I remember the first couple of sermons I preached as the pastor. I was terrified. That actually puts it mildly. I was more than terrified. I didn't know how to preach a sermon (even though I never owned up to that). I didn't know how to invite people to respond to the message they had heard. I didn't know how people would respond to me. I didn't know if what I said had any significance or not. I didn't know a lot of things and I was very insecure. Those first few months were very difficult because I longed for guidance and hung on every word my church friends would say. If they liked what I did, then I felt good. If they didn't like what I did, then I worried about my tenure and my reputation and my ability to climb the denominational ladder and so on... To put it mildly, I was insecure and worried about what everybody thought.
When sermon time rolled around (and believe me it rolled around a lot), I would find myself hiding out and begging God to give me a word to share with the people. Sometimes I would get a clear understanding of what that word was and when I shared it, it was like ice cream in the summer - short lived and sweet! Sometimes I would get a sense of what I needed to say and it would come out ok. Other times I would have a clue what I was talking about and it was like the dog days of summer - miserable and never-ending! This cycle went on for about a year and then I learned about something called inerrancy.
I had heard about inerrancy before and even understood what it was, but I had never seen anyone apply it. One of my professors helped me to understand it when he asked this question in class - How do you guys get your sermons? Man, he got some responses. One guy said, "I get mine from my pastor." Another said, "I spend time in prayer and wait on God to speak to me." Another said, "I just read a text and then tell what I want them to know." This kind of thing went on for a while until the professor asked, "Who gets their sermons from the Bible?" Of course, all of us said that we got our sermons from the Bible. But he got us thinking. He went on to teach us that the Bible is the Word that God has for us and for his people. He taught us that if we would preach the Bible and get ourselves out of the way as much as possible that the Bible would speak for itself. Now that's a radical concept!
You know, I don't have to add anything to the Bible. Indeed, I can NOT add anything to the Bible. I don't have the right to take anything away from it; therefore, I am obligated to share all of it. In short, the Bible stands for itself. There are lots of reasons for this and inerrancy is a big one. Inerrancy means the Bible is free from error. I believe that the Bible in its original manuscripts is totally inerrant and the copies that we have are so close to the originals that we can affirm the same for them.
When my professor helped me understand that the Bible doesn't need my help to give it a voice and that it simply needs for me to get out of the way in the preaching of it so its voice can be heard, he set me free from the problem of insecurity that I was living with. When I or any preacher or teacher clearly presents the Bible for what it is, it is amazing at how well spoken, articulate and clear it really is. It's also amazing at how freeing that is to the one who teaches because then the response of the people is focused on the messenger, but it is focused on the message of God's Word. What a confidence builder? What a faith builder? What a courage builder? The Word of God is just that - THE WORD OF GOD!
Who in their right mind thinks they could add to it or take away from it? Who in their right mind would fear what another thinks about it? Who in their right mind would fear what others think of him? If it is the Word of God ( and it is) and the preacher or teacher does his homework in order to clearly present God's Word, then why would any preacher or teacher ever worry / fret / or feel insecure about it? I don't anymore because all I do is share what the Bible says? Don't be in bondage because of insecurity like this guy...
When sermon time rolled around (and believe me it rolled around a lot), I would find myself hiding out and begging God to give me a word to share with the people. Sometimes I would get a clear understanding of what that word was and when I shared it, it was like ice cream in the summer - short lived and sweet! Sometimes I would get a sense of what I needed to say and it would come out ok. Other times I would have a clue what I was talking about and it was like the dog days of summer - miserable and never-ending! This cycle went on for about a year and then I learned about something called inerrancy.
I had heard about inerrancy before and even understood what it was, but I had never seen anyone apply it. One of my professors helped me to understand it when he asked this question in class - How do you guys get your sermons? Man, he got some responses. One guy said, "I get mine from my pastor." Another said, "I spend time in prayer and wait on God to speak to me." Another said, "I just read a text and then tell what I want them to know." This kind of thing went on for a while until the professor asked, "Who gets their sermons from the Bible?" Of course, all of us said that we got our sermons from the Bible. But he got us thinking. He went on to teach us that the Bible is the Word that God has for us and for his people. He taught us that if we would preach the Bible and get ourselves out of the way as much as possible that the Bible would speak for itself. Now that's a radical concept!
You know, I don't have to add anything to the Bible. Indeed, I can NOT add anything to the Bible. I don't have the right to take anything away from it; therefore, I am obligated to share all of it. In short, the Bible stands for itself. There are lots of reasons for this and inerrancy is a big one. Inerrancy means the Bible is free from error. I believe that the Bible in its original manuscripts is totally inerrant and the copies that we have are so close to the originals that we can affirm the same for them.
When my professor helped me understand that the Bible doesn't need my help to give it a voice and that it simply needs for me to get out of the way in the preaching of it so its voice can be heard, he set me free from the problem of insecurity that I was living with. When I or any preacher or teacher clearly presents the Bible for what it is, it is amazing at how well spoken, articulate and clear it really is. It's also amazing at how freeing that is to the one who teaches because then the response of the people is focused on the messenger, but it is focused on the message of God's Word. What a confidence builder? What a faith builder? What a courage builder? The Word of God is just that - THE WORD OF GOD!
Who in their right mind thinks they could add to it or take away from it? Who in their right mind would fear what another thinks about it? Who in their right mind would fear what others think of him? If it is the Word of God ( and it is) and the preacher or teacher does his homework in order to clearly present God's Word, then why would any preacher or teacher ever worry / fret / or feel insecure about it? I don't anymore because all I do is share what the Bible says? Don't be in bondage because of insecurity like this guy...
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