Proclaimer Blog
Context – aiding understanding
One of the rotten tomatoes that sometimes get thrown at us is that we are obsessed with context. I hope – I really hope – that’s not true. If we’re obsessed with anything, it’s getting the text right, and there is absolutely no doubt that using context appropriately is a key tool in that process. Of course, as with every tool, once it becomes the master rather than the servant it’s a dangerous weapon. Two common errors: one – making context an integral part of the sermon rather than letting it shape the sermon (as though one were giving a lecture); two – letting context so dominate that you end up preaching the surrounding verses and not the passage itself. Both outrageous mistakes.
Nevertheless, context is important. If our heart’s desire is to say what God has said (which surely is the core of expository preaching) then we must consider context. The danger is we simply distort the truth, otherwise. It’s not that we necessarily preach things that are wrong (I hope we’re not that naïve), but if we don’t preach what the text is saying, the sermon is robbed of its power: it’s just us and not the Bible.
Take my passage from last Sunday. It was John 15.26-16.15. I confess to really wrestling with this passage. I found it dense, deep and stretching. Fortunately I was given 60 minutes to preach (!!!!!) which helped a little (though could easily make me a very lazy preacher, not thinking clearly enough what to include and what to discard). At one level, it’s relatively straightforward: Jesus himself gives us three useful headings – the ministry of the Spirit is to testify about Christ (15:26), to convict the world (16:8) and to glorify the Son (16:14).
But it is only when you see these truths in the context that they begin to take on the significance they must have. The ministry of the Spirit is not some abstract concept or general encouragement for those who are saved. No – the Spirit is “another Helper” who both brings aid but also opposition – hence why the passage (and the section) are so interspersed with warnings about falling away (e.g. 16.1). It’s only when we see the context that the passage itself makes sense.