“I’m no scholar.”
Like the example cited earlier, the fact is that not every preacher is well-versed in the biblical languages. While I am an advocate of studying the languages, I do not see linguistic mastery as a prerequisite to pulpit ministry.
So, if you are not an “expert” in the languages, you have two options.
You can either avoid talking about Greek and Hebrew in your sermons, or you can do some homework. By homework, I mean more than simply looking up a word in a concordance. A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament and Rogers and Rogers’ The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament are excellent for word studies, as is William Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.
Certain commentaries will also offer insight into the languages. I suggest The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, The New International Commentary on the New Testament and The New International Greek Testament Commentary as just a few of the more critical and scholarly works on the market.
The bottom line is that simply giving a possible definition of a word is usually not very helpful, nor is using technical parsing vocabulary. However, explaining the use of a word or phrase in context can add substance to your sermon. You will simply need to do some homework.
“I’m no theologian.”
Unfortunately, I hear this a lot. I say “unfortunately” because it is simply not true.
Pastor, you are a theologian. You might be a bad one, but you are a theologian nonetheless.
Now, I understand the sentiment. The preacher who says this is saying that he is not a theologian in the sense that he is not one who teaches theology or writes scholarly theological materials. However, as pastors, we are to be the resident theological authorities in our churches. Christians look to us to learn how to believe and interpret the Bible, and non-Christians look to us to know what Christians believe. We need to be good at this.
So maybe you don’t have an advanced theological education, and maybe you aren’t widely read. Can I encourage you to do something about it? For one thing, a seminary education is more accessible than ever before. Find a reputable and accredited institution that will work for you.
Another thing you can do is read. Read the kinds of things that will serve to teach and to challenge you. This might mean reading material that at first will be somewhat over your head, but we will never grow if we don’t reach beyond our current limits. This will mean reading more than the bestsellers at the Christian book store.
In addition to Bibles and commentaries, my desk is currently cluttered with academic books on eschatology, biblical social settings and apologetics as well as the latest issues of The Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. I also always have Wayne Grudem’s and Millard Erickson’s systematic theologies nearby. Staying well-read demands a significant amount of time and discipline, but the results are well worth the effort.
Being competent in the pulpit requires a lot of hard work. But let us not forget that in all of this, we are to be preachers and teachers of the Bible over everything else. Linguistic study is rich and rewarding. Knowledge of various subjects can be beneficial. Theological depth is essential.
But if we are not good students and teachers of God’s Word, we are not fulfilling our calling. So read the Bible. Read it a lot. Study it. Meditate on it. Come to know it frontward and backward.
You will never master the totality of Scripture, but you should “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Then when your people sit before you week after week, they can be certain (as can you) that they are listening to an expert in what really matters.
