I was cleaning out my office today – I do that every 10 to 15 years whether it needs it or not… I had a stack of Bible Study magazines that I had set aside to read, I didn’t… But before I put them in the recycle bin, I flipped through them to see if there was anything I needed to keep – dangerous, the point was to get rid of stuff after all.
In the workshops I do, one of the things I share is that it is vitally important for each of us to be in the Word ourselves. I share a number of reasons for this. Too many believers come to church to be fed by the pastor. That is not and can never be a very nutritious meal. For one thing your pastor is a secondary source. He is not inspired, the Bible is. Further… well look at the diagram:
The percentages are what we retain from the method of input 24 hours later. If the pastor retains 35% of what he studies and shares that with us, 24 hours later we are running on 1.75% of his study. Not much life change is going to come from that level of input.
What was interesting during my random act of neatness, was I found two men, one a well-known pastor, Greg Laurie, and the other the president of LifeWay Research, Ed Setzer who essentially say the same thing.
Setzer, “Christians must NOT come to church every week expecting the preacher to chew up their food for them…” (Emphasis was in the quote).
Laurie, “I really encourage people to study on their own. It’s a recurring them in my preaching. In a perfect world, Christians would be studying their Bibles every day, and what I offer would be supplemental on a Sunday morning…I’m trying to teach them how to feed themselves. Better yet, I’m trying to teach them how to cook a little bit.”
I love it when well-known men who have a great platform agree with me.
In the workshops I do, one of the things I share is that it is vitally important for each of us to be in the Word ourselves. I share a number of reasons for this. Too many believers come to church to be fed by the pastor. That is not and can never be a very nutritious meal. For one thing your pastor is a secondary source. He is not inspired, the Bible is. Further… well look at the diagram:
What was interesting during my random act of neatness, was I found two men, one a well-known pastor, Greg Laurie, and the other the president of LifeWay Research, Ed Setzer who essentially say the same thing.
Setzer, “Christians must NOT come to church every week expecting the preacher to chew up their food for them…” (Emphasis was in the quote).
Laurie, “I really encourage people to study on their own. It’s a recurring them in my preaching. In a perfect world, Christians would be studying their Bibles every day, and what I offer would be supplemental on a Sunday morning…I’m trying to teach them how to feed themselves. Better yet, I’m trying to teach them how to cook a little bit.”
I love it when well-known men who have a great platform agree with me.
This morning I heard an excellent sermon. It wasn't the "best" I've ever heard, or even in the top five.
ReplyDeleteBut in terms of applicability it is near the top.
The general topic was "sin," something I know a great deal about. It was straight from his text, James 4:1-12; it came out of his life, and it came out of mine - the primary issue He is dealing with nearly all day every day.
And of course it aligns with my own study in Isaiah as well. Pride, arrogance, idolatry and self-centeredness to get started.
Since the Lord took the love of my life to Himself, it seems my broken heart is letting all that is in there pour out. I am learning the reality of heart-felt tear-stained repentance. The deeper I look, the more is there.
Probably more important, I'm learning a whole lot more about the cross, and the "Grace that is greater than all (my) sin."
I think I am going to be at this for a very long time, until I see His face...."