Words of Life

Words of Life, by Timothy Ward is about how God spoke out of the words of the Bible and how He continues to communicate through them to the world. The words of Scripture are the vehicle for God’s speech. God is speaking in and acting in Scripture.  While Ward has much to say on the role of language and the fact that God has both equipped us with the ability of language and chooses to use language as a means of communicating to us, (everyone should ponder that at least once in their lives) the section on application is very relevant on how we approach Scripture today, individually and as a church.  I also found his section on the doctrine of the clarity of scripture to address very key items that are also directly applicable to the church today.

One aspect of the doctrine of clarity, as it pertains to preaching, means that the preacher has the right attitude if and when challenged and corrected by others. This is due to the fact that preachers are also affected by sin and can be blinded at times (p. 122). I suspect that if preachers were open to—not unnecessary vicious criticism—but dialogue for the purpose of edification, laity in the church who are equally as serious about doctrine, scripture, and faith would be open to one another in disagreements as we all seek the authority of the Scriptures and the leading of the Spirit. This same section addresses the inerrancy of Scripture and I found this point to be useful in explaining this key doctrine to others. The Bible “does not assert any errors of fact…what it asserts is true.” (pg. 130) In other words, petty micro discussions on translation errors and so forth do not take away from the big picture of this doctrine—Scripture will not lead us into error, everything it says is true. This is something that needs to be proclaimed and rediscovered by 21^st century Christians.

Individual interpretation of the Scriptures is always problematic, particularly when that individual is in a teaching position or has an audience of any kind. There is a distinction between sola scriptura and solo scriptura. I appreciate Ward’s candid comment about the necessity for interpretation of scripture that does not exalt the individual’s interpretation (‘Tradition o’). There is the danger of the “Spirit-filled teacher” who may have a great following and gives little importance to predominant teachings throughout church history (p. 148). This is very relevant to our times. There are many cyber churches that any individual can start with very little to no money and very little to no biblical education. Not too long ago an ambitious preacher/teacher would need significant media exposure, a physical location of gathering and financial backing consistently in order to gain any “human” influence. Today, through a variety of social media outlets, followers will literary search for you and follow you. This could be a good thing for sound teaching, yet the floodgates have opened and wisdom to know and navigate is crucial or else we can be swayed by whatever our itching ears want to hear. Sola Scriptura must ring true in light of current reality—scripture supreme, all other traditions (if I may add technology and trends) must serve scripture (p.151). A final thought on this is that it underscores our need for preachers who are trained in hermeneutics and approach God’s Word with humility while having a heart and capacity of shepherding the flock they have been entrusted with.  Ward provides basic and important questions every student of the Bible ought to ask in personal study or in preparing a message (p. 175).

The section on application as it pertains to the corporate (church) setting was of particular interest to me.  Knowing about the work of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word being preached is encouraging. This takes the stress off of thinking everything begins and ends with the sermon (or worship or Sunday morning service in general). The truth is that the Spirit is already working ahead of everything we are preparing and planning! In spite of all this there is great importance on the life of the preacher himself. When the preacher’s life is significantly at odds with the message he is preaching, the message will not have the desired effect and outcome on the listeners (p.167). This is so important to grasp. Whether the preacher is in a lifestyle of sin, got to church grumpy and disappointment at everyone, or simply did not allow the message to speak to him first before delivering it to the congregation. I appreciate that Ward states further that preachers are to preach and teach on how to best interpret the Bible. He admits that individuals can consult books or resources and learn about interpretation themselves, but they are best taught by their own pastor (p. 172). This section “takes off” and “puts on” the role of the pastor. It “takes off” in that the pastor is not tasked with delivering sensational new truths from God’s Word. Yet that does not make him unnecessary or obsolete; he is to allow the Spirit to work in him through the Word as he teaches the congregation the same truth in order to have that same effect on their lives.

Ward could probably borrow a bit from Sanders’ sense of urgency of needing to go deeper! That’s an appropriate theme to the truths of this book and the truths of Scripture—we must go deeper! Scripture (and language) as a means of God speaking to us actively by definition should crowd us around studying of God’s Word. This, in turn, would give our local churches the right vision and right mission in moving forward. There is too much Christian fluff and not enough substance, yet the harvest continues to be plentiful. Serious Christians and pastors need to humbly and prayerfully seek how correctly hearing God informs their personal and ministerial decisions. While those in error move forward more subtly and quickly than ever before, we must teach and defend the Word for those who are coming into the Kingdom.