Middle school students have a way of humbling you. I was speaking at our student ministry’s midweek gathering and closed with a reference to the apostle Paul. Running short on time, I chose to jump in without any thought given to context. I read Acts 28:30-31,
“For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” (NIV)
Then I finished with a strong call to engage our culture like Paul did. I challenged the students to live like Paul, who while in prison was still committed to sharing the Kingdom of Heaven. He was bold and unafraid and wouldn’t be stopped. I closed with a crescendo, “Just imagine the possibilities if you would follow Paul’s example!”
It felt right. I had struck an emotional chord, and I could see students beginning to process the ramifications of what I had said. Being at all times overly optimistic, I was imagining the possibilities of our student ministry descending on their schools the next day passionately prepared to share the gospel with their friends. I pictured them gathering in classrooms, in the gym, the cafeteria, at their lockers. It was going to be great!
Immediately following my message, the middle schoolers gathered in small groups to discuss and digest what they were hearing. Less than five minutes later, an amused leader summoned me over to a middle school guys group to answer a couple questions. I sat down in the circle of chairs with eager anticipation. “What are you all thinking?” I asked.
“I closed with a crescendo, ‘Just imagine the possibilities if you would follow Paul’s example!'”
However, their questions had nothing to do with disciple making—and everything to do with going to prison. Apparently, all they had heard was, “Go to prison so you can preach like Paul!” I meant, “Go and boldly proclaim Jesus to the students in your school.” But my young, concrete-thinking friends had heard, “If you want to preach like Paul, you have to go to jail first.” It’s no surprise they had questions for me.
As communicators of God’s Word, if we want to communicate clearly, we need to start with context.
Clarity without context leads to action without foundation.
Without context, we risk so much. Without providing context, we risk reducing the beauty of God’s Word to soundbites and social media posts. We lift our favorite verses out of God’s Word, reducing them to inspirational quotes and memes. We reject the power of God’s Word by ignoring the connection to the ways God has been working since the dawn of creation.
Context delivers the broad-stroke picture that helps our audience recognize the finer brush strokes within the lives, stories, and events of Scripture. Context allows us to see the author’s full thought process, as well as accurately helping us translate and define individual words. This involves all the types of context we learn about in “hermeneutics” or “biblical interpretation” classes and books: literary context, historical context, geographical context, cultural context, etc. There’s the need to explore the verses that surround the passage you’re teaching, as well as the need to understand the basics of the biblical book the passage is found in. As a general rule, the smaller the passage being preached, the easier it is to ignore context, leading to errors like my embarrassing student ministry blunder.
Whatever passage we preach, we need to connect our listeners to the larger context, most importantly how it is grounded in the foundation of Jesus Christ and his gospel. We must ask ourselves questions such as: How does this connect to the greater narrative of God’s Word? How does this connect to everything else Paul/Peter/John/etc. wrote? How does this agree with and support themes throughout the Old and New Testaments?
“Whatever passage we preach, we need to connect our listeners to the larger context.”
There is far too much to consider in this article but suffice it to say, giving clear directions without the correct context leads to confused people and unintended actions. In worst-case scenarios, cults are formed, hurtful policies are enacted, and people are hurt. In a more typical case scenario, middle school boys begin plotting their path to a prison ministry, and parents have lots of questions.
Context without clarity leads to knowledge without obedience.
While it’s helpful to “geek out” on exploring the context of a biblical passage, we leave our audience lost in the weeds until we help clear a path which answers the question “what do we do now?” When we ignore this kind of practical clarity, we find ourselves wandering and leading people aimlessly through Scripture. Sure, we increase our knowledge of Scripture but forget that Jesus never equated knowing information with faithfulness. He did, however, equate obedience to faithfulness.
Clarity points directly to a next step. Haddon Robinson in his book Biblical Preaching wrote, “For the preacher, clarity is a moral matter. If what we preach either draws people to God or keeps them away from Him, then for God’s sake and the people’s sake we must be clear.”[1]
When we preach, we have a mandate to be crystal clear. It shouldn’t be your congregation’s responsibility to decipher what you are trying to say. It is your job to do everything in your power to ensure that your congregation hears the Word of God in a way that they can understand and obey.
“It shouldn’t be your congregation’s responsibility to decipher what you are trying to say.”
Similar to context, there is far too much to cover in a single article. But please don’t miss this: Teaching great content without simple clarity leads to knowledgeable yet disobedient people. In a worst-case scenario, churches become clubs, Kingdom opportunities go unconsidered, and people stay lost. In a more typical case scenario, middle school boys learn that Paul preached everywhere he went—including prison—but never have their eyes opened that they are also to preach everywhere they go.
If you’re preparing a sermon for this Sunday, please take the time to learn the context. Do the research. Spend time with the Spirit. And then do the work to develop memorable clarity. Then, go preach the Word and unleash the passionate people of God!
[1] See Haddon Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, second edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1980), 179-180.
