Sermon Tone Analysis
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We are Looking at a Few Tricks and Tips to Help Us Have Better Bible Study
I’ve Learned a Few Over the Years
I’m Still Learning More All the Time
I’ve Found:
The More I Learn How to Study the Bible…
The More Enjoyable it Becomes
I Want This Congregation to Be Full of People Who LOVE Studying the Bible!
Studying Because You Enjoy it is So Much Better and More Beneficial…
Than Studying Because Your Have to…
Or Because You Feel Like Your Supposed to
I Hope By the End of This Series That Something (If Only One Thing)…
Causes You to Look at the Bible Differently…
And Truly Enjoy and Feel Competent Studying it
RECOGNIZE YOUR BIASES
Everyone Approaches the Bible With Biases, Opinions, and World-Views
We All Hold Certain Doctrinal Positions of Different Topics
We All Have Various Beliefs that are Deeply Engrained in Our Minds
That’s Not Always a Bad Thing
But it Does Need to Be Something We Recognize When We Study the Bible
We Need to Recognize That Our Biases Can Shape the Way We Study
None of Us are Capable of Approaching the Bible From a Purely Objective Position
It’s Important For Us to Recognize That
We Have to Remind Ourselves That:
What the Text Says is All that Matters
Not the Positions We Hold
Not Our Ways of Viewing Christianity or the World
Not the Popular Views Held in Our Churches
Not the Popular Views of Our Society
The Text is All that Matters
We Must Follow it Wherever it Leads
Even if it Leads to Some Places That Make Us Uncomfortable
Recognizing Our Biases and Trying to Study the Bible Objectively Means:
There Will Be Times When You Have to Say, “I May Be Wrong.”
And There Will Be Times When You Have to Say, “I Was Correct in My View On This Point, Regardless of What Society or the Church Says.”
Sometimes You Will Be Labeled Too Conservative
Sometimes You Will Be Labeled Too Liberal
But as Long as the Positions We Hold are Based On the Text…
And Not Based On Deeply Held Convictions…
Or What Our Society or Church Says…
Then We Have the Truth
Some People are Sectarians and Some are Truth-Seekers
Sectarians are Those Who Firmly Align Themselves With Their Group
They Will Always Defend the Views of Their Group
They Take for Granted and Assume that Their Group Has the Correct Views On Any Given Topic
Therefore, Any Person or Group Who Opposes Their Group’s View Should Be Opposed
We See this Throughout the Denominational World
And We See this Throughout Churches of Christ
Sectarians Can Be Liberal, Conservative, and Anywhere in Between
Truth-Seekers are Those Who are Always Willing to Consider the Views of Others and Examine Them For Truth
If a Different View Aligns With Scripture, a Truth-Seeker is Always Willing to Admit When They are Wrong
Truth-Seekers are Willing to Change Their Views…
Even if it Means Opposing Those Within Their Own Group
Even if it Means Admitting That an Opposing Group is Right on Any Particular Point
Truth-Seekers Can Be Conservative, Liberal, and Anywhere in Between
Sectarians Have a Stronger Allegiance to Their Group and the Views of Their Group
Truth-Seekers Have a Stronger Allegiance to Jesus Than Any Group or View
Sectarians are Concerned With WHO is Right
Truth-Seekers are Concerned With WHAT is Right
We Want to Be Truth-Seekers
We Shouldn’t Hold to Any Particular View Simply Because Our Group Holds that View
Let’s Be Frank:
We Shouldn’t Hold to Any Particular View Simply Because Churches of Christ Have Traditionally Held to That View
That’s Sectarianism
I’ve Seen this Far to Often in Churches of Christ
If Anything is Said From Certain Pulpits, We Automatically Trust it
If Anything is Said From Other Pulpits, We Automatically Don’t Trust it
If Anything is Said From Certain Preachers Who’ve Gone to Certain Schools, We Automatically Trust it
I’ve Seen and Heard Christians Eat Up False Doctrine…
Because it Was Said By an Influential Person in Our Group
Don’t Just Assume Because a Building Says “Church of Christ” on it…
That You Can Trust Everything You Hear
And Don’t Just Assume Because a Building Has Any Other Name On it…
That You Can’t Trust Anything You Hear
Follow the Text Wherever it Leads
Even if it Leads You Away From What You Previously Believed
Even if it Leads You Away From What Your Group Traditionally Believes
Exegesis vs. Eisegesis
Exegesis reads out of the text what the original authors meant to convey.
Eisegesis reads into the text what you want or believe it to convey.
These are 2 Technical Words for What We’ve Been Talking About
The Right Way to Study = Exegesis
Looking at the Text and Asking, “What Was the Original Author Trying to Tell the Original Audience?”
“And What Can I Learn From That?”
The Wrong Way to Study = Eisegesis
Starting With What You Already Believe or What You Want to Be the Case…
And Then Injecting Your Desires or Beliefs into the Meaning of the Text
It Involves Studying the Bible With the Purpose of Proving Yourself Right
Eisegesis is About Making the Bible Agree With Us
Exegesis is About Us Agreeing With the Bible
Sometimes Eisegesis is Relatively Harmless:
Believing There Were Only 3 Wisemen That Visited Jesus
Believing the Forbidden Fruit in the Garden to Be an Apple
But Many Times is Can Be Extremely Harmful
We are Very Prone to Studying With Confirmation Bias
Confirmation Bias = When We Only See or Favor Evidence that Supports Our Preconceived Ideas
Doctors are Guilty of Having Confirmation Bias
There are Many Occasions When a Doctor Will Diagnose Someone With the Wrong Illness, Disease, Injury, etc.
And Every Test They Run Will Only Seem to Prove Their Diagnosis Correct
We Do That When We Study the Bible
We Will Approach the Bible With Certain Beliefs and Convictions
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