Preaching Proverbs Conference

Of all the books in the Bible to preach from, Proverbs would likely be one of the last I would pick, perhaps only surpassed by Ecclesiastes (I still don't have a very clear idea of what to do with most of the book) and Song of Songs (which I usually just read as fast as possible when I get there in my Bible reading plan, and then move on without lingering on the details). Wisdom literature is not exactly my strong point, especially if I were to try to figure out how to write a sermon outline on a passage.

This past week, however, the seminary hosted a conference on "Preaching Proverbs" as their annual Transformative Preaching conference in conjunction with Langham Partnership International, a ministry that grew out of John Stott's ministry and promotes quality preaching in the majority world. I was able to attend most of the morning sessions and learned quite a lot by seeing different models of expository preaching of a difficult book, all done by Latinos. Probably the most helpful thing for me was seeing how different types of texts and themes can legitimately produce different types of sermons. For example, Diego Cardona, a pastor and the preaching professor at the seminary here, preached a great sermon introducing the book and looking at the big-picture of the concept of wisdom and its connections to the gospel. Another preacher tied in quite a bit of his background in counseling, another focused on one single verse while going very deep in showing the relevance to our lives while drawing on his own life experience, another was brutally honest in discussing texts that deal with the struggles for sexual fidelity, and so forth. In other words, there's not one magic key to preaching Proverbs, but a range of options for communicating effectively what wisdom is about.

I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and realizing that the decisions I make at this stage in my life drastically affect where I will go in the future, but I feel like I'm getting to a point where the wisdom portions of the Bible are beginning to speak to me more. Perhaps this is the flip side of how a lot of people experience their faith. For many, Proverbs connects from the get go and later they go deeper in theology. For me, I've studied theology and the big picture of redemptive history for years, yet this conference has challenged me to remember that preaching (and the Christian life) has other dimensions than just making connections with the Bible's big story. Obviously to be truly wise we must recognize our need for the gospel, but I can't forget that so much of the Bible was written to hit home in daily life and decision making. God cares enough about our conformity to the image of Christ that he has given us pretty clear ideas about what leads to life and which decisions are just plain foolish.

Around 200 people attended the conference, well above expectations and a tremendously encouraging sign! In a country so lacking in quality preaching and nuanced applications of biblical texts, it was great to see so many pastors and other leaders seeking to grow in fidelity to God's word.

Singing a worship song with others attending the Preaching Proverbs conference in response to a sermon.