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February 12, 2026 |
| Application Church | ||
A long time ago, I noticed that a lot of preachers finished their sermons with application notes - how to apply the sermon to your life. I often noticed that these applications were not applicable to most people. I also wondered how you would get applications from sermons on many topics.
Later I attended a sermon on prophecy. At the end, the preacher said something like, "They say that every sermon must have applications, so here's what I've got." That's when I realized that all pastors are taught, even commanded, to do this. That seemed strange because some topics, like prophecy, just do not lend themselves to useful applications.
Just recently I watched a video where the speaker said it was necessary to provide applications. More mature now, I wondered if this was Biblical, and if it was right. Those musings became this study.
The Bible contains a few sermons. None of them ends with anything like applications. They are sermons that convict those who do not believe. There is no need for applications on how to be convicted. We'll come back to this point later.
If we view the New Testament epistles as sermons, we don't see anything like applications. I'll go back to my example of teaching prophecy, and we'll look at Thessalonians.
I want you to know my brethren, that you should not have sorrow for those who are asleep, as do the rest of mankind who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
The phrase "I want you to know" is commonly translated as "I do not want you to be ignorant." I guess the double negative - don't have no - was popular at some point. Your grammar teacher should have explained that when you were young.
Paul's point here is that he wants the reader to have some knowledge. Ideally the Spirit would have already explained this to many of his readers, but others do not have that understanding yet.
14 For if we believe that Yeshua died and arose, in this way also God shall bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Yeshua. 15 But this we say to you by the word of Our Lord, that we, those who remain at the coming of our Lord, we who have life, shall not overtake those who are asleep; 16 Because our Lord shall descend from Heaven with a command and with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet blast of God, and the dead who are in the Messiah shall rise first; 17 And then we who remain, who have life, we shall be carried away with them together in clouds to a meeting of our Lord in the air, and in this way, we shall always be with our Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18)
You might say, "There's your application right there at the end, 'Comfort one another,'” but that is his topic, not his application. His topic is "You should not have sorrow for those who are asleep." He says that, if they have the knowledge (are not ignorant), they will not have sorrow (will be comforted).
So verse 18 is saying, if you find a Christian sorrowing for the dead, teach them this, and they will not have sorrow. So if Paul is providing any application guidance in these verses, it is to teach others what he's taught them … which would apply to everything that any apostle ever taught on any topic.
It's off topic, but I'll go there. The modern church does not teach "you should not have sorrow for those who are asleep." Every Christian funeral has people blubbering away. None of them says, "We'll see him in the resurrection." They don't receive this knowledge because they believe they'll see him in Heaven. They are not comforted.
Getting back to our topic, we can say that providing applications is not supported in the Bible.
Not even scholastic teaching uses applications as part of the teaching. That teaching uses example problems to provide the students with experience in using the techniques they've been taught.
You might wonder if that isn't the same as applications. Practice makes sure you have the experience to know how to use or do what you've learned, once you've found a place to apply it. Application teaching tries to tell you when to use it.
I remember a friend from High School. We were between classes hanging out in a campus park, and he was saying that he didn't think the math we were learning would ever be useful to him. I told him that if he could estimate the height of a tree on the other side of the park, I could give him as good an estimate for how far away it was, using math. He could relate to that.
One problem with application teaching is that there are more possible scenarios than can be imagined or taught. Ultimately, the student has to be prepared to ask himself, "What do I know that I can apply beneficially to this problem?" In that moment, all the application teaching is useless because this situation is different.
Yes, application teaching can be harmful. It can teach people that there are limited situations in which the teaching is useful. If the teacher says you can use it this way, that way, and many other ways, all the student hears is that you can use it this way or that way.
Back to Christianity, there is an additional harm. It interferes with the Spirit who is able to bring some teaching to mind at the opportune time. Teaching applications is teaching how to follow the church. It leaves people less practiced in following the Spirit.
Part of the problem is that pastors like to think of themselves as being like apostles. They like to think that they are managing the laity of the church. They are absolutely not apostles. The apostles were much closer to the Holy Spirit, so much so that the words they wrote by the Spirit are infallible.
Pastors were never meant to be apostles. They were never meant to be, at all. The churches were meant to be led by elders, people who are one of the people but with more experience walking in the Spirit.
God's people need to be taught what the Bible says. At first they need to understand the basics. Later they need to see bigger concepts. Ultimately they come to understand how it all fits together.
God's people need to be taught about the false teachings that are going around.
The Bible has many complex passages, mysterious passages, and deeper meanings hidden in passages. These provide God's people with a deeper understanding.
All of these are what we see in the Bible. These assist the Holy Spirit.