In a recent episode of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast, theologian John Piper offered insight into how he selects a Scripture passage to preach.
Piper, who is the author of numerous books and who served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis for more than three decades, is well known for his dynamic preaching.
Throughout his pastorate, Piper prioritized verse-by-verse sermons and preaching through books of the Bible. Nevertheless, podcast host Tony Reinke pointed out that on certain occasions, such as when preaching at funerals or in prisons, there is “no sermon series script” to follow and asked Piper how he goes about discerning what to preach.
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Piper said that his “goal is to preach a message that is God’s will” but felt it necessary to clarify what he meant by “God’s will.”
“The first thing that I mean by ‘the will of God’…is the sovereign will of God, which refers to whatever comes to pass,” said Piper. “Second: God’s moral will, which is sometimes called his revealed will. This refers to the commandments of Scripture.”
Piper continued, “Now, in a sense, you could say (and many do say), ‘That’s the totality of God’s will in Scripture. There isn’t a secret will of God, like which person to marry, which school to go to, where to park your bike, what shirt to wear.’”
Piper expressed that many Christians have driven themselves “crazy” worrying about God’s will for their lives with regard to the smallest details of life. These Christians have been counseled not to worry about discerning God’s will in these decisions, so long as they are not breaking any of God’s commands.
“Now, personally, I don’t want people to be crazy,” Piper said with a chuckle. “But I don’t think things are that simple.”
“I tend to think in terms of a third way to talk about the will of God—namely, a spiritually discerned application of the mind of Christ to a particular situation,” Piper argued. “It’s not just rational; it’s more than rational. It’s not irrational—it’s just more than rational.”
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Piper said that it might “really matter for spiritual reasons what shirt you wear today. Not usually, but it might…There are a thousand things that might go into that decision that would make one decision better than another.”
