The Problem with "Relevance"

Here's an excellent (not short) article, "Preaching Without Reaching." The author outlines problems with much preaching and Bible teaching today -- it starts with human problems, tosses in a little Scripture here and there, and doesn't put the Word of God at the center.

Overall I agree. If you look at sermons recorded and preserved for us, up through about 1960 or so they were nearly all Scripture-centric. They were topic or expostional, but generally it started with Scripture and kept the Word at the center. In the 1960's and 1970's you see a lot of sermons more in the "I'm Ok, You're Ok" mold.

The challenge (and opportunity!) of relevance is not to dilute Scripture or put it in the background. The issue is in the "hook" -- the opening part of a sermon or Bible lesson that engages people so you have their attention. You do not need to be man-centered to do this!

See my free report on creating good hooks if you'd like to learn more.