Pastoralized

What Cover Songs Can Teach Us about Doing Application in Our Preaching

Eric McKiddie — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:37:13 +0000

The weekly task of the pastor is to take what the Bible meant back then and show how, when taken to heart, it changes everything in the here and now. Easier said than done, especially in passages that don’t explicitly command or call to repent.

If homiletics is the art and science of proclaiming the Scripture, then preaching passages without imperatives is on the art side of things. It takes imagination and creativity to apply a passage that indirectly teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains in righteousness.

This poses a problem for the conscientious preacher who wants to be faithful to the passage and his congregation. It makes him sing, “My Bible to the left of me, my church to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you,” when the you is a sermon outline empty of powerful calls to holiness. It makes him feel like a clown and a joker.

The principles behind a cover song can help

I think that we can learn how to bridge this gap better by observing what makes a cover song good.

A good cover song, for those of you less musically inclined, is one musician’s rendition of another musician’s song. It explores the possibilities of the original piece, while staying true to the song’s meaning and form. It dutifully adheres to the soul of the composer, yet beautifully performs it for the ears of a different audience. It’s different, but the same.

Essentially, cover songs uncover the implications of a piece of music. The artist asks, “Where can I take this song without losing this song?”

That’s what preachers are trying to do when they apply Scriptures to their hearers. That’s why good cover songs can teach us.

You have to know the original before you can appreciate the cover

Preachers have to do two hard things at the same time. The first is to guard against getting stuck in the original context when doing application. But the second is not to jump too quickly to the present. If the preacher hasn’t understood his text and its implications for its first audience, he won’t be able to present them to his audience.

Similarly, hearing the original in the back of your mind while being fascinated with a new rendition is what makes the experience of listening to a cover song enjoyable.

If you had never heard Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean,” you might not think that the cover by The Civil Wars was anything special. But if you had, then the Wars’ acoustic version would blow your mind.

We’re not trying to do something very different than that when we preach.

The difference between cover songs and cover bands

When an artist develops a cover song, he takes the original piece and explores how he should play it for his audience. The cover band, however, plays the original piece in its original form, often in the outfits the original band performed in.

Pastors walk a tight rope between the back then and the here and now…between what was relevant for the original audience and their current audience…between text and contextualizing. It’s important not to get stuck in the past.

The homiletical equivalent of a cover band is the preacher who doesn’t contextualize his application for his audience, but only communicates what it meant back then.

You might as well don a robe and sandals.

This neither enriches nor edifies your people. It leaves them wondering what they are actually supposed to do. You might say that it’s their job to draw the implications for the life themselves. But how will they learn how to do that unless we model it for them?

How to explore the implications of the original piece

The question remains, then, how do we follow the direction the biblical author leads, yet remain faithful to the text as we go down that path? Three suggestions.

1. Focus on the funnel of the passage. I like to think of preaching like an hourglass. The top is the what the passage meant to the original audience, which funnels into a main idea, which then flows out into all kinds of opportunities for application today. The funnel keeps you anchored to the text’s meaning.

2. View your personality as an asset, not a liability. You can’t prevent your personality from affecting the way you apply a passage in a sermon, so you might as well go with it. On balance, be aware of – and beware of – your tendencies so that the text remains the controlling factor.

God has graciously designed the preaching act to channel the power of his word through the personality of us pastors, despite our flaws and idiosyncrasies. Cake nailed this with “I Will Survive.” John Mayer nailed this with “Message in a Bottle,” (not so much with the studio version of “Crossroads,” although this live performance was pretty sweet).

3. Blend continuity with creativity. If you are more likely to stick to the text, you may need to approach with the question, “What possibilities for application are presented here?” If you tend to be more liberal in the practical parts of the sermon, you many need to ask, “How did the author expect his audience to apply this?”

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While We're On The Topic:

3 Reasons to Say “You” More Often in Your Sermons

Eric McKiddie — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:57:09 +0000

Saying “you” in sermons has become uncomfortable for preachers. Like third grade teachers who switch from red to green pens, many preachers are afraid of coming across too strong.

What I mean by saying “you” in a sermon is that the preacher uses “you” to make it obvious that his exhortation is aimed directly at his people.

The postmodern values of acceptance and tolerance have saturated the worldviews of churchgoers and pastors. This has caused saying “you” to feel abrasive to preachers and listeners alike.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two reasons why.

First, saying “you” feels authoritarian. The pastor thinks, “What right do I have to tell these people that their hearts are in the wrong place? I don’t know them.” Or, he puts himself in the TOMS of his congregation and imagines them thinking, “What right does he have to tell me my heart is in the wrong place? He doesn’t know me.”

The second reason pastors avoid “you” (and it’s related to the first) is oversensitivity to the need to identify with your people. This results in the preacher saying “we” a lot, but rarely “you.” The pastor thinks that if he doesn’t admit he’s wrong every time he tells his people they are wrong, then they will reject his message because he is inauthentic.

This attitude sees the Bible only as a stumbling block, but not also as a living and active, double-edged sword. You think that people will only respond as Jews or Greeks, but never as David. He responded in repentance to “You are the man!” without Nathan having to qualify himself with, “But I am tempted in those areas, too, and I might have done the same thing if I were in your position.”

The bottom line is that avoiding “you,” demonstrates a lack of trust in the Holy Spirit to convict and change people through the word.

So that is why we avoid “you” in sermons. But why should we use “you” more often when we preach? Here are three reasons.

1. The biblical authors say “you” all the time

Read Jesus’ words in the gospels. Read Paul. Read the prophets.

They say “you” all over the place.

It follows that not preaching “you” sermons that relate directly to the congregation isn’t preaching in a fully biblical manner.

You may respond by saying, “But we aren’t the biblical authors. What authority do we have to preach in the same way they wrote?”

Well, Paul expressly commands Timothy to preach “you” sermons: “Preach the word…reprove, rebuke, and exhort” (2 Tim. 4:2). Paul also expects Timothy to follow his manner of ministry (3:10-12), and to raise up other preachers in his mold (2:2).

So if you have any desire to be a biblical preacher, preach directly to your audience, and let them know you are preaching directly to them by saying “you.”

2. “You” communicates the authority of the text

What do you do when someone comes up after your sermon and asks, “Are you saying that I’m not allowed to sleep with my girlfriend?”

You calmly say, “Yes, but not ultimately me. Ultimately, it is God who demands sexual purity from us. So yes, I said it, but I was only delivering what God has said.”

We speak with authority precisely because it is not our ideas that we expound. We can say “you” without a shred of postmodern squeamishness because the substance of our sermons is not our opinions.

This gives us freedom to say “you” to those who hear us, free from anxiety over anyone’s postmodern (in)sensibilities.

3. “You” personalizes your message to your congregation

Many pastors avoid saying “you” in sermons by switching to “they.” But “they” sermons leave your people knowing how everyone else needs to change, except for them.

The result is that your people remain as safe as a pig in their sinful house of sticks because your uncontextualized sermon doesn’t huff or puff in their general direction.

“They” preachers talk about all the sinners outside the walls of the church. You preach about the sins of hipsters, entertainers, pyramid schemers, and politicians, but never the sins of the people ten feet in front of you. Your congregation leaves bemoaning how bad the world is, and proud of how well behaved they are.

The word “you” clearly indicates you are talking about the people in your pews, not the “sinners out there.”

The other way of replacing “you” with “they” is to talk only about the original audience of the passage. Thus you rag on the Israelites, the Corinthians, and the Pharisees – being true to the text! – without mentioning that your people’s hearts are in the same condition.

You can sound very bold this way, banging your pulpit as you address the sexual sins of Corinth. But your boldness is a façade; it’s very easy to speak boldly about people who are dead.

Will you address the sexual sins of your congregation head on? They will tell you are doing so if you say “you.”

How to say “you” without sounding like a hypocrite

The trick is to preach “you” sermons without unnecessarily alienating your listeners. Here are three ways to not sound like a spiritual know-it-all.

1. Feel the tension of humility and authority. In How Sermons Work, David Murray writes about a pendulum that must swing in the preacher’s heart while he is preparing: from humility to authority. If you feel both sides of the pendulum, your hearers will sense that you are not being authoritarian as you speak with authority.

2. Preach “you” sermons with “complete patience and teaching.” That is, after all, how Paul finishes off 2 Tim. 4:2. “Complete patience” trusts that the Spirit will do his work in his time. “Teaching” will not merely point out sin, but also instruct how to turn away from sin by the power of the gospel.

3. Practice redemptive vulnerability. The times you say “I” will stand out more than the “you’s.” Think of Paul: “I am the least of the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:9), “I am the very least of all the saints” (Eph. 3:8), “I am the foremost of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). His confidence in the gospel enabled him to admit his failings. But he doesn’t dwell on them, speaking just long enough to let his readers know that he needs the gospel, too.

While We're On The Topic:

Shepherd Links – 5/12

Eric McKiddie — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:00:52 +0000

Prophet

Why Theology and Youth Ministry Seldom Mix My goal in youth ministry is to prove, not only that they do, but they must.

What Sermon Prep Really Looks Like Brutal honesty from Kevin DeYoung.

5 Recommended Books on Preaching

Priest

The Main Reason Christians Grow So Slowly

King

The Recipe for a Successful Pastor ”A pastor’s ministry is never just shaped by his experience, knowledge, and skill. It is also always shaped by the true condition of his heart. In fact, if his heart is not in the right place, knowledge and skill can make him dangerous.”

The 4-Question Meeting: You Can’t Be Brilliant Alone

33 Take Aways on Making Things Ideas Happen I loved the book Making Ideas Happen, and I recommend it to you. Here’s your sneak preview.

While We're On The Topic:

Why Seth Godin Might Be More Pastoral Than You

Eric McKiddie — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:22:19 +0000

There are two kinds of pastors in the world: those who are good at following up, and those who aren’t. Which one are you?

Before you claim to be at the “good” level, let me set the standard.

The time I emailed Seth Godin

Before I launched this blog, I read a lot of Seth Godin’s posts about how to name a blog (I ended up using a tool he recommends: wordoid.com). After reading the posts, I still had a few questions, and noticed a link on his site that said, “Email me.”

So I emailed him my remaining questions, and resigned myself to keep an eye out for a response in the coming weeks.

How long would you expect to wait before a world famous, best-selling author and blogger – who you had never met before – returned your email?

A week? A few weeks? Never?

Godin emailed me back that afternoon.

That’s the standard. Now do you think you are good at following up?

I don’t even want to think about how many emails he gets per day. He doesn’t know me. He had nothing to gain by answering my email at all, let alone in a few hours.

What would compel Seth Godin to email a nobody like me back so fast?

He cares.

Godin recently wrote an article about caring more. It’s worth your time, and I think you’ll see several applications to pastoral ministry.

How do I know Godin cares? The email he sent me. I’ll probably never have contact with him again, but I’ll never doubt that he cares about who reads his writing, not just his writing.

Do your people have legitimate reasons to question how much you care about them? How long does it take you to follow up with longtime members of your church? Do you make your hospital visits as short as possible? How long does it take you to email one of your members back?

Or do they know you care because the actions you take to comfort and shepherd them?

Don’t let a marketing guru beat you at caring for people

A family recently started coming to my church from another church not far away. They made the switch because they didn’t receive any pastoral contact when the wife’s dad passed away. There was no excuse for her to slip through the cracks.

That’s the kind of thing that we can’t let happen.

There are three kinds of pastors in the world

Let’s expand the opening sentence slightly. There are three kinds of pastors in the world: those who are good at following up, those that aren’t, and those who work to get better at it. Aim for good. At least be getting better. Don’t settle for being bad.

The growth and comfort of our people is on the line.

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While We're On The Topic:

How to Preach Like Phil Ryken and Duane Litfin Without Sounding Like Them

Eric McKiddie — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:45:35 +0000

Ever wondered how to preach like a Wheaton College president?

This spring, Phil Ryken and Duane Litfin each gave a seminar on preaching for our pastors and pastoral residents at my church. Both men are seasoned and gifted preachers, in addition to being the current and former presidents of Wheaton College, respectively.

Each presentation was filled to brim with pastoral wisdom and preaching insight. Here are the highlights.

Ryken’s preaching tips

1. Get into the figginess of the fig. This is Ryken’s way of saying, “Immerse yourself into your illustrations.” He came up with this phrase from a fig illustration he told in a Jeremiah sermon. This particular illustration was a watershed for him. As he got into the details of what made a fig a fig, and what made figs “tick,” his illustration grew in effectiveness. Illustrations are powerful when you tell them with detail.

I’ve applied this principle a few times, with great success, by Googling the topic of an illustration, and then following the links to articles at howstuffworks.com. I’ve recently gotten into the lightness of the lighthouse, the blackness of black holes, and the fishiness of fishing lures to give my illustrations a boost.

2. Put good wood on the ball. Another memorable Ryken phrase, which means never try to preach a great sermon, It’s more likely that your glory, not God’s, will be your focus if you swing for the fences. And you exponentially increase your odds of striking out. Preach for average, not homers. Just get on base.

3. Keep ’em guessing. One question that came up was how to maintain your congregation’s interest during a long series. Ryken said that during one particularly long series, he intentionally never started a sermon the same way twice. You will create a sense of anticipation for your messages if you vary your introduction. They’ll come wondering what’s going to happen.

Litfin’s preaching tips

1. Few rules. Key goals. As long as you are accomplishing the goals of feeding God’s people, you can (almost) make up your own preaching rules. Don’t get so hung up on mechanics that your sermons ironically get worse instead of better. If a tip helps you accomplish your goals, make a habit out of it. If not, then don’t.

2. Surface the need. This is one of Litfin’s emphases. Some pastors, when they consider what to preach, ask themselves, “What do my people need to hear?” They then choose a sermon that matches with this need. The result is that you give your people an imbalanced sermon diet.

Litfin says don’t look for the needs in your people, look for the needs in the text. Each passage speaks to a need every sinful person needs to hear about. It’s the pastor’s job, after discerning what that need is, to then surface it from within his people, and then to show how the text answers the need. The difference between preachers and advertisers, Litfin observed, is that advertisers create needs, preachers surface them.

3. The 15/30 and 20/80 sermon prep rules of thumb. The first rule says that you need half an hour of sermon prep for every minute you intend to preach. Thus, take 15 hours of prep for a 30 minute sermon. How much time are you putting in? Too little? Too much?

The second rule is that 20% of your prep is “pre-study,” which you do well before the week to preach arrives (perhaps even before you start the series). The other 80% is done during the week of your sermon. So it follows that the 15 hours of the 15/30 rule comprises only 80% of your total prep for the sermon.

Disclaimer: applying these preaching tips in no way guarantees that you will become the president of Wheaton College someday.

This article is the fourth installment in a running series of “Preach Like Without Sounding Like” posts. To access an index of these articles, click here.

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While We're On The Topic:

Shepherd Links – 5/5

Eric McKiddie — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:45:05 +0000

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Prophet Links

A Call and Agenda for Pastor-Theologians A good summary of why this blog exists: “In this day when many pastors lead non-theologically, and academics work in a way that is lost on the people of God, we need pastor-theologians who can minister the Word in ways that edify the saints and offer a winsome public witness to the goodness, truth, and beauty of the Lord and his will for us.”

Whither the Seminary Model? A response, actually more of an addition to, the article above.

15 Ways to Improve Clarity in Your Preaching

Priest Links

Prayer is Hard Work The hardest part of being a pastor, if you ask me.

Why “Quantity Time” with Your Kids is Necessary for “Quality Time” with Them I almost stopped following Driscoll on Twitter one day, thinking to myself, “All he does is tweet about what he’s doing with his family.” Then it occurred to me that he did it on purpose, to show all the pastors who follow him the importance of being a family man first, pastor second.

The 10 Warning Signs of an Inwardly Obsessed Church Is your church too self-focused to be missional?

King Links

6 Simple Ways to Avoid Burnout David Murray launched me right back into my exercise regimen with this gem!

The 4 Things I Want to Know About My Staff Has nothing to do with accounting exactly for how their hours are being allocated.

The Pastor’s “To-Do” and “Not To-Do” List

While We're On The Topic:

The Value of Sermon Introductions: How to Stop Giving Your Congregation Theological Whiplash

Eric McKiddie — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:27:19 +0000

Too often pastors start their sermons full speed ahead. This is a negative result of a good thing. There is a resurgence of theologically mindful young pastors who are eager to get their congregations excited about the deep things of God. We don’t need less of that.

That said, over eagerness will cause a pastor to go from theological 0 to 60 in 5.2 sentences, and thus inflict the congregation with serious whiplash. As a pastor, you’ve had 5.2 days to ramp up to 60. If you’re an associate pastor, you may have had 5.2 weeks.

The crux of the issue is that if a flock only eats their pastor’s dust, they will be spiritually malnourished, no matter how theologically rich the sermon is. You don’t want to just put the food out, do you? You want them to actually eat and enjoy theological meal you’ve prepared for them, right?

On Sunday morning, we arrive in sixth gear, but our congregation arrives in first (at best), neutral (not great), park (really bad), or reverse (worst). We need to utilize sermon introductions in order to bring our people up to speed so they can join us on our journey of following Jesus.

The 7 gears of a sermon introduction

My most effective introductions tend to include the following segments. The length of time you spend on each one is different from week to week; maybe a sentence or two in one sermon, and then a paragraph or two in another. Each part flows into and sets up the next – like shifting gears in a stick shift – gradually preparing your people to be changed by God’s word.

1. Opening illustration: Start in their world before you bring them to the Bible’s world. But don’t tell an illustration just to catch their attention. Make sure the illustration you use contains conflict that points to your sermon’s Fallen Condition Focus (see #3).

2. Personal connection: This is the “You, too” moment, where you explicitly show how your opening illustration is true for your congregation. Pull a Nathan and say, in no uncertain terms, “You are the man!” For the rest of the sermon, everyone listening will know your message is about them, not the person sitting next to them or their pagan coworkers.

3. The Fallen Condition Focus: At this point you reveal the problem of our sinful condition contained in the passage that only God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit/The Gospel can solve.

4. Passage connection: You might be tempted to head right into your sermon at after #3. But you’d only be speaking on your own authority. Direct your audience to the phrase or verse in your passage that states the FCF. Now your congregation knows that this is about what God is saying to them, not you.

5. Series connection: This is optional, but helpful. Now that your audience sees they have a sinful condition that this passage will speak to, you may want to remind your congregation about the series you are in. Take a sentence or two to explain how this sermon and passage fits into the big picture.

6. Proposition: This is the solution to the FCF. As with the FCF, you should be able to point to a verse or phrase in your text that identifies the God-centered antidote to our sinful state.

7. Interrogative Question: After step six, your audience might feel like they don’t need to listen anymore. You showed them their problem, and you’ve showed them the solution. Why do they need to listen to anything else you have to say?

The answer is, they don’t yet know how to apply the solution. “What is the point of what Paul says?” “But how would Isaiah have us put this into practice today?” “Why does Jesus radically call us to…?” When you ask a question regarding your proposition, it reveals to your audience that they don’t have the whole picture yet. It shows them there is something at stake for their soul in the rest of the sermon, and they better listen up.

Pedal to the metal

Once you shift through all these gears, your people are on the edge of their seat, eager to hear what God’s word has to say. They see their spiritual need – in concrete terms – and realize that God has spoken authoritatively to the issue. They are looking to you to explain how God has spoken.

Now you can floor it.

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While We're On The Topic:

Shepherd Links – 4/28

Eric McKiddie — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:25:08 +0000

Prophet Links

Eugene Peterson on the Reading and Writing Life of the Pastor

Why Preaching is No Small Matter We forget these things when we focus too much on methodology.

Priest Links

It’s a Strange Think Being a Pastor So true!

5 More Volleys on Effeminate Worship Doug Wilson clarifies a few things from his article Your Worship Service Might be Effeminate If…

7 Ways to Pray for You Prayer Life

King Links

Leadership and Entitlement

The Biggest Myth in Time Management One of the best articles I’ve read about time management and personal/professional life balance. A must read.

Are You Ambitious, or HUMbitious?

While We're On The Topic:

The 5 Elements of the Perfect Sermon Illustration

Eric McKiddie — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:51:07 +0000

It’s a challenge for theologically inclined preachers like you and me to illustrate well. I’ve grown very, very slowly in this regard. You’re probably not as a late of a bloomer as me.

I recently went through every sermon outline on my hard drive to perform a personal “illustration audit.” I was doing research for an ebook on sermon illustrations that I’m writing. It will be free for you, and available on this blog later this year.

Reading some of those early illustrations was downright excruciating. But in the past year or so, I think I finally figured out what I’m doing. I’d like to share those that with you, in good ol’ alliterated fashion.

The 5 C’s of the perfect illustration

1. Concreteness. You need to be concrete with your words. An abstract illustration is a contradiction in terms, yet dreadfully common. Use nouns that your congregation can picture. Don’t say, “big smile,” say “teethy grin.” Don’t just say “house.” What kind of house is it? A cottage, a Victorian, a Cape Cod, a tri-level?

2. Connotation. Getting a picture in their minds is not the goal, it’s a means to another goal: emotion. Start with the head in order to work toward the heart. Which sentence has more powerful connotation: “The little girl prayed reverently,” or, “The little girl softly folded her hands and bowed her head.” Which description makes you feel something?

3. Conflict. If a story is to be a story, it must have a problem. Your vivid descriptions and sentimental movements will float aimlessly without the gravity of a conflict that demands to be resolved. The more closely the conflict of your story corresponds to the issue in the passage you are illustrating, the more effective your illustration will be.

4. Conclusion. This will state how the problem of story was solved. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can never use tragedies for illustrations. The idea is to communicate the redemptive aspect of your story, which even tragedies have.

5. Connection. Here you unambiguously say how the illustration relates to your sermon. Surprisingly, too many preachers forget this part. How many times have you heard an illustration that pertained not a lick to the passage or the sermon? (I won’t ask how many times you’ve told such an illustration!)

An illustration that doesn’t relate to your sermon – no matter how funny or entertaining or interesting – is a waste of the precious few minutes you have to impact your congregation with God’s word.

To be a good illustrator, become a “con” artist.

The danger of collecting “five elements of the perfect sermon illustration” is that you might get formulaic. But illustrations are an art, by definition.

So as you include these elements – concrete, connotation, conflict, conclusion, connection – do so with personality and craft. Have some fun with them.

And if you want a sixth “C,” make sure your illustrations ultimately point your congregation to Christ.

(Image credit)

While We're On The Topic:

What the Pastor-Scholar Has in Common with an NBA Star

Eric McKiddie — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:36:02 +0000

One of the most important ministry lessons I learned during my time at Bible college came from an NBA player.

I did my undergrad at Moody Bible Institute, located in downtown Chicago. Lots of NBA teams practiced at MBI when they were in town to play against the Bulls. I walked up to a window with a view to our three-court gym, and there was Vince Carter, knocking down threes.

He had the “this is no big deal” look down. He was wearing sweat pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Big, fatty headphones poured who-knows-what music into his ears with an 8 ft. long cable that found its way to a personal DVD player, which dragged on the floor (those were the thing back then).

Carter nailed a three, stepped to the left. Nailed a three, stepped to the left. The flat, gray tunes machine followed him like an obedient chiuaua as the ball boy fed him bounce passes.

Little by little, he traced his feet all the way around the 3-Point arc, swishing three after three after three.

With his left hand.

For those of you keeping score at home, Carter is a right-handed shooter.

This means he took the time to develop and perfect a shot that he never, ever intended to use in a game.

What does that have to do with being a pastor-scholar?

How this relates to pastoral scholarship

Do you limit your theological and biblical study only to what you teach and preach?

For some pastors, this could be because he is busy. But my guess is that most “study-only-to-teach” pastors find the extra learning to be unnecessary and superfluous.

Besides sounding like an 8^th grader learning algebra for the first time (“When am I ever going to use this in life?”), this pastor sounds like someone who doesn’t treasure Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).

The ironic – and hypocritical – thing is that no pastor would accept this attitude from a professional in any other field.

When you go to the doctor for a check up, do you expect the language your doctor uses to be the extent of his medical vocabulary? Of course not. You assume that he has a vast amount of knowledge that he is drawing from as he explains why your back hurts. It is his firm grasp of that extensive knowledge that enables him to speak to you in such plain terms.

As spiritual physicians, pastors should expect no less from themselves. What we teach on Sunday morning should draw from an ever-growing trunk of theological knowledge.

That means, to mix metaphors, learning to shoot theological three-pointers with your off hand.

The problem with the word “scholar”

The word “scholar,” unfortunately, is wrought with negative connotations – “stuffy,” and “boring,” not to mention, “unkempt beard,” and, “oversized cardigan.”

You may be thinking, “I don’t want to turn into one of those guys.”

Or maybe you simply don’t think you’re smart enough to be a “scholar.” You think of the studs who taught you in grad school, and you say, “I could never do what they do.”

I couldn’t agree with more (with regard to measuring up to former profs and roomy cardies).

So let’s do a little redefinition: a scholar is nothing more, and nothing less, than a constant learner.

A pastor-scholar doesn’t have to write books, articles, or blogs. He doesn’t have to be invited to speak at conferences. He doesn’t even have to be brilliant.

A pastor-scholar likes learning for the sake of learning.

A pastor-scholar recognizes the value in being impacted by the learning process, even if there is no test to pass or sermon to preach.

A pastor-scholar trusts that his learning will come in handy when he least expects it, just like learning to shoot lefty threes probably helped Vince Carter capitalize on this unexpected pass.

Remembering your Coach motivates you to raise your game

So the lesson I learned from an NBA player was that if I want to be the best pastor I can be, it will take raising my game in areas of my personal and pastoral life that no one else will see.

We don’t “compete” for our congregation, we compete for Jesus. When we get that the wrong way around, it is easy for us to expect less of ourselves. Our people don’t expect us to be well-rounded theologians.

But when you remember that Jesus is the one you serve, your desires change. It makes you want to know his word, the history of its interpretation, and its theological significance better than any professional athlete ever grasped a playbook.

And you even carry a “this is no big deal” attitude with you as you go about your theological business. Because your identity is not “I’m a pastor-scholar,” it’s “I follow Jesus.”

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While We're On The Topic: