10 Toxic Traditions That Are Killing the Church

Preaching merely to teach the Bible.

Yep, let’s go there too. Preach the Bible, preach the Bible, preach the Bible! That’s all well and good. The Bible should be central in our preaching, and I hold to as conservative a stance on biblical inerrancy as the next evangelical, but the Bible is the means, not the end. If you preach only to teach the Bible, you’re selling your congregation short. How many times did Jesus sit his disciples down and walk verse-by-verse through the book of Deuteronomy? His goal was to introduce people to his Heavenly Father. That’s the end: God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. The Bible is great, but it is not a part of the Trinity. The Bible is the word of God, but the Bible did not die on the cross for our sins nor rise from the dead three days later. The goal of preaching is to introduce people to Jesus through the Bible, not just teach the Bible. The Bible is the means, but not the end.