Learning to read

Steve Mathewson reminds ministers that our preaching not only conveys truth; it teaches listeners how to interpret the Bible themselves:

Remember, people learn how to read their Bibles from listening to your sermons! After a steady diet of your sermons, will they opt for a ‘concordance approach’ in which they simply look at the cross-references for every major word in the passage they’re reading? Or, will they develop the instinct to look for the flow of thought, to trace the argument, and to reflect on the figures of speech within this passage? As believers mature in their faith, we want them to make connections between texts of Scripture. We want them to think theologically (in terms of both biblical and systematic theology). But they will not do this well unless they learn first to stay put in a text.

Good point. Part 2 of Steve's series offers a practical example of staying put.