Preaching Apllication

Preaching application is hard. On the one hand, if you just state the general principles, then the audience may not know how to apply it. Take this story...

In our American frontier days, there was a settlement in the West whose citizens were engaged in the lumber business. The town felt they wanted a church. They built a building and called a minister. The preacher moved into the settlement and initially was well received. Then one afternoon he happened to see some of his parishioners dragging some logs, which had been floated down the river from another village upstream, onto the bank. Each log was marked with the owner's stamp on one end. To his great distress, the minister saw his members pulling in the logs and sawing off the end where the telltale stamp appeared.

The following Sunday he preached a strong sermon on the commandment "Thou shalt not steal." At the close of the service, his people lined up and offered enthusiastic congratulations: "Wonderful message, Pastor." "Mighty fine preaching."

The response bothered him a great deal. So he went home to prepare his sermon for the following Sunday. He preached the same sermon but gave it a different ending: "And thou shalt not cut off the end of thy neighbor's logs." When he got through, the congregation ran him out of town.

On the otherhand, we all see bad examples of abuse where the preacher grinding an ax on his pulpit.

I am very aware of the power of the Word preached, therefore I am also very careful to wield it so I won’t misuse its power. There are two articles which under-gird my reservations which I sent you here: The first is “My Words in Your Mouth” by Ken Ulmer and the second is “The Heresy of Application” by Haddon Robinson. (Both are from CT site - if they are no longer accessible, Email me I could send you my cache!)

In Small Group Bible Study, application is not easily going wrong because of the interactive nature of the discussion as well as the equality of all the participants. In preaching, it’s a one way communication, if the preacher went wrong, there’s no corrective mechanism available to clue the audience in. Worse, the audience was trained to hear the preacher’s words as God’s Word, so the potential for damage is even more. There's even another full article on "The Danger of Practical Preaching".

So as I wrestled with how to apply a text for the sermon in the balance of both extremes, I found the following classifications helpful from Michael Fabarez’s book (not cut-and-pasteable from the Internet, so I typed it in here to help me internalize as well):

1. Application that is Certain: Some applications of a given passage should be preached with all the force and authority that come from God Himself.

The certainty of the application stems from careful exegetical and hermeneutical principles…

- [Case example from 2 Tim. 2:15] Paul’s instruction to Timothy regarding the study and handling of God’s Word: The forceful application to modern pastors is to give the study of Scripture high priority, and to work hard at it as faithful men of God

* In this case a certain application has been made, so full authority and force should accompany it. If one disregards this application he does not disregard a man and his opinion, but God and His Word.

2. Application that is Probable: [Some applications could be made by inference.]

Other passages may be enlisted to strengthen this application, and a logical case may be made as well, but one should be cautious as how he states such an application.

- [Same case example of 2Tim.2:15] the application may be made that pastors ought to give a large percentage of their weekly schedule to the study of God’s Word. [Notice that it’s now specific].

* It might be wise to frame the application in the following terms: “It makes sense then that we would give a large percentage of our weekly schedules to the study of God’s Word.”

3. Application that is Possible: Some applications might possibly be inferred from the context of the text and the rest of Scripture]

Disregarding this “application” would not constitute disobedience to God, and therefore should be carefully distinguished from other applications in its tone and force when it is offered.

- [Same case example of 2Tim.2:15] In an attempt to be more specific, an even more specific “application” could be that pastors should spend more time in study of Scripture than in any other duty of the pastorate.

* It might best be presented as: “It may be that most of us would be wise to schedule more time for the study of God’s Word than for any other duty of the pastorate.”

4. Application that is Improbable-but-Possibly-Helpful: Some applications may be useful guideline for some who are hearing the sermon, but it cannot be presented with the same force or authority as application that is certain.

This kind of “application” must be most carefully framed – if it is offered at all. Those who miss your disclaimers will leave thinking you said the Bible teaches this certain way. If you determine that such specificity is needed to prime the pump and get the people thinking in concrete terms, then it is better to present more than one option.

- [Same case example of 2Tim.2:15] Hoping to be helpful, a preacher may offer an application from the passage that suggests that pastors schedule twenty hours of study in the course of their weekly ministry.

* The instance above should be presented with more than one option as: “I have found it very helpful to schedule twenty hours per week for the study of God’s Word. Others have suggested that fifteen hours of study is adequate. Whatever the case, we must be sure to make the study of Scripture a high priority in our pastoral duties and work diligently at it.”

5. Application that is improbable: There are, of course, applications that will not help anyone but will afford you an opportunity to slip in that story that you’ve always wanted to share.

6. Application that is impossible: Worse, you may be tempted to provide an “application” which the text could in no way imply, simply to serve the purpose of some church program or project.

Resist these temptations (of #5 and #6)! When these gimmicks creep into your sermons, your credibility and your pulpit authority will begin to erode.

(Michael Fabarez’s “Preaching That Changes Lives”, p.138-139 with some structural rearragement to make it easier to read...)