bible says knowledge without application increases judgment. To him that knows to do good and does it not, it is sin. So, really, to give people knowledge and not get the application is a very dangerous thing.