Have you ever had a great idea for a sermon, only to discover from further exegetical study that your sermon text actually undermines your idea? It happens! But this will not leave you stranded on the island of misfit sermons. According to Andy Stanley, this creates potential for your sermon to be even stronger than you initially thought it would be.
This week, I want to continue interacting with Andy Stanley's recent book on preaching, Communicating For A Change (co-authored with Lane Jones). Here is what Andy says about those times when the Bible contradicts your pre-conceived sermon ideas:
"Once you discover a text or narrative that addresses your great idea, let the Bible speak. Even if the text contradicts your idea or assumptions going in, let the text speak. It is in that tension that you will make some of your greatest discoveries" (p. 107).
That's helpful and hopeful! The tension between "what you thought going in" and "what you realize after further study" causes the truth to make an even greater impression on you than if you had understood it going into your study process. Also, this tension can make the sermon idea more "sticky" for your listeners. There's something memorable about a sermon in which the preacher says, "The Bible surprised me this week."
Whenever I spend a couple days or even a week mapping out sermon, I'm aware that my conclusions are tentative subject to further in-depth study. That used to frustrate me. After all, our worship arts pastor has relied on my initial sermon plans and ideas for selecting everything from music to video elements to Scripture readings for a given Sunday. If I learn through further study that the Bible contradicts my assumptions, won't that disrupt everything? Perhaps. But it's a small price to pay for understanding the truth correctly.
As Andy Stanley says, "Once you . . . determine not to quit digging until you find the point, you will be amazed at what you unearth" (p. 109). Keep on digging!
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 12:01 PM on January 15, 2008
