Many spiritual leaders, teachers and communicators face a challenge each year as they forecast their goals and each week as they craft their message. Will they be biblical or bublical?
We find ourselves in a level of comfort believing that we must be students of the WORD and exegete the pages of Scripture rightly. Often that comfort lives with our predetermined ‘BOX’ that is defined clearly by ‘my’ understanding of God. Often we call that ‘systematic theology.’…like God can be systematized….IF He can, then I would propose your God is too small, because He is bigger than your current box.
Great that you exegete the Word. But do you give equal time to exegeting your culture? Do you know the people outside of the walls of your church? A church that lives within its 4 walls is no church at all. God has told us to live ‘in’ the world and yet not be a part ‘of’ the world. HOW can we do that? Some thoughts:
1. It’s important to not only study Scripture, but also to be a student of popular culture
2. Examine those pieces in light of the Truth of Scripture and teach that to your church.
3. It’s important that we’re not only Biblical, but also practical. Too many of us are “Bublical” – too many of us live in the Christian “bubble” speaking only to Christians – closed off from the outside world.