Main Point | Knowable Word

Do You Handle the Word Rightly When You Teach Children?

October 16, 2019 By Peter Krol

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

We think of pastors needing to handle the word of truth rightly. We think of seminary professors and Sunday school teachers needing to handle the word of truth rightly. But do we think of parents, or anyone else who teaches children, as needing to handle the word of truth rightly?

Alison Mitchell thinks so. In a fabulous article at GoThereFor.com, she argues that 2 Tim 2:15 applies to all Bible teachers, including those who would teach children. Including those who teach children Bible stories. Including those who read storybook Bibles to children.

To help you obey this command, Mitchell offers 6 suggestions:

Always start with the text.
Be cautious about addition.
Be thoughtful about subtraction.
Build your application from the main teaching point.
Choose supportive visuals and activities.
Be careful with published material.

Her counsel pierces, soothes, and motivates God-honoring excellence. All throughout, she encourages us to make sure our teaching materials focus on the main point of our biblical text, and not merely on a creative re-telling of the plot. The main points are the main points, and must be communicated as such. Here is a taste of Mitchell’s counsel:

“When considering an addition to the story, ask yourself whether it supports or detracts from the main point, and whether it is really necessary. Children won’t know what has been added and what hasn’t; they simply accept the story as they hear it. If they find out later that only some of what they heard came from Scripture, they may also end up questioning the rest of what they were taught. This means I tend to add very little.”

And another:

“So check re-told Bible stories carefully. The authors of children’s story books are usually gifted, creative storytellers. There’s a lot we can learn from their gifts. But, in my experience, creative storytellers often add to Bible accounts. So check carefully, comparing their version with the Bible text. If there are only a few small changes or additions, you may be able to adapt the story and use it successfully. But if you find that too much has changed, you’ll need to tell the story yourself or find a more accurate story book.”

The “checking” she suggests extends even to the illustrations. For example, if an illustration of Daniel in the lions’ den portrays Daniel as a young man, it is not being faithful to the text.

There is much food for thought here, which is well worth your time.

Check it out!

The Usefulness of Luke’s Gospel

October 11, 2019 By Peter Krol

I’ve now written a number of posts presenting an overview of Luke’s gospel. I’ve addressed numerous background issues, but not simply for historical knowledge. My purpose has been to lay the groundwork for a fruitful study of Luke’s gospel. And for such study to bear fruit, we must be able to grasp the main point of the entire book. All the discussion on genre, audience, occasion, and structure has been working to this end: proposing a main point for the book.

And I have one last issue to cover before I can finally propose that main point. How did Luke expect his book to be used?

Two Audiences, Two Uses

As I’ve covered so far, Luke has at least two audiences in mind. His primary, explicit audience is the Roman official named Theophilus, serving some role or other in the Apostle Paul’s trial before Caesar (Luke 1:1-4). And the secondary, implicit audience is the Jews—both ethnic Jews who need to repent before it’s too late, and spiritual Jews, who become such by trusting in Christ.

So it’s not difficult to imagine two main ways Luke might expect people to make use of his book.

He wants Theophilus to read, understand, and consider the evidence in support of Paul’s innocence. Luke wants him to corroborate the testimony, check out the source documents, and confirm the facts. In short, Luke writes his book in order to defend Paul.

And he also wants those who would be children of Abraham to read, understand, and consider the evidence in support of Christianity’s legitimacy. Luke wants both Jews and Gentiles to corroborate the testimony, check out the source documents, and confirm the facts. In short, Luke writes his book in order to defend Christianity.

For more information, you may be interested in checking out Daniel Wallace’s overview article on Luke which argues further for this dual purpose of Luke’s gospel.

Two-fold Usefulness

With Paul on trial, Christianity is on trial. And Luke (and the Holy Spirit who inspired him) feels no embarrassment going on record in the Roman court system to stake his claim that this movement is the real deal. Christianity’s God is real. Christianity’s beginnings are real. Christianity’s truth claims are real. And Christianity’s ringleaders are trustworthy.

Luke expects his work to be cross-examined and thoroughly vetted. So go right ahead. Consider these claims. Look for holes in the testimony. Review the cited documentation. Give it your best shot; Luke is not afraid of political, historical, or scientific verification. He’s presented his material in an orderly fashion to make it easier to cross-examine and verify.

And in the end, the evidence will, in fact, show two things:

Paul is innocent.
Salvation is here.

The first conclusion is of historical interest to Luke. He wants his friend to go free.

The second conclusion is of apologetic interest to Luke. He wants the world to be saved from sin and attain to the hope of resurrection.

With this in mind, we’re ready to finally craft a main point for the book. I plan to do so next week, when I’ll also show how the main point ought to guide your study of each passage on your way through the book.

Examples of Jesus in the Old Testament

July 24, 2019 By Peter Krol

Jesse Johnson did us a great favor by giving 6 thoughtful examples of how to preach Jesus from Old Testament texts, where “the coming Messiah” is not the main point. Even when a text doesn’t directly predict the coming of Christ, we ought to make sure we see it climax in the good news about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and/or the message of forgiveness being preached to all nations.

Johnson’s examples are good models of first determining the author’s main point for his original audience, and second connecting that main point to the good news about Jesus. This prevents forced or tenuous gospel connections that fail to land with transformative power. See my post on this topic for further explanation.

Johnson’s examples are:

Leviticus 13 (leprosy)
Judges 19 (dismembered concubine)
Genesis 11 (Babel)
1 Kings 18 (showdown on Mt. Carmel)
1 Samuel 14 (Jonathan eating honey)
Proverbs 5 (sexual immorality)

Check it out!

How Plot Structure Helps with John 4

July 12, 2019 By Peter Krol

I led a Bible study this week on John 4. Not only the woman at the well (John 4:1-42), but the entire chapter. And I once dared to call plot structure the most import tool for observing the structure of a narrative. So I decided to put my money where my mouth was, and invest my limited mental energy in exploring the plot structure of this chapter.

The results got me farther down the road than any other tool I tried. Not only was this tool the most important one for observing the structure. It ended up also being the most important tool for helping me to interpret the narrative and determine the author’s main point.

Let me show you how it worked.

Stuck in the Details

Without handrails, John 4 is the sort of narrative that makes Bible students feel like they’re swimming in details. And great is the temptation for premature application. There is much in this chapter to provoke, stimulate, and inspire. All you have to do is pick your favorite from among the proffered topics and you’re free to camp there as long as you like.

We could focus on the satisfaction Jesus promises with living water (John 4:13-14). We could focus on sexual morality (John 4:17-18) or Jesus’ omniscience (John 4:16, 19). We could focus on true worship (John 4:21-24). We could focus on evangelism (John 4:28-29, 39-40). We could focus on spiritual dullness or failure to evangelize (John 4:35-38). We could focus on Jesus’ obedience to his Father (John 4:34). We could focus on Jesus’ experience of rejection (John 4:44-45) or his power to heal at a distance (John 4:50-53). We could focus on the nature of belief (John 4:39-42, 48, 50, 53) or the authority of Messiah (John 4:25-26).

So many goodies. So much raw material for theological exploration. And all of it would be true, biblical, practical, and engaging.

But why did John include all these things? What was his main idea?

Getting Unstuck

The best way to see how all these goodies fit together is to analyze the text according to its plot structure.

The first conflict is introduced in John 4:7-9. It must have been important to John that his readers understand the conflict, because he chooses to pop us on the nose with two parenthetical statements (the disciples were gone, and Jews don’t deal with Samaritans). Perhaps without the explanation, the nature of the conflict would have been subtle enough that his audience might have missed it. In short, the conflict, as John introduces it, is Jesus vs. cultural expectations of identity. Jesus does what nobody would have expected him to do: Speak to this woman, alone.
If that is the conflict, this suggests that John 4:1-6 is simply the setting to paint the picture for us. Jesus wishes to escape the Pharisees, who might compel a competition between him and John. And he “had to” pass through Samaria to get away.
So where is the reversal? Where are the cultural expectations of identity flipped around? John 4:26: “I who speak to you am he.” Here is the first climax.
Therefore, we can consider the intervening verses (John 4:10-25) as part of the rising action intended to heighten the tension and build toward climax.
- These verses are not unimportant. There is deep and significant teaching here. But, according to the way John has chosen to tell his story, this material is subordinate to the climax of verse 26.
- In John 4:10-15, Jesus has asked her for a drink, but he clarifies that, really, she should have asked him for a drink.
- In John 4:16, the conflict expands. Now Jesus is taking on not only the cultural expectations of his identity but also this woman’s worship. He shines light to expose her evil deeds (John 3:20-21), likely to see whether she’ll come out or withdraw further into cover of darkness.
- In John 4:17-25, the action rises as they now discuss true and false worship. Again, this material is valuable; I don’t think it’s unimportant. But for John, it’s part of a narrative device intended to heighten the tension and build to climax. We must keep in mind what he’s building toward: Who is Jesus, with respect to what his culture expects of him?
After the climax in John 4:26, the situation resolves into a new setting (John 4:27-30), a new state of affairs: One where Jesus’ own disciples marvel at his behavior (again, completely in conflict with their cultural expectations), and the woman testifies to Jesus’ new-found (to her) identity.

So John 4:1-30 gives us one full cycle of plot structure, with a sense of resolution and a new state of affairs. I’ll abbreviate my commentary on the remaining two cycles.

Second plot arc (John 4:27-42):

John 4:27-30: setting, described above.
John 4:31-32: next conflict introduced. Jesus vs. disciples’ perception of the world.
John 4:33-37: rising action. Q&A. Jesus takes their eyes off physical food to the spiritual reality of harvest.
John 4:38: climax. Disciples’ mistaken perception reversed as they enter into another’s labor (as they now reap that for which they did not labor).
John 4:39-42: new setting. Samaritans believe that Jesus is savior of the world; they ask him to stay.

Third plot arc (John 4:39-54):

John 4:39-42: setting, described above.
John 4:43-46: more setting. John raises the question of response. We ought to expect, with Jesus, a poor response to him from his own people (cf. John 1:11, 4:44).
John 4:47-48: next conflict introduced. On the surface, we might think the conflict is Jesus vs. illness. But with Jesus’ first response (John 4:48) John highlights a different conflict instead: Jesus vs. unbelief (defined as trusting more in signs than in the savior). The surface conflict with illness is merely the literary mechanism for presenting the true conflict with unbelief.
John 4:49-50a: rising action, where the Roman official requests Jesus’ presence but receives his word of promise instead.
John 4:50b: climax. The official believes Jesus’ word, even without a visible sign. He goes on his way without Jesus’ company.
John 4:51-53a: resolution. The official gets proof of his son’s healing, to confirm the word of promise from Jesus.
John 4:53b-54: new setting. Belief spreads in Roman official’s household.

Implications

Let me close with a few principles for mapping plot structure:

Because the categories and lines can seem fuzzy in any given story, I find it most helpful to identify first the conflict and climax. The conflict is the point at which the narrative introduces tension. The climax is the point at which that tension is fixed or reversed. Those two points are typically the clearest elements of the plot.
Then the material in between the introduction of the conflict and the climax falls into place as rising action, serving to expand on or intensify the tension produced by the conflict.
Almost everything that comes before the conflict is simply setting. The details matter for the sake of the story, but they will likely not be as crucial to the text’s theology or application.
And the payout for interpretation comes when we focus our attention on the climax and resolution to determine the author’s main point.

In John 4, we see three arcs with climaxes:

The first arc climaxes (John 4:26) with the immoral Samaritan woman hearing and, in the resolution, trusting in Jesus’ identity as Messiah.
The second arc climaxes (John 4:38) with the disciples entering into Jesus’ labor, to reap the harvest with him.
The third arc climaxes (John 4:50b) with the powerful Roman official trusting Jesus’ word of promise, without any visible sign.

How does this help with discovering John’s main point? The religious insiders need help to perceive God’s salvation extending to religious outsiders. This Jesus is not only King of the Jews. He is the Savior of the world (John 4:42), rejected by his own but believed on in the world. Not even Nicodemus the Pharisee is described as believing just yet (John 3); but any outsider of any race or status who trusts Jesus’ identity and word of promise can become his child. This chapter illustrates, with flamboyant color, the truth that God so loved the world (John 3:16-17).

This main point fits perfectly with the flow of thought in this section of the gospel:

In John 2, the messianic kingdom has arrived!
In John 3, we see how to enter the kingdom.
In John 4, we see who enters the kingdom.

I find it is well worth my time to simply draw a plot arc and use it to help me grasp biblical narratives. Perhaps it can be useful to you as well.

What a Conversation Between Authors Taught Me About Leading a Bible Study

June 24, 2019 By Ryan Higginbottom

writer — Brad Neathery (2017), public domain

I listen to a lot of podcasts, and a newer one I’ve been enjoying is called Table of (mal)Contents. The show is mostly about reading, and I’ve gotten some great book recommendations by listening.

On a recent episode, two of the hosts were talking about writing. Both of these men have written multiple books, and they were discussing their writing habits, how they come up with book ideas, editing, and other writing topics.

As they were talking about editing, one of the hosts (Barnabas Piper) said something that got me thinking—not so much about writing, but about preparing Bible studies for my small group. (A link to the episode is here; this quote begins at the 30-minute mark.)

People want to have 100% satisfaction with their written work, and you just won’t. You just come to the place where you’re like, “this was my best effort, my best contribution to ….” So I did a book on pastor’s kid, I did a book on faith and doubt, a book on curiosity. Are any of those the definitive word on those things? No. My hope is that they are the right kind contribution to connect with the right kind of reader and that I didn’t say anything terrible or stylistically just crappy. […] I think perfectionism is a terrible bane for writers.

I was struck by his comment about his books not being the “definitive word” on any of those subjects. I’ve grappled a lot with perfectionism when preparing to lead my small group.

Not a Seminary Class

In a Bible study meeting, my time is limited. We might have 45 or 60 minutes to look at the passage together. And I have a specific goal during that time: I want to help my friends see the main point of the passage and think about the implications for their lives.

We cannot do in a small group study what can be accomplished in a seminary class. Some passages are so rich that to dive into all of the connections and theological implications would take hours. And some small group members do not have the background or interest to cover all of those (sometimes complicated) topics.

A small group study will rarely cover everything associated with a Bible passage. But the study will be a success if we can read, understand, and apply the Scriptures in a faithful way.

A Check on My Ego

It is tempting for me to design a small group study as the definitive word on a Bible passage. Not only do I like the idea of being complete, but I like the recognition that comes from leading a profound discussion.

Perhaps other leaders face this same temptation. I want others to praise me as their small group leader. I like sounding smart and impressing people with my learning. The more theological richness I can wring out of a passage, my thinking sometimes goes, the better my reputation.

Of course, this posture is self-focused and wicked. Leading a Bible study is an opportunity to serve others and help them encounter the God of the universe. It is not a venue for shining a spotlight on myself. And exploring doctrine just for the sake of a sophisticated conversation is rarely the best way to serve the people in my group. When I am more concerned about my own praise than the way my friends worship and follow God, I am a glory thief. And I should shudder.

But the gospel says there is good news for glory thieves. For Christians, God is a loving, faithful Father. Because of the work of Jesus, he offers forgiveness and the power and motivation to change.

Keep it Simple

Bible study leaders, let’s remember that we don’t need to prepare the definitive study on our passage. We should study the passage ourselves, let the message change us, and then work hard to lead our group to the main point of the passage. Let’s aim for the “right kind of contribution that connects” with our friends.

God’s word is powerful and his Spirit is at work. He will bring about the fruit he wants from our efforts. We don’t need to craft the perfect study to make this happen.

Understanding the Story of Joseph in Genesis

August 23, 2017 By Peter Krol

Samuel Emadi wrote a piece on the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50. Sometimes we read that story and zero in on a few ideas about innocent suffering or the sovereignty of God. But Emadi does a great job examining the full narrative and following its train of thought.

Moses gives Joseph more time in Genesis than he does any other character—a striking fact given the significance of Genesis’s other main characters: Adam, Noah, and the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This prominence is even more striking considering the apparent insignificance of Joseph in the rest of Scripture.

What then do we make of the Joseph story? Why is it so prominent in Genesis?

Many Christians fail to notice how Joseph’s story contributes to the Genesis narrative and to redemptive history in general. Within Reformed circles, preachers often use Joseph merely to illustrate how divine sovereignty and human responsibility intersect, focusing almost exclusively on Genesis 50:20: “What you meant for evil God meant for good.” Certainly, we are meant to read Joseph’s life in light of this verse. God’s sovereignty is a major theme in Genesis 37–50, and Joseph himself intends for us to interpret his life in light of God’s providence (cf. Gen. 45:1–9).

But reducing the story to an illustration for the doctrine of compatibilism misses the rich contribution Joseph’s life makes to the storyline of Scripture. God’s sovereignty figures largely in the Joseph story because God wants us to see how he puts himself in impossible situations and yet finds a way to keep his covenant promises. Joseph highlights how God’s providence secures God’s promises.

In this light, we can see how Joseph uniquely contributes to Scripture’s opening book.

Check it out!

How to Get the Main Point of a Large Section of Scripture

July 26, 2017 By Peter Krol

In this audio interview, John Piper gives a great analogy of a detailed jigsaw puzzle to explain how to pull the pieces of a text together into a main point. He then models how he did this with Psalm 8. It’s very well done.

Check it out!

Help Your Small Group See the Big Picture

July 24, 2017 By Ryan Higginbottom

Jiuguang Wang (2010), Creative Commons License

When I find myself in a new city, it takes me a while to get my bearings. I need an idea of a city’s structure before I can move around with confidence.

In Pittsburgh—the biggest city near me—everything is organized by bridges and neighborhoods. If I feel lost, I look for signs for the closest bridge, stadium, or college campus. Knowing the big picture keeps me moving.

When studying the Bible, a book overview serves this same function. Knowing the themes, structure, and main point of a book is a great help when you wade into the chapters and verses. We’ve written before about how to do a book overview in your personal Bible study; today we’ll address leading a small group through the process.

Homework is Required

A fair warning: This particular small group meeting requires homework. Your group members may balk, but without homework, a book overview discussion will become a lecture. Nobody wants that.

My small group recently started Luke, and we kicked things off with a book overview meeting. Here’s what I expected my group to do before the meeting.

Read the whole book. I asked them to read it at least once, and two or three times if possible. I encouraged them to jot down thoughts on the book’s structure and major themes as they read.
Watch two videos. We’ve written before about The Bible Project’s book overview videos. They’re excellent. Here are the two videos that were produced for Luke. (This was the easy part of the homework!)
Read an overview article. Either in a study Bible or an online source, I asked my group to find an article about the big purpose and themes of the book. (Here is one article I recommended for Luke. And here is another great resource on Bible book overviews.)

My group had five weeks between meetings to accomplish these tasks. Stating my expectations up front made leading the book overview meeting a snap.

The Meeting Itself

I told my group we’d discuss five simple questions at the meeting.

Who wrote this book?
To whom was this book written?
Why did this person write this book to these people at this time?
What are some key themes of the book?
How is the book structured?

We hit all five questions, and because my friends had prepared, we had a lively discussion.

The goal of a book overview meeting should be to come up with a main point for the book you’re studying. Once you agree on this as a group, you can return to it to make sense of smaller passages. Even if you don’t hit on application during this meeting, you’re laying the foundation for future discussions.

Like a Compass in a Storm

The book overview won’t solve all of your Bible study problems. But it is a wonderful exercise for both personal and small group Bible study. When you know what an author is trying to do with the book as a whole, sometimes smaller sections of the book click into place.

Next time you start a new book in your small group Bible study, take a week to talk about the big picture. You won’t regret it!

Thanks to Peter for his help in preparing this article.

Image source

Defining and Refining the Main Point

March 17, 2017 By Peter Krol

This is a guest post by Brian Stenson and Lincoln Fitch, who serve with DiscipleMakers in eastern Pennsylvania. They share a love for good coffee, good books, and good Bible study. Listen to their talk on Bible study from the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference here.

After a long, hard-fought battle, you have captured the main point of your passage. You have made many observations. You’ve asked and answered key interpretive questions. You’ve resisted the five misconceptions. Now you sit atop the glorious truth you’ve discovered, basking in the glory of victory.

In this grand moment, you may be tempted toward overconfidence. We’ve been there. We’ve felt like strutting across the local coffee shop like decorated Olympians, hands punching the air, spectators lavishing accolade upon accolade. This part of your Bible study is dangerous because, in your overconfidence, you might fail to take an honest, humble look at your work.

So before taking your victory lap, humbly filter your proposed main point through a defining and refining process, especially if you plan to teach or preach this passage. This will ensure you have an accurate main point, ready to communicate with clarity and potency.

Five Misconceptions About Finding the Main Point

March 10, 2017 By Peter Krol

Finding the main point tends to be one of the most difficult skills to master when learning to study the Bible, in part because of believing one or more of the following five misconceptions.

1. Your Bible study is solely dependent on the quality of your main point

Perhaps you think your Bible study is not worthwhile without a solid main point. And certainly, understanding the main point of a passage is crucial to understanding God’s word.

Yet God’s words are living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword. The words that come from his mouth will not return to him empty.

This means that the God-breathed words in this book are not dependent on us. We definitely want to be careful and handle them faithfully, but the power in them is not from us but from God. This fact frees us from needing to have perfect main points.

If you’re tempted to cancel your Bible study because you’re not sure you’ve understood the main point, don’t! Trust in the power of God’s words.

2. The main point is a summary of the passage

A summary of the passage simply retells the facts. In contrast, the main point interprets what those facts mean.

For example, a summary of John 1:1-18 might be “Jesus is the Word, the life, the light, and the glory of God made flesh.” This statement communicates (summarizes) what the passage says. But to get the main point, we must ask what these things mean, and we’ll come up with something like, “God is making himself known through Jesus.”

Summaries of the passage can lead you to the main point. But don’t settle for a summary. Dig further to understand what the passage teaches about God.The Main point must answer the question: Why did the author write this?

3. Finding the main point is more of a science than an art

Finding the main point is not an exact science. There’s no formula that guarantees you a main point if you follow certain steps or ask certain questions.

Finding the main point is more of an art, where you use different tools to discover the author’s intentions. You put yourself in the author’s shoes.

And when we call Bible study an art, we’re speaking less of the art of creation and creativity, and more of the art of fine arts criticism. Or more specifically, the art of literary analysis. We’re not creating meaning, but simply uncovering the meaning already present in the text.

So don’t expect any series of steps to drop the main point into your lap. Rather, acquire the careful discernment required to understand the author’s intentions.

4. The main point is a precise phrase you’re looking to find

Don’t think of it as a treasure hunt for the right answer, nor as an encryption key to break a code.

James St. John (2015), Creative Commons

Think of it like a gem—one beautiful idea with many facets. You can come at the main point from different angles. Don’t put pressure on yourself to get the wording exactly right. There is no secret answer key of main points for the Bible.

And note: While there usually is no single, “right” main point for a passage, there can certainly be many wrong answers. For example, possible main point statements for John 1:1-18 could be:

God is making himself known through Jesus.
Jesus reveals God to the world.
Jesus is the God who created the world and now brings life to it.

But it would be incorrect to say the main point of John 1:1-18 is that “Jesus is the first created being” (poor observation) or that “Jesus was rejected by those who should have received him” (focusing on a sub-point of the passage’s argument).

5. Wise teachers should always agree about a passage’s main point

Because finding the main point is more art than science, and because the main point can have many facets from which to view it, we should expect some disagreement or differences in stating the main points. Commentators can state the main point differently, and yet still have a good understanding of the passage. Pastors can preach different sermons from the same passage and yet still be faithfully representing the passage.

So if you and your Bible study co-leader come up with similar main points, but you phrase them differently, don’t be surprised! As long as you’re looking at the same gem, it’s OK if you don’t frame the main point the same way.

Conclusion

The main point is not an observational summary but an interpretive statement. We’re looking in the text, not for a specific phrase, but for the author’s intention, which, like the facets of a gem, can be looked at from multiple directions.

Picture a miner digging down 20 feet and hitting copper. Though he isn’t thrilled, he figures it’s the best he can do. So he packs up and leaves, ignorant of the gold just a few feet further down. We’re like this when we study the Bible but don’t quite get to the author’s main point. And how much more valuable is the Lord’s word than gold?

So don’t give up! Keep digging to understand God’s word.

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