This
week, I’m doing something that I don’t often do—I’m preparing a series of
sermons focused on a topic rather than a specific book of the Bible. The
topical approach has not been the norm for my preaching ministry, though I do
like to preach a topical series from time to time—usually when I’ve just
wrapped up one book and just before I start another. It’s a good way to deal
with a subject that might be a common struggle, a hot-button issue, or a very
thought-provoking question.
I’m
going to venture to say that preaching through books of the Bible is not as
common as it used to be. I might be wrong, but I’d be surprised if I am! In
light of that observation, I thought I’d offer a brief explanation as to why I
stick with the book-focused approach most of the time. I have two main reasons
why.
#1—Everything
God said is important, and preaching through books will force me to teach on
all of it eventually.
Focusing
on topics leaves a lot up to the wisdom and discretion of the preacher. While
that doesn’t have to be bad, it certainly could be—and I think it’s more likely
to be problematic than a book-focused approach. If I consistently focus on
topics, I have to frequently decide what is most important for my congregation
to hear. But what criteria should I use to make that decision? Do I go with
whatever people want to hear? Do I go with what I think they should
hear? Do I go with what seems to be most interesting to the broadest group of
people? Of course, I do have to ask those questions when I decide which book to
preach on next, but they tend to come around less often with a book-based
approach, and once I’ve answered them and selected a book, the content of my
sermons is guided by whatever is in that book. Thus, there is less that is
simply up to my discretion.
The
topical approach can also suffer somewhat from the personality, interests, and—frankly—the
boldness of the individual preacher. For example, I tend to think that
apologetic topics are more interesting and important than most people do, so I’m
sure I would gravitate toward such topics more often than what might truly be helpful
for my congregation. Also, with the topical approach, controversial subjects
can be easily avoided. Do you dread the thought of preaching on hell? Then
simply never bring it up as a topic!
Avoiding
controversial subjects is much less likely with the book-focused approach. For
example, I’ll be starting a series through the Book of Romans in a few months,
and in the very first chapter I’ll have to deal with the subject of
homosexuality! Later on, the book will force me to talk about the proper
response to government, and it will take me through a passage that is hotly
contested in the Calvinism-Arminianism debate.
I
suppose you could say that the book-focused approach is simply an attempt to
offer my congregation a well-balanced diet. We all know how important a
well-balanced diet is for our physical health; as it turns out, it’s vital for
our spiritual health as well. There is purpose and value in everything that God
inspired in the Bible. We might not easily see the value in each passage, and
so we might neglect some of them—which would end up being to our detriment.
#2—Preaching
through a book helps my audience learn how to study the Bible for themselves.
As
I preach through a complete section of a book—whether a paragraph or a whole
chapter—my audience gets to hear how I make observations about the passage and
then draw those observations together to form an interpretation. Though they
don’t realize it, they get to hear the proper process of Bible study presented
to them week after week, and eventually they start to catch on. As they learn
by example, over time they start to internalize some of the training that I’ve been
blessed to receive at a seminary—and all without having to attend classes
themselves!
This
learning-by-example happens on a grand scale as a sermon series winds its way
from the first verse of a book to the last. The book-focused approach highlights
and illustrates what might be the most crucial interpretive principle of all—keeping
statements in their original context. As I move though a passage, my audience
gets to hear the full context of each statement—and not just on any given week,
but from week-to-week as well as I simply pick up where I left off last time!
This
learning process is much harder to replicate in a topical series since these
series tend to draw from all over the Bible—and not just from week-to-week, but
sometimes within the same sermon. Now to be sure, sometimes it is very
important to see how various verses from different books fit together. Topical
sermons can be very useful for presenting such connections, but it is rarely
possible to touch on the context of all the various verses that I might pull
together. Thus, my audience is left a bit more in a position where they just
have to take my word for it that I’ve interpreted those verses correctly. By
tracing one context through the course of a book, there’s a greater likelihood
that they can see the correct interpretation for themselves.
And
so, while I appreciate using the topical approach from time to time, chances
are that if you ever catch one of my sermons, you’ll find me working through a
book, saying things like, “As we saw last week in the previous verse.” If you
didn’t catch the previous week’s sermon, you’ll know just where to look to get
caught up!
