Posted on March 5, 2009 - by Stephen Murray
Andy Stanley on Expository Preaching
Guys that preach verse-by-verse through books of the Bible– that is just cheating. It’s cheating because that would be easy, first of all. That isn’t how you grow people. No one in the Scripture modeled that. There’s not one example of that. (read the rest and the context of his comment here)
Andy Stanley is an extremely gifted communicator and God has used him in a big way but I’m afraid I don’t see eye to eye with him on this one. The reason I’m primarily an expository preacher is theological not methodological nor for any other reason. I’m simply convinced that I am a fallible instrument through which God chooses to make his word known. One of the ways I can compensate for my fallibility and falleness is to allow the Scripture to set the agenda of my messages as opposed to me ultimately deciding which way to present Scriptural truths. It is not easy nor is it cheating – it’s a theological statement and a long list of expository preachers from church history would suggest that actually people do grow through it.
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Stephen Murray
A church planter based in Cape Town. Husband to Robin and father of Genevieve. I am captivated by the hope of the gospel and I constantly dream about seeing it at work in my city. Dream with me.
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March 5, 2009
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Mary said:
I agree, Stephen. I would add that the Holy Spirit preaches in an expository manner through Scripture itself. And I’d also add that far from being easy, expository preaching can be very difficult, because one cannot leave the difficult bits out.
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March 6, 2009
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dave said:
he has some good things to say, but letting felt needs drive the agenda rather than bringing the ever relevant word page by page to God’s people seems loopy to me. Sure, sometimes an expository-topical preach is helpful, but the norm has to be just letting God speak through the books he gave us.
Peter Adam is helpful,
http://beginningwithmoses.org/bigger/expositorypreaching.htm
As is Matt Chandler at the recent DG conference.
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March 6, 2009
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Jenny Hillebrand said:
I don’t always preach verse by verse, but I have learnt that God knows the needs of the congregation way better than I do and that Scripture somehow speaks to all far more effectively than my attempts at being topical. So if I have a thought on a passage and consider leaving it out because ‘it won’t apply to anyone there’, I leave it in because I have seen how God knows better!
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March 28, 2009
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Thomas said:
One of Stanley’s books was a primary source for my postgraduate studies. His philosophy shows. I highlighted a tendency of his to delete God’s role from his exegesis, which he would unlikely do with closer examination. Re the David and Goliath episode, he states: “David’s leadership was established through his courage — not his talent or even his calling by God”.
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February 1, 2011
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Onedaringjew said:
In Louie Giglio’s four-part DVD series of “Great is our God,” Andy Stanley gives the second presentation, in which he says:
“He (God) will have LEVERAGED your sin for his glory’s sake. He will not be undone.”
This means, according to the dictionary definition of “leverage” that God exerts a power or influence over a person’s sin for His glory.”
What’s wrong with “forgive,” “wash away,” “cleanse,” and other biblical terms? “Leverage,” although more friendly than what the Bible says, is a a diversion, an evacuation of sound doctrine.
He also says in the same video (he is introducing Philippians 2:6-10 (my bold type):
“God doesn’t change his mind…This (Philippians 2:6-10) is God’s KNEE-JERK reaction to our trying to hijack his glory. This is God’s response to the traitor race…who took the freedom He gave us and abused it for our benefit and to his embarrassment. Here’s how He responded: “I’ll teach ‘em.”
Andy Stanley then quotes the Philippians passage and drives the knee-jerk further into the bone:
“That’ll teach ‘em. Yeah, God’s KNEE-JERK reaction in response to us trying to hijack his glory, his response to us trying to hijack his glory, our response to our abuse of freedom.”
(“That’ll teach ‘em” – c’mon now. Where does one infer such kind of “God-talk” from Philippians 2, or from any part of the Bible, for that matter).
The Philippians passage does say something about knees; all knees will one day bow at the name of Jesus. Who knows, perhaps many knees will also jerk to the ground. It is certain, however, that the God of the Bible does not not respond with knee-jerk reactions; for as Louie Giglio says, “God is all-knowing” and so does not change his mind. (See my critique of Louie Giglio’s “Great is our God”).
See http://onedaringjew.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/philippians-26-10-knee-jerk-theism/
I haven’t read Andy Stanley’s book on grace, which has received rave reviews. What concerns me is how God’s “grace” – for grace is central to the Philippians passage – resonates with God’s (?) knee-jerk reactions to sin. Surely God had it all planned and known from eternity – as the Bible says clearly? I detect a smidgen of open-theism. But even in open theism, there is no talk of divine knee-reject reactions, is there?