Let It Grow: How to Develop a Gospel-Shaped CultureSample

Culture Priority #1—Teach the Word with Consistent Clarity

Transformation always begins with teaching truth. How did the apostle Paul see radical life change in a short time in the pagan city of Thessalonica? He taught God’s Word from a heart of love (1 Thess. 2). The Word did the work (v. 13).

The same is true in Corinth: “I was with you in weakness . . . my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:3–5).

A steady diet of God’s Word, in sequence and context, given as He gave it, solves every problem a church can face and grows organic health among believers.

People care most about what they’ve been biblically taught to care about—therefore teaching the Word anchors hearts together in truth. It creates a culture of unity and mission. All the challenges of church leadership can be sufficiently addressed through engaging, biblical exposition.

The beauty of systematic exposition is that it lightens the burden of creative genius on the pastor. It lifts the sense that things are riding on the pastor’s motivational speaking skills. The pressure is off when we trust the power of His Word over the pithiness of our delivery. Without careful communication of God’s powerful Word, the pressure is immense to say something profound, funny, or brilliant— almost like a weekly TED talk.

Faithful ministry meets the needs of God’s sheep by steady communication of what God says to them. It’s not about what I want to say but rather what God has already said and how it makes a wonderful difference in our lives. Creativity is needed, but the Word is paramount.

Charles Spurgeon challenged younger pastors in this humorous quote:

“There are brethren in the ministry whose speech is intolerable; either they dun you to death, or else they send you to sleep. No chloral can ever equal their discourse in sleep-giving properties human beings, unless gifted with infinite patience, could long endure to listen to them, and nature does well to give the victim deliverance through sleep. I heard one say, the other day, that a certain preacher had no more gifts for the ministry than an oyster, and in my own judgment this was a slander on the oyster, for that worthy bivalve shows great discretion in his openings, and he also knows when to close. If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons, it would be a righteous judgment upon them; but they would soon cry out with Cain, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

Our call is to communicate His Word as effectively, accurately, contextually, and applicably as possible—always seeking to grow as biblical communicators.