Private Panels 

Generational Conflict

Generational gaps and leadership transitions are dividing local churches and denominations. Is this inevitable or can it be avoided? What are some stories of success?

Darrin Patrick, Tim Keller, Matt Chandler, and  Kevin DeYoung (moderator)

Homosexuality

Public opinion has changed rapidly against the traditional view, and new laws pose new challenges to our churches. What should we expect in the coming years? What can we do, and what should we change?

Mark Dever (moderator), Tim Keller, Al Mohler, and David Powlison

Theological Trends

i.            Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Don Carson)

ii.         Open Ended Discussion (Tim Keller, Don Carson, and Albert Mohler)

Video Discussions

These short, lively discussions celebrate unity in diversity amongst our Council members. Each of the following videos will be available on the TGC website.

Did Jesus Preach the Gospel?
John Piper, Tim Keller, D.A. Carson

Why Is TGC Complementarian? How Does That Relate to the Gospel?
D. A. Carson,, John Piper, and Tim Keller

The Importance of Getting the Trinity Right
Tim Keller, John Piper, and D. A. Carson

Church Size: Does it Matter?
Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, and Matt Chandler

Should Your Church Make Room for Art?
Darrin Patrick, Mark Dever, and Matt Chandler

Handling Church Discipline in Front of a Watching World
Kent Hughes, Thabiti Anyabwile, and Phil Ryken

Pastors and Politics: What's Appropriate from the Pulpit
Bill Kynes, Voddie Baucham, and Mark Dever

When Should Christians Engage in Civil Disobedience?
Tim Keller, John Yates, and Al Mohler

Image credit: Carl Larsen

Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching by John MacArthur, Albert Mohler, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, et al. (Reformation Trust) [Kindle - $0.99]

Is Biblical Preaching Doomed to Extinction? In the Old Testament, God decried the fact that His people were perishing for lack of knowledge about Him. The same seems to be occurring today. There is sharing, suggesting, plenty of storytelling, and lots of preaching to felt needs in modern pulpits. But the authoritative, expositional opening of the Word of God is becoming scarcer all the time. Jesus told Peter, Feed my sheep (John 21:17). Such is the mission for all Christ's shepherds. But when preaching is neglected, those who have been called to feed the sheep do little more than pet them. In this book, eleven pastors and scholars issue a fervent plea for preachers to preach the Word. Here is encouragement for pastors to persevere in their calling and wisdom to guide congregations in holding their shepherds to the biblical standards.

Billy Graham: His Life and Influence by David Aikman (Thomas Nelson) [Kindle - $4.07]

Having known more American presidents, foreign leaders, and famous people than any other American living or dead, he has been uniquely able to speak to the heart of the average person and bring peace and clarity to a nation in trying times. Graham's ministry flourished during a challenging period in the American experience, when the nation was coming to terms with its unexpected new strength in the world and grappling with the most serious racial and social upheavals since the Civil War. Now acclaimed author and former Time magazine senior correspondent David Aikman sheds new and deserved light on that influence, probing critical episodes of Graham's life that help explain his profound impact, both on the public life of America and other nations and the private lives of their cultural and political leaders.

Handbook to Wisdom: Biblical Insights for Everyday Life by Kenneth D. Boa (Zondervan) [Kindle - $3.99 | Nook - $3.99]

The Handbook to Wisdom guides you through Scripture, focusing on four key areas: praise, promises, wisdom, and truth. Each daily reading draws you deeper into Scripture through three elements: a thought for the day, Scripture to read, and a short prayer. These elements work together to help you internalize the message of each chapter.

The Grad's Guide to Healthy Living: Mind, Body, Soul, Spirit by The Navigators (Navpress) [Kindle - $3.79]

The Grad's Guide to Healthy Living is filled with advice from current college students and written just for you. Discover how to make good choices, avoid risky behavior, and stay on track as you care for your body (sleeping, eating, exercising), mind (getting organized, choosing what you believe), soul (navigating new emotions and relationships), and spirit (praying, spending time with God). College is the perfect time to take charge and develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
 
 

The Napoleon of Notting Hill & The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton (Hendrickson) [Kindle - $0.95]

G. K. Chesterton is already a staple in the Hendrickson list with Orthodoxy and Heretics in the Hendrickson Christian Classics series. Known primarily for his non-fiction, he also wrote fiction, and The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who was Thursday are among his best known and most loved novels.

But I saw a heavenly gaze in his eyes as he drew near to leaving this world. I saw this same longing in my grandma's eyes as she approached her final breath. Although they were patriots here, they knew that this country, this world, was not their home. Their citizenship was in heaven, and they looked forward to arriving in the place Christ had prepared for them.

Like many others, the church of my grandparents often sung patriotic hymns and integrated civic themes and symbols into their Christian worshiping life. This is only appropriate insofar as the liturgy does not distract from the reality that our ultimate loyalty should be to God alone.

Unfortunately some of the patriotic hymns of the American church contain dangerous teachings, using eschatological language that portrays the United States as the promised New Jerusalem, such as this couplet from "America The Beautiful":

Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!

We must not idolize our nation or forget the multinational character of the body of Christ. He has ransomed his church from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Rather than boast in our national pride, let us boast in Christ alone.

We should pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in other nations---even enemy states---as we remember Christians throughout history and even today who have stood against political regimes in order to be faithful to the gospel.

Finally, we should properly honor the men and women who have been killed in service to our country by keeping their service in perspective. We can commemorate their sacrifices made on our behalf without regarding their service as having "paid the ultimate price." The sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone has saved us from sin and death.

Not Our Final Home

Worship gatherings give us the opportunity to remember that, like our father Abraham and the patriarchs of old, this world is not our final destination (Hebrews 11:8-10; 13-16). We are a chosen race purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are citizens of a heavenly country who owe our highest allegiance to God, whose authority is unrivaled.

As you're planning your worship services in light of the civic calendar, remember that citizenship is a good and important calling---we do not leave our patriotic affections or citizen responsibilities at the door when we gather for worship. But we must ensure our celebrations do not include superficial sentimentality or unintended heresies.

We honor our nation in a godly manner by working for Christ's kingdom here on earth. We pray for God's grace to enable us to love our country well by doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly before the Lord (Micah 6:8). And we remember that we belong to a heavenly city whose Builder and Architect is God.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:14).

Pastor David is perpetually frustrated, and he is self-aware enough to know it. As his church is growing, he is always overwhelmed with details, dropped balls, and urgent discussions and decisions. In response, he is about to hire another part-time staff member. He thinks, If I can just get another body on my team, surely some of this chaos will dissipate.

He meets for lunch with one of his elders to show him the plan. The supportive elder responds, "David, if this move will help the church and you, I am for it, but the level of frustration and chaos sounds greater than where we were six months ago when we brought Steve on part-time. How confident are you that this move will be different?"

Pastor David is stung by the question, and as he reflects over the next several days, he realizes his staffing philosophy has been more reactive than proactive.

Reactive staffing responds to the urgent, the chaotic, and the squeaky. Reactive staffing certainly addresses the leader's "felt needs," but these are not necessarily the "real needs" of the church. Because reactive staffing responds to the most chaotic and squeaky departments, these under-performing areas may receive more resources and support than areas or departments more likely to advance the mission of the church. While relieving short-term stress, reactive staffing only treats the symptom of the problem---not the deeper issue. So within a few months, the chaos returns.

Instead of addressing chaos, reactive staffing may in fact elevate the chaos. To "fill a gap," a pastor will sometimes hire a hardworking but unskilled leader. In these cases the individual, because he lacks wisdom and the ability to mobilize a team, actually adds more work to the team rather than effectively distributing the load throughout the body. The hardworking yet foolish staff member only creates more and more unproductive work for everyone else. Far from a relieving stress, this staff member contributes chaos. While a lazy staff member is a disgrace, at least he does not clutter everyone else's calendar or inbox with meaningless discussions.

Proactive staffing considers the important and future needs of the church and plans to staff accordingly. This practice doesn't necessarily mean that a leader hires before additional growth, as resources must be in place to finance the personnel costs. But it does mean the leaders hire strategically, rather than reactively. The practice of proactive staffing requires deep discipline, because it looks past the current and seemingly more urgent "fires" in favor of another entirely different direction or initiative. The thought of robbing the ministry areas poised for the greatest effect by rewarding the chaotic ones with more resources terrifies leaders who practice proactive staffing.

Ultimately a pastor's approach to staffing, whether reactive or proactive, reveals his theology of staffing. Reactive staffing is built upon an unbiblical, or at least an incomplete, ecclesiology.

Jethro Rebuke

When I was a 22-year-old student pastor, a godly mentor revealed my faulty theology of staffing by lovingly and graciously confronting me about my reactive approach. I was feverishly attempting to minister to every student, attend every game, know every issue in each student's life, while simultaneously preparing messages, running details for programs, and planning events. As the ministry grew, things began to feel more and more chaotic. The logical solution, in my mind, was to hire part-time staff members and interns.

This godly mentor confronted me with Jethro-like precision. "What you are doing is not right. You will wear yourself out, and the needs will never be met. Before you hire anyone, you need to understand why you would want more staff, and the reason must be deeper than helping you with a task list."

During the original Jethro conversation, found in Exodus 18, Moses was confronted because of his unhealthy approach to ministry. He was feeling the burden and weight of growing responsibilities. Not only was he overwhelmed, but the people were also going home unsatisfied. Jethro told Moses to build a leadership system with godly men to distribute the care for all the people. He asked Moses to stop doing ministry and prepare others to do ministry.

My God-ordained Jethro conversation resulted in the realization that, essentially, I left the ministry when I became a pastor. In my identity as a follower of Jesus, I must always be a servant---never being above setting up chairs. But in my role as pastor, I am called to prepare others for ministry. And preparing others for ministry means preparing believers in the body to minister to each other, not outsourcing the ministry to relieve pressure.

Often I hear staff teams bemoan the lack of volunteer engagement in their churches. Just as often I have discovered that the problem isn't with the people in the church but a faulty staffing theology. Hiring staff from a reactionary posture perpetuates an unhealthy dependence on clergy and fosters low levels of volunteerism.

Staffing Theology

The typical approach to ministry in many churches looks like this:

(Pastors) >> Minister >> (People)

Typically pastors or staff persons are hired to minister to people. The number of children increases, so the solution is to hire another staff person. The number of sick people is on the rise; therefore, someone is hired to visit the hospitals. The number of counseling appointments increases; so another part-time staff member is added.

Sadly, the typical approach hampers spiritual growth. People gifted by God and called to serve him ride the bench and watch the professional ministers or newest staff member make the ministry happen. They miss the joy of experiencing Christ serving others through them. Instead of fostering a serving posture among believers, the typical approach to ministry helps develop consumers and moochers rather than participants and contributors. The typical approach hampers the movement of the church. The effectiveness of a local church slows as people learn that the majority of ministry occurs through the "professionals." The scope of the ministry therefore is limited to the time and abilities of a few people. The typical view is illogical; worse, it is unbiblical.

The biblical approach is found in Ephesians 4:11-12: "And he personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ." The biblical approach looks like this:

(Pastors) >> Prepare >> (People) >> Minister >> (Each Other)

Pastors with a biblical theology of staffing possess a deep-seeded conviction that all believers, not just the "professionals," are gifted for ministry. Thus they invite all believers to engage in ministry and view themselves as equippers of the ministers within the church.

The implication for reactive versus proactive staffing is simple, yet profound. A church leader who views staff as an opportunity to equip believers in the church will proactively and strategically hire leaders who can build networks, equip others, and mobilize volunteers. A church leader who views staff as people who "do ministry" will reactively seek to hire leaders when needs urgently or chaotically bubble to the surface.

• Part 1, Chapter 1
• Part 1, Chapter 2
• Part 1, Chapter 3
• Part 1, Chapter 4

**********

Plot summary: Like the preceding chapter, this one continues to tell the story of Meursault's routines and relationships. In view of what happens in the next chapter, this unit is the lull before the storm, but as we experience the unfolding action we have no way of knowing. The chapter unfolds in four main phases: (1) Meursault's morning at work, (2) Marie's visit in the evening, (3) supper at Céleste's restaurant, and (4) a pre-bedtime conversation with Salamano.

A Word about Reading

I will arrange my commentary according to the succession of four units noted above. Before I start my journey through chapter five, though, I want to say something about the dynamics of reading a novel. We owe it to a great writer to assume that he or she has a master plan. It is our task as readers to discover that plan. Reading a story is akin to solving a riddle. This will be clearer if we scrutinize a story with the conviction that the author has arranged the data for a precise purpose. I fully expect that some of you will resist the idea of reading as being akin to figuring out a riddle, but I have found it a useful strategy and one that enhances my sense of adventure as I read.

In the same vein, I will commend a theory of Camus's intellectual and literary confidant Jean-Paul Sartre. It is perhaps surprising that a philosopher could have written one of the best short treatises of literary theory in What Is Literature? (trans. Bernard Frechtman; Harper and Row, 1949). Sartre claimed that readers collaborate with an author to produce a work of literature. Reading is directed creation in the sense that the words on the page are the means by which readers invent the work that the author intends. Applying this to the sequence of four units in chapter five, we can view ourselves as assembling the details and their sequence along with Camus, in the process reaching certain conclusions about what is happening in the chapter.

Meursault's Morning in the Office

In an earlier posting I labeled The Stranger a novel of ideas. But the type of truth that literature and the other art are particularly adept at conveying is truthfulness to reality and human experience. This, in turn, yields knowledge in the form of right seeing---getting us to see ourselves and life around us accurately. The classical tradition has championed the idea that the writer "holds the mirror up to life."

We can apply this to the opening paragraphs of chapter five. Most of us have received a personal telephone call while at work and felt our employer or superintendent's disapproval. Most of us know what it is like to have our employer call us into his or her office to discuss a new job opportunity. All of us have felt the sting when we do not respond warmly to what someone else wants us to embrace enthusiastically.

It's harder for us to relate to two other dimensions of Meursault's morning in the office. One is the exchange with Raymond, and it, in turn, has two phases to it. The first is Raymond's invitation to Meursault (which also extends include Marie) to spend the weekend with him on the seaside. Considerably more ominous is Raymond's announcement that he has been stalked by Arab friends, as well as a brother of the mistress whom he abused. On a first reading we have no way of knowing how momentous these two things will be in the story.

More important is the exchange between Meursault and his employer. The offer for Meursault to accept a post in Paris represents opportunity for professional advancement. In a reply that shocks us as much as it shocks the employer, Meursault states that "it was all the same to me" (Ward translation; Stuart Gilbert translation: "I didn't care much one way or the other").  This refusal is then generalized into the sentiment that "one life was as good as another." The conventionally minded employer interprets this as an appalling lack of ambition.

For reflection or discussion: We can begin at the level of truthfulness to everyday reality: how does your life at work compare to Meursault's morning? Second, while we can tuck Raymond's call away in our minds for future reference, Meursault's exchange with his employer is a major event in the novel. How do you assimilate Meursault's rejection of a good job offer and his viewpoint that one life is as good as another? How does this event add to the unfolding portrait of Meursault?

The Most Unusual Proposal of Marriage on Record?

The second scenario in chapter five is Marie's visit to Meursault on the evening of the same day. The primary point of conversation concerns love and marriage. Marie asks Meursault "if I wanted to marry her." Meursault replies famously that "it didn't make any difference to me and that we could if she wanted to" (Ward translation; Gilbert translation: "I said I didn't mind; if she was keen on it, we'd get married"). Further conversation on the subject simply repeats that core idea. Particularly striking, though, is Marie's comment that "marriage was a serious thing," followed by Meursault's reply, "No."

Various strands of the novel converge in this conversation: Meursault's indifference to life, his emotional deficiency, and his inability to attribute human meaning to experience. Meursault cannot generalize from his momentary sensory pleasure with Marie to a permanent emotion called love.

For reflection or discussion: I have refrained from calling Meursault an absurdist hero in this episode, but reflecting on this label helps us closely assess his behavior in this episode. Additionally, we can profitably go through the experience from Marie's point of view. What evidences suggests that Marie is as perplexed and exasperated by Meursault's behavior as we are?

Dinner at Céleste's

The third scenario in this chapter is the oddest bit of invention in the novel thus far. Its focus is "a strange little woman" who asks to share Meursault's table at the restaurant. The highly particularized list of details regarding the woman's appearance and behavior is explicable only if we grant the premises of literary realism. The literary realist is bent on recording the random details of everyday life. If we ask what claim these random details have on us, the literary realist (in this case Camus) would base his or her answer on the principle known as verisimilitude ("lifelikeness"). If it happens in real life, the writer of realism claims, it should interest us.

The episode is so loaded with particularized details that we might initially be inclined to think there is no universal human experience here. But that is always a risky thing to assume about literature. Coming through all of the details in this episode is a very universal experience, namely, eccentricity of character. Anyone who doubts it needs to take a trip to the local fast food restaurant.

For reflection or discussion: The self-imposed task of good practitioners of literary realism is to make the mundane so striking that it will interest the reader. Does Camus succeed with you in this brief episode? We can also ponder how the last sentence of the episode provides an interpretive framework: "I thought about how peculiar she was but forgot her a few minutes later."

A Man and His Dog

Surprisingly, Maursault's interaction with his neighbor Salamano gets the most space in the chapter. Predictably, the point of entry for the conversation is Salamano's still-lost dog. That telescopes into a history of how Salamano came to possess the dog in the first place, and by a logic all its own yields a brief biography of Salamano, including his marital history. Salamano becomes an even more sympathetic figure in our imagination than with his grief over his lost dog in the previous chapter.

Then a chain of connections unfolds as it often does in real life. Salamano tells Meursault that his mother was fond of the dog. With the mother now introduced into the conversation, Salamano naturally offers his condolences. Meursault remains silent. Then we get a major piece of foreshadowing, though on a first reading we have no way of knowing it. Salamano offers the information that people in the neighborhood had "said nasty things about" Meursault (Gilbert translation) because he sent his mother to "the home." Characteristically, Meursault is surprised that people would speak ill of him regarding his mother. Equally telling is the detail that for years Meursault's mother "never had a word to say to me" (Gilbert translation).

For reflection or discussion: On a first reading, we have no way of knowing that the exchange with Salamano is the last evening of normal life for Meursault. If we grant the premise that these two or three pages draw a boundary around Meursault's regular life, what are the keynotes? One of my standard test formats is to print a passage and ask my students to generalize about how the passage epitomizes or typifies the specific author or work from which the passage has been taken; how does the concluding unit dealing with Salamano and Meursault epitomize the novel up to this point?

The Article: To Tattoo or Not to Tattoo?

The Source: Relevant Magazine

The Author: Matthew Lee Anderson

The Gist: The question of whether to get a tattoo should be a question of Christian discipleship, rather than purely individualistic forms of self-expression.

The Excerpt:

Parents and pastors may still have their objections, but most younger Christians don't seem to be very concerned. Discussions about tattoos have often been limited to a single question: "Should I or should I not?" While that's an important line of inquiry, it's not the only one. And answering it requires first thinking through what tattoos mean and why they've become such a prominent form of self-expression at this point in our history. Why not poetry or pixels instead?

The Christian faith is in a God whose concern for human bodies is such that He became one in order to accomplish salvation. The most basic intuition of American culture is that our "rights" allow us to treat our bodies how we want, but the Gospel sets forth a startling alternative: "You are not your own, but you have been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body."

So what does that mean when it comes to permanently altering a body?

The Bottom Line: "Younger Christians often want to shout 'every square inch' along with the Kuyperians until, apparently, we start considering the inches of their skin," Anderson write in a related blog post. "Then the exercise is apparently reduced to legalistic jockeying, an attempt to see who can become the most restrictive while ignoring all those verses about God caring about the heart." He notes that the debates over tattoos offer a chance to consider how evangelicals think about ethics, without "people throwing us over for being heretics." But ultimately, the debate is important because the topic is important: "Tattoos will continue to matter," says Anderson, "because bodies matter."

(Photo by PitbullTattoo on Flickr)

Tim and Ted are brand-new, computer-selected, freshman roommates in the guys' dorm. Tim became a Calvinist about six months ago. He reads Reformed books, listens to Reformed podcasts, talks incessantly about Reformed theology, and just got a "Soli Deo Gloria" tattoo.

Ted is his roommate. He is not Reformed. In fact, he actually doesn't like Reformed people or their theology. He listens to Southern Gospel music on tape and opposes tattoos of any kind.

It's going to be a long semester.

Were we to listen in on their conversations (a.k.a. significant disagreements) throughout their short journey together, we would likely hear a number of things loud and clear. First, we would hear two young men equally passionate about what they believe. This is truly a wonderful thing. Second, we would hear that they actually agree on much more than they disagree on. But they usually shout too loudly to hear it themselves.

I am not going to lead us in a chorus of "Love Can Build a Bridge" and say that things like polity and baptism don't really matter or "love unites, but doctrine divides." Yet I have seen over the years how Christians get so consumed with secondary issues that the gospel is obscured, the mission is sidetracked, and the body of Christ is injured.

There must be a better way to fight about the things we can't seem to agree on. Consider these four ways to fight clean over doctrine.

1. Keep the cross at the center of your theological system.

I have found it impossible to look up to Jesus and then down my nose at a brother or sister with whom I disagree. A cross-centered theology reminds us to keep the "main thing the main thing" and serves as a helpful compass to navigate the landscape of secondary issues. It also helps us see how much we actually share in common and what serves as the source of unity and hope. When the gospel is the center, everything else becomes appropriately resized.

2. Ask yourself some uncomfortable questions.

We all like to assume that we are as cool as ice when the differences come to light, but is this really the case? Ask yourself these questions: What posture do I take in a doctrinal discussion? Do I quickly become agitated? Do I raise your voice easily? How would my wife or those closest to me people describe me during these kinds of situations? Take it a step further and actually ask them. Their answers may surprise you. And help you.

3. Remember that you probably held the other position not too long ago.

Nearly all pastors and theologians I know continually refine their theology. Sure, we may have the "big things" down, but some theological shifting is natural as we learn, grow, and age. If, for example, if you subscribe to a more Reformed understanding of the "doctrines of grace," there is a strong chance that you haven't always stood where you stand now. The way you present your ideas has a lot to do with how they're received. Don't be another "angry Calvinist." We have enough of them.

4. Pursue humility with the same passion that you pursue clarity.

This may be the most difficult but necessary pursuit of all. Never forget that studying comes with a built-in occupational hazard: pride. It is so easy to live on the wrong side of 1 Corinthians 8:1b: "Knowledge puffs up but love builds up." As we seek to be diligent in out study, we should seek to be equally diligent in our pursuit of humility. To this end, I try to devote myself to prayer, re-reading Philippians 2, and reflecting on Jesus' finished work on the cross. As we see the great humility of Jesus, the Spirit will cultivate greater humility in us as well.

Tim and Ted were great guys, but they fought dirty and both lost. Too often we fall into the same trap. May God give us the grace today to begin fighting a different fight---with our own sin---so that we fight clean.

Every pastor's week looks a little different. So I can offer you no foolproof method for effective sermon preparation. Indeed, ministry typically results in a consistently shifting schedule. With those qualifiers in mind, here is a glimpse of what my weekly approach looks like, followed by some suggestions for continual growth in our preaching.

Approach to Sermon Preparation 

One key to my sermon prep is always having an eye toward what is ahead. At any given time, I know the basic structure of what we'll be preaching on for the next 12 to 18 months. This is usually decided in consultation with other pastoral staff members who help to ensure that we are preaching the full counsel of God's Word. We look to maintain a balance between the Testaments and the various genres of the Bible. An example of how this works out can be seen in the preaching schedule at Citylife Presbyterian Church in Boston over the last two years or so:

Jan. 2010 to May 2010: 1 Peter

June 2010 to August 2010: OT Narratives

Sept. 2010 to August 2011: Gospel of Luke

Sept. 2011 to May 2012: Encountering God (various genres, mostly OT)

June 2012 to Aug. 2012: Wisdom Literature

Sept. 2012 to May 2013: 2 Corinthians

With a schedule in place, you're never scrambling for a text. You're also letting the Scriptures determine what you're going to preach, rather than returning to your favorite topic or doctrine of interest.

Now that I have my text, how do I go about preparing to preach on it?

Tuesday

For me, sermon prep starts on Tuesday morning when I gather my preaching staff (assistant pastors) for sermon discussions. We meet for about two and a half hours to read the text, talk it over, and pray that it would begin to shape us. During our discussions, we are collectively looking to find two things:

1. The Main Idea: What is the micro-contextual meaning of this text? What is the authorial intent? How do the various sections of the text hang together?
2. The Big Idea: How does this text fit into the one-story-plotline of the whole Bible? What redemptive-historical threads are present in the text? This element is essential in helping us find the gospel entry point: where the text intersects with the macro-context of the canon and Christ is seen as the ultimate fulfillment of redemptive-history.

By the end of our discussion, we will have determined a basic outline for the sermon, a general idea of where the sermon is headed.

On Tuesday afternoon, for about four hours, I continue down the micro-contextual route. Here, I'm looking at the original languages, doing discourse analysis, and trying to get a handle on the logical flow of the text. Word studies and grammatical analysis are also useful at determining the main idea of the text. I have not yet gone to any commentaries; they are usually consulted late in my preparation. It is essential that we wrestle with the text as it stands before calling in the "experts." Furthermore, this exegetical work keeps us from missing authorial intent or moving too quickly to application.

Wednesday

Sermon prep is typically on hold Wednesday when meetings, counseling appointments, and other pastoral responsibilities call for my attention. I use this day to sit on the sermon, allowing the Word to affect me personally.

Thursday

For about four hours on Thursday, I take what I've gathered from textual study and begin to look closer at the inter-canonical themes in the text. I've got my eye out for ways in which Christ is the fulfillment, resolution, or completion of the dramatic tensions in the Bible's plotline. A few common inter-canonical themes I might be looking for include kingship, grace and law, creation/fall/redemption/new creation, idolatry, marriage/faithfulness, Sabbath rest, justice/judgment, and so on.

This is also the point when I consult commentaries and other books. Perhaps surprisingly, I don't go to the technical commentaries all that often. Because I've done the exegetical work, I use more popular-level books and commentary series to help me make gospel and application connections. Tyndale, The Bible Speaks Today, and The Gospel According to the OT are all helpful series in this regard. Three to four of these types of commentaries should be on every pastor's shelf. Finding other books and articles that address particular themes in your sermon series is also a great help.

Friday

Friday morning signals a shift toward application. I think about the hearts of individuals in my congregation, consider potential points of application, and continue to pray the text into my own life. What heart idols are being addressed in this text? What are the apologetic issues that will need to be addressed? How can I preach the gospel to the unbelief in the hearts of both Christians and skeptics? A great way to be thinking along these applicational and contextual lines is to keep an eye on publications like The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and your local newspaper. I also find it helpful to keep up with the top four or five non-fiction books creating conversations in these publications. All of this helps me keep my finger on the cultural pulse of the people in my church and leads me to interact with the major ideas shaping our world.

Friday afternoon is the point at which I write up a basic manuscript---not a full narrative, but something more akin to an outline.

Saturday

All day Saturday I spend with my family. Then, on Saturday night, I prayerfully read over the manuscript for about three hours, making small, last-minute adjustments.

Sunday

The final step to my sermon prep is a time of prayer on Sunday morning from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. The goal of all my preparation is to do three things: expound Christ, adore Christ, and apply Christ. With this in mind, I pray Sunday morning that while I am preaching the gospel, I'll be able to exalt and worship Christ who alone can bring about change in the hearts and lives of his people.

Lessons Learned 

1. Connect Your Text to the Whole Bible

Throughout my ministry, I've come to learn the importance of connecting the main idea of the text into the big story of the Bible. When I first started to preach, I was trained to understand expository preaching as simply communicating the main idea of the local context. There are several people who helped me to see that this was not Jesus' hermeneutic (Luke 24; John 5:39, 45-47), and they urged me to see how the meaning of a text ought to fit into the one-story-plotline of the Bible: Meredith Kline, Greg Beale, Edmund Clowney, and Don Carson among others. This realization has moved my preaching, which formerly tended to be moralistic, to become more redemptive-historical and Christo-telic.

2. Connect Your Life to the Lives of Your People

Young preachers often hold high ideals of spending 18 hours in sermon preparation each week. While significant study and preparation is essential, it may be largely unfruitful if you don't know the pains and trials your congregation is facing. If your preaching is to be marked by love and compassion for God's people, you must know them. Understand their lives so that when you preach the gospel, it is affecting them where they are, not where you imagine them to be.

3. Cultivate a Posture of Constant Learning

You can always refine and improve upon your approach to the extremely important responsibility of heralding Christ and the gospel. Here are two suggestions:

• Learn from any and all preachers, but don't try to imitate them. We've all got to get to a point where we realize, "This is who I am." I'm not Lloyd-Jones. You're not Piper. Seek to become increasingly comfortable with your own style and voice.
• Invite constructive criticism, but don't become preoccupied with it. Whether it's about your inflection or a potentially distracting tic, your spouse, friends, and fellow preachers will be extremely helpful in fine-tuning your preaching. Remember, however, this advice from John Stott: "It is essential to cultivate self-forgetfulness through a growing awareness of the God for whom and the people to whom you are speaking." The only way to do that is to do the following:

4. Consistently Find Your Identity in Christ, Not in Your Preaching

The gospel you preach must define you. You need to taste it to know that it is good. What else will sustain you through your first 100 sermons, which are not likely to be very good?

You must keep preaching the gospel to your own heart so that you do not get your identity from preaching. You cannot rise or fall on evaluations of your performance. If you feel good when people complement your sermons but feel terrible when you think you've dropped the ball, preaching itself may be functioning as an idol.

Ultimately, we need to work towards the goal that Paul speaks about in 1 Timothy 4:10: "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God"---not on our preaching, sermons, or ministry.

Why you should know him: Plantinga has been described by Time magazine as "America's leading orthodox Protestant philosopher of God."

Position: Emeritus John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and the inaugural holder of the Jellema Chair in Philosophy at Calvin College.

Education:
A.B., Calvin College (1954)
M.A., University of Michigan (1955)
Ph.D., Yale University (1958)

Areas of interest/expertise: Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion.

Associations: American Philosophical Association Central Division, Vice-President (1980-81) President (1981-82); Society of Christian Philosophers, President (l983-86)

Books: Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism (2011), Warranted Christian Belief (2000); Warrant: the Current Debate (1993); Warrant and Proper Function (1993); Faith and Rationality (ed.) (1983); The Analytic Theist: A Collection of Alvin Plantinga's Work in Philosophy of Religion, ed. James Sennett (1998); Does God Have a Nature? (1980); God, Freedom and Evil (1974); God and Other Minds (1967); The Ontological Argument, (ed) (1965); Faith and Philosophy, (ed) (1964)

Assessment: Plantinga has made a number of significant contributions in various areas of philosophy. His books and articles have addressed such diverse topics as restoring the ontological argument (using modal logic) and defending against the logical "problem of evil" (using a "free-will defense"). His development of Reformed epistemology (along with William Alston and Nicholas Wolterstorff) has helped shift the burden of proof in respect to knowledge about God. By arguing that belief in God is a "basic belief," Plantinga has helped to reestablish the role of faith as knowledge without resorting to a fideism. He has also presented criticisms of sociobiology and naturalism that have helped to raise doubts about their intellectual respectability and weaken them as defensible positions.

Plantinga's ability to produce sophisticated philosophical arguments from a thoroughly Christian worldview has made him one of the most indispensable and important thinkers in the history of evangelicalism.

Articles and Essays:

Advice to Christian Philosophers

Darwin, Mind and Meaning

Methodological Naturalism?

Two Dozen (or so) Theistic Arguments

Theism, Atheism, and Rationality

Naturalism Defeated

Other Posts in the "Know Your Evangelicals" Series:

William Wilberforce

Charles Colson

Francis Schaeffer

I recently sat down in Washington, D.C., with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and talked about the apocalyptic and messianic strains in American politics that direct religious energy into partisan identification. It's not enough in our day to disagree. Politicians must become the Great Enemy or Great Deliverer, Messiah or Antichrist. No wonder so many Christians want to swear off politics altogether. But Douthat explains why withdrawal, while tempting, isn't much of an option for conscience-bound Christians who want to love their neighbors.

Drawing on themes of his new book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Douthat cites two examples of politicians worth emulating and offers one practical way Christians can be faithfully political without being fatefully partisan.

Download the eight-minute audio clip.