Helping people to practically apply the Bible

I’m sure that all Christians have heard glib, basic conclusions in Bible teaching in churches. Maybe you’ve heard a preacher tell you that God is love or God is in control. Or a Bible study leader tell you that you should love God and not money, or that you should tell other people about Jesus. All of these things are true! They are encouraging and needed. Yet it is helpful not to leave the conclusion in this general form but to help people think through what believing that looks like in practice.

Much Bible teaching is too easy to shrug off and forget. I don’t mean that Christians come to listening to God’s word explained with the intention of doing nothing with it, though that might sometimes happen. No, I mean that if we hear some point we have probably heard before, we might well nod and agree and never think of it after that. After all, I know God is in control. Thanks for the reminder! But that has not made me think deeply about how I am acting in God’s world and challenged me to see the beauty and power of knowing a God who controls everything.

If you are someone who prepares Bible teaching for others, or even if you are simply trying to apply your personal Bible reading to your life, consider taking one extra step in thinking through the application once you have the main idea. That step is asking, “what would it look like to do this or believe this?” Think about some practical way that doctrine or command might be applied. Don’t leave it general and easy to ignore.

Depending on the point being made, this might lead you in a few directions, like:

• You might realise that you don’t actually live as if you believed that point. God’s word might have shown you an inconsistency in your life. You need to be made aware of that, repent of it, and consider how you might live in line with what God’s word says.
• You might realise that you don’t truly believe that point. It might need to be argued a little more comprehensively. For example, the Bible teaches God’s control of all aspects of the world, even the hairs that fall from our head. Yet it seems to us that we control what happens to us, or at least our governments or companies do. So this point needs to be more fully explained, not just stated.
• You might need encouragement to keep doing what you’re already doing. Maybe you are trying to tell others about Jesus and are finding it frustrating. You need to hear the encouragement in God’s word and to understand your place in this and God’s work.

Let me illustrate this for you with two examples.

• If the main teaching point being expressed is that we should tell other people about Jesus, how do we help people think about this practically? Most Christians know they should do this, and most Christians are afraid of doing it or just feel guilty about not doing it. It would be helpful to explain very clearly why this is important to do, and to unpack the reasons why it is often not done. It would also help to deal with the common thought people have that gifted evangelists do this kind of thing, not ordinary people (which is not true!). And finally, it would help a lot to give real, practical ways ordinary people can do it. Tell stories. Use realistic examples, not just the work of some 17^th century missionary, but things that can be done in an office or a typical street. This extra work on application will mean listeners are thinking and seeing how living this out is possible even for them.
• If the main teaching point is that God is in control, that is very encouraging. But putting more flesh on these bones will turn it from encouraging to useful. Apply this to confidence in the future when so many do not have any confidence. Point out the self-sufficiency we display when we don’t pray. Talk about your personal grapple with anxiety and how trusting in the God who holds the future helps with this.

The Bible is a practical book, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Let’s make sure we think through how to practically live out what God tells us in His Word and help others to do the same.