Domain Knowledge 6.1.2023

    The theme for June is the acquisition of knowledge. How we study is as important as what and why we study. In ministry, it is tempting to make study the red-headed stepchild of our work—a necessary but embarrassing distraction from so-called “real ministry”. This does not comport with the clear message of scripture. Here is an example The controversy in Acts 6 is not resolved through the Apostles abandoning their calling to pursue “real ministry.” Their real ministry was proclaiming the Gospel. They chose other servants to do these other things.

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”” (Acts 6:4 ESV)

    Our study time is real ministry. Without investing time in our Study our preaching will soon lose color and become flat like a soda that has been left uncapped. This week I will discuss the idea of Domain Knowledge. In lieu of a definition, here are some quick illustrations of what I mean by Domain Knowledge.

• Doctors know…Medicine.

• Lawyers know…Law.

• Geologists know…Rocks.

• Pilots know…weather, navigation, and aircraft.

• Businessmen know…economics, monetary policy, sales, and product development.

• Preachers know…__________.

The goal of this essay is to fill in that blank. To identify some specific domains or categories of knowledge that you, as a local preaching minister, a Pastor-Theologian should know if you are to “rightly handle the word of truth.”

The Bible

    I have heard preachers in opening their Sermon state, with a kind of “aw shucks” pseudo-humility, “Now, I’m not an expert on this”, inviting their congregation to join them in a team-building exercise rambling around in the land of the absurd. You are the expert. For every Biblical topic, in every worship situation, addressing local needs through the lens of God’s timeless revelation. In your Church, in the town where you live--You are the expert. 

    Our primary domain of knowledge is Scripture. This implies that we must be serious, lifelong, committed students of the Bible, and all the various disciplines, tools, and approaches used to understand it. Leaving behind personal reading and devotional time in the Word, here is a summary of what Biblical domain knowledge requires. 

Biblical Studies

    You are an exegete responsible for engaging in broader hermeneutical issues. You practice hermeneutics like a doctor practices medicine. You will need to have a historic appreciation for the development of our discipline. You should become familiar with the work of those who have gone before and who have paved the way by engaging with the broader landscape of philosophy, history, the social sciences, and other forces that contribute to human understanding. 

Approaches to the Discipline

    There is a myriad of approaches to studying scripture. Some are academic, others more practical. You need to be familiar with them all; from the Historical-critical-grammatical method that defined Biblical studies for hundreds of years to the Social-science driven methodologies that are in ascendance. 

    You need to know the difference between the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools of exegesis and know the differences between the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, and the Christian Old Testament. You should be familiar with how our understanding of New Testament Greek changed because of new documentary discoveries in the late 19th century—as well as the contemporary debate surrounding the nature of the Greek verb. 

    These are not hobby horses or esoteric knowledge reserved for the halls of academia. The primary locus of Biblical Studies is the Church, the primary focus is preaching. Is it any wonder that the Twenty-first-century church is a distracted, confused, hot mess?

Homiletics 

    In your Church, you are the expert on preaching. You are the teacher of teachers. This means that you not only design and prepare individual sermons, but you are also responsible for the whole teaching office of the Church. Others may be “apt to teach”, but at 10.30 Sunday morning, you are the guy standing behind the Sacred Desk. 

    We must know not only the “traditional” concerns of the preaching task such as how to outline a text, how to turn that outline into a sermon, and how to identify the “proposition” of a sermon, but also the craft-focused work of editing, revising, and preaching to the heart through the ear. 

    We must pay attention to our language, grammar, syntax, discourse, and meta-discourse. Every sermon contributes to an overall plan for the year. We read other preachers and books about preaching. We listen closely to dialogues, monologues, and stand-up routines to help us understand how to tell the story of Jesus in such a way that lives are changed. We put in the work because eternity drips from every word. 

Theology

    Theology can be overly complex. We need to be deeply read in both historic and contemporary theology. Because of my experience in ministry, I conclude that, for those in located ministry, there are two primary questions that should drive the theological task. “Who is Jesus?” “Who are we?” For that reason, the most critical theological concerns should be Christology and Ecclesiology. 

    It is easy to get lost in the theological forest to the neglect or overemphasis of specific doctrinal trees. Focusing on Jesus and the Church gives us an organizing principle for our broader theological studies because these two doctrinal poles magnetically attract examination of other theological topics.     

    Virtually every contemporary theological concern, every confusing trend, and potentially heretical development can be traced back to a deficient understanding of the nature and divinity of Christ or the origin and design of the Church. The symptoms are varied. Overemphasis on practical application and problem-solving has created a generation of Christian believers who find it difficult if not impossible to think deeply about their faith. Fearing the surrounding culture, the theologically ignorant attack and demean those they are called to lovingly reach, blithely unaware that the undercurrents which formed the very culture they despise also formed the syrupy, self-centered theology that is crippling the Church.  In the words of Clark Griswold--“Where’s the Tylenol!?”

    In an age in which expertise is mistrusted or even maligned, we need to reclaim our place in our congregations and communities as those who know what we are talking about. This only occurs when we strive to know what we are talking about—which only happens when we master the information that defines our domain. No one would go to a doctor who neglects the ongoing evolution and development of her field. We want heart surgeons and orthopedists to know “whereof they speak” before they act. The viral infection of lowest-common-denominator preaching has robbed the pulpit of its authority by requiring little authoritative instruction from the modern preacher. It is difficult to imagine, Luther, Augustine, Johnathon Edwards, or Alexander Campbell being satisfied with offering a teasing sip of Biblical instruction when the whole fountain of God’s Word is available to address the human condition. 

    Each of us has individual interests and motivations. We all should share the desire to communicate the unsearchable riches of Christ to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. A part of that job is cultivating in our audience a longing for the deeper and richer drink from the scriptures. To give that deeper drink you need to draw from a deeper well.