Michael Fabarez likes to word his preaching outlines in terms of application points—namely, commands. He suggests, “Framing your main points in the third person allows the hearer to sidestep the issue and apply it to someone else.”[1] In addition he recommends that you “move the wording of your points out of the indicative mood (the way things are) and into the imperative (a call to the way they should be).”[2]
For instance, instead of using the following outline for Isaiah 6:1–8,
1.
A Young Man’s Vision of God
(6:1–4)
2.
A Young Man’s Vision of Sin
(6:5)
3.
A Young Man’s Vision of
Cleansing (6:6–7)
4.
A Young Man’s Vision of Service
(6:8)
Fabarez
believes the outline should be turned into a list of imperatives, such as,
1.
Elevate Your View of God
(6:1–4)
2.
See the Ugliness of Your Sin
(6:5)
3.
Embrace the Cleansing of
Forgiveness (6:6–7)
4.
Dive into the Challenge of
Service (6:8)[3]
See how the each point clearly indicates a
course of action for every listener. In order to achieve further symmetry, you
might also utilize the following “E”s in alliteration:
1.
Elevate Your God (6:1–4)
2.
Expose Your Sin (6:5)
3.
Embrace Your Forgiveness
(6:6–7)
4.
Extend Your Service (6:8)
If you are preaching for change, you are
going to present these applicational challenges anyway (probably in your
conclusion), so why not make them a part of the preaching outline? The outline
remains faithful to the structure of the passage, but its contemporary
implication is made more evident in the preaching event.
Maybe you’re hesitating at this point, concerned that you might be perceived as a confrontational authoritarian. Maybe you don’t like the idea of always presenting commands. Maybe you prefer to hide behind the softer, generic third person to avoid becoming “preachy.” But “the simple truth is, if you are called to be a preacher, then you must preach! If you do not you will degenerate into something truly worse. You might find yourself sliding into the ambiguous ‘Neverland’ of Bible-talker or spiritual advisor.”[4] Do not suggest conformity to the likeness of Christ. Do not advise it. Preach it!
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica: “We proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children” (1 Thess 2:7). Paul showed genuine care for his audience and didn’t discharge his preaching ministry with dictatorial glee or angst. Yet, he still saw himself as a man with a message from God and he didn’t shrink from declaring the whole purpose of God (Acts 20:27). Remember, to be humble. You’re not preaching your own message. You’re God’s representative. Preach implicationally, expecting God will bring about church-wide sanctification.
But be warned, while it’s sometimes helpful to phrase your sermon outline in implicational terminology, there are inherent dangers in manipulating the sermon too much to achieve some kind of pleasing sermonic result. Artful alliteration does not always aid, and isn’t always apt. If you find yourself forcing a structure on the text, simply to satisfy some personal desire for grammatical harmony, then you’re going too far.
The goal is to preach the implications of Scripture. But Mike Fabarez writes, “More heresy is spread in the preacher’s attempt to apply Scripture than in his presentation of Scripture’s meaning.”[5] “Our shoddy handling of the text’s application in fact can nullify our rigid handling of the text’s meaning.”[6] “The same vigilance we demonstrate in interpreting a passage’s meaning must be shown in interpreting its significance.”[7] If you’re going to lead your listeners to certain implications in the sermon outline, you better make sure they’re in the text.
For instance, if you are preaching from Ephesians 5:25: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,” do not force a preaching outline like this:
1. Husbands,
take out the garbage for your wife
2. Husbands,
work hard to provide for your family
3. Husbands,
spend quality time with your wife
4. Husbands, be
wise with your money
5.
Husbands, lead your wife in the Scriptures
These points are certainly applicational. They’re all commands. They’re expressions of a husband’s love for his wife. They’re good things to do. But they are not in the text! If you concentrate on such pointed instruction, you fail to preach the point of the passage. In addition, you run the risk of missing other ways in which a husband may choose to love his wife and you reduce the Christian life to mere rule-keeping. This kind of preaching will not produce mature Christians. Of utmost importance is making sure that the application is, in fact, based on the text, and is appropriately applied to your hearers. Bryan Chapell states, “Preachers who cannot differentiate between a scriptural mandate and a good suggestion drain biblical power from their ministries. You must make sure the Scripture—not you—demands what your application requires.”[8]
In spite of these warnings, preach implicationally. If your listeners leave church not knowing how the Bible should impact their life and thinking, they won’t be able to discuss it with each other, and community-oriented sermon-listening won’t occur.
Writing about Calvin’s preaching, T. H. L. Parker remarks, “Expository preaching consists in the explanation and application of a passage of Scripture. Without explanation it is not expository; without application it is not preaching.”[9]
Pastor, do everything possible to implicate your congregation with clear biblical principles which they can discuss, pray over, and encourage one another to apply to their lives.
[1] Michael Fabarez, Preaching That Changes Lives (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002), 62.
[2] Ibid., 63.
[3] Ibid., 63–64.
[4] Ibid., 64.
[5] Ibid., 39.
[6] Ibid., 40.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the
Expository Sermon, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), 232.
[9] T. H. L. Parker, Calvin's Preaching (Edinburgh: T & T
Clark, 1992), 79.
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