Thriving Spiritually During the Current Pandemic Part 3

For my third installment of the “Thriving Spiritually During the Current Pandemic” series I am compelled to revisit the importance of God’s word in our lives, particularly in the corporate worship of the church. The Bible is one of the primary tools the Holy Spirit uses in our spiritual growth. Another way to say it is that the Bible is a “means of grace” given by God for our ultimate good and His glory in our lives. There are many verses which describe the importance of the Bible, here are two of the more well known passages:

Hebrews 4:12… “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17… “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Both of these passages make it clear that the Bible is no ordinary book. It is God’s word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, given so that we can know God and honor Him. Almost every professing Christian I know would affirm everything I’ve written so far but yet the temptation is to undervalue the importance of God’s word in what we practice. In my initial article in this series I highlighted the importance of understanding God’s word in context. Many a false teaching has resulted from verses being taken out of context. I am convinced that Christians of every stripe need a reformation of sorts as it relates to the importance of God’s word. This is true individually and equally true in our worship services.

It has been over 25 years since I first entered church ministry. During that time, I’ve been in a lot of discussions about worship services and other ministries within the church. I’m a veteran of the “worship wars” which sprang up as contemporary praise songs became popular and witnessed firsthand the dangers of the church growth fads that have sprung up over the past 25-30 years. Sadly, through it all I’ve rarely heard of and never witnessed conflict or changes taking place because the church demanded greater faithfulness to the Bible! When the Bible is expounded accurately and in context, God speaks to His people. The Holy Spirit is at work giving understanding, comforting, and convicting of sin. As the people grow in their understanding of God’s word they mature spiritually.

God’s word must be handled with care and in context and preached in an expositional manner because this best communicates the intent of the author. Expositional preaching is also important because it models to the church how to read and study the Bible for themselves. The sermon should not be the only exposure to the Bible a Christian receives but it should be an example that models diligent study and faithfulness to the context. Church members, you should insist that the majority of the preaching in the church you attend is expository in nature.