PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

have not been trained. Others fail because they have enough education but they do not know the
right things (their theology is wrong). Therefore, the leader must reinforce the primacy of the
Scriptures. This is the cornerstone of Christian education. He must also reinforce the primacy of
the church's methods and continued loyalty to the cause of Christ. All this is accomplished
through a systematic Bible teaching ministry.
EXPECTATIONS AND ROLES IN THE BIBLE EXPOSITIONAL CHURCH
In a Bible Expositional Church, the pastor/teacher is primarily viewed as a teacher of the
Scriptures. The preaching ministry of men who hold this office has been described as long and
strong. They tend to practice expository preaching as the norm in their pulpit ministries. Usually
this takes the form of preaching forty-five minutes to one hour each week consecutively through
a book of the Bible or extended passage of Scripture.
Expository preaching would generally be defined by these men as "the proclamation of a
biblical concept derived from an historical-grammatical study of a passage in its context which
the Holy Spirit has first made vital in the personality of the preacher and through him applies
accurately in the experience of the congregation." 1 These pastors will commonly invest fifteen to
twenty hours in the preparation of a single sermon. Often the Sunday sermon comes complete
with printed sermon notes and overhead transparencies used during the message.
People who attend Bible Expositional Churches have been conditioned to expect biblical
content in the sermons they hear. Many take notes on a regular basis and carry well-marked
study Bibles to church. When they leave a Sunday worship service, they expect to know more
than when they came in. They look to their pastor to explain the Scriptures in an understandable
manner. Unconsciously, they look for the marks of diligent study and biblical scholarship as the
pastor explains the next passage in the book they are studying together.
THE BONDING AGENT OF THE BIBLE EXPOSITIONAL CHURCH
The Bible Expositional Church is often a gift colony where those gifted in teaching gather
each week. Teaching is the preparation and communication of biblical principles in the power of
the Holy Spirit to others and the relevant demonstration of those principles to the specific needs
represented. Those gifted in the area of teaching tend to be diligent students of the Scripture,
who have accumulated a thorough understanding of biblical principles as a result of their
consistent study habits. In a Bible Expositional Church, those with the spiritual gift of teaaching
gather to learn from those who have developed their gift to a greater degree.
Because of their love for the study and teaching of the Scriptures, many leaders in the
Bible Expositional Church are widely published authors. W. A. Criswell preached his way
through the Scriptures in his first thirteen years in the pulpit of First Baptist Church, Dallas,
covering Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. His sermons were collected and published as
expository commentaries on the Scriptures. He was not alone in this practice. The sermons of
H. A. Ironside and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones were also published by Christian publishers and
widely distributed in the Christian community. Today, a new breed of leader in this movement
has writers who adapt their sermons for use in study guides to accompany daily radio broadcasts
or special cassette study courses. John McArthur, Charles Swindoll, Charles Stanley and David