PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

accomplished through the Board of Christian Education and the use of a Master Calendar in the
church office. This will help avoid conflicts in programming and reduce unnecessary duplication
of efforts.
People must not only have opportunity to study the Bible, they must also be motivated to
take advantage of those opportunities. The best way to motivate people is to convince them a
certain course of action will meet a perceived need or challenge them with a dream. Pastors have
been successful in using both of these methods to engage people in meaningful Bible study.
Pastors of growing churches preach from the same Bible as pastors of churches not
experiencing growth, but they are often more successful in convincing their listeners of the
relevance of their message to the listener's life. If given the choice, the average church-goer
would probably rather hear a message on the topic, "How to Live the Successful Christian Life"
than a message on the topic, "The Meaning of Baptism in Romans 6," even though both
messages may be based on the same passage and have largely the same outline. People are
motivated to study the Bible when they are convinced it will help them in a perceived area of
need.
Bible study should also be promoted as a challenge. A young couple preparing for
marriage can be challenged to study what the Bible says about relationships, finances, the home,
and other marriage related topics on the basis they want their marriage to be the best it can be.
Similarly, new parents may be challenged to complete studies related to parenthood as they
dream of being the best parent they can. One pastor used to challenge his people at the annual
watch night service to become an authority on some book, character, or chapter of the Bible that
year. One year, a member of his congregation chose the Twenty-Third Psalm. In the course of
the year, that man found and studied forty-two books written on that psalm. He became so
excited about his study, he went to Israel on his vacation to see how shepherds keep their sheep.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest and adoption of the practice of
expository Bible preaching. Today, many leading pastors with large congregations use this
approach to preaching almost exclusively. When pastors preach according to this plan, they
demonstrate their commitment to the Scriptures. People are then more likely to follow their
pastors leadership in Bible study and begin studying the Scriptures consistently in their own life.
Other pastors vary their preaching topics more widely but are systematic in their Bible
teaching in that they plan their church year with special emphasis during campaigns and
conferences such as church growth campaigns, stewardship campaigns, missionary conventions,
prophecy and deeper life conferences, etc. Other pastors rely on the use of a curriculum plan in
their Sunday School to insure a systematic program of Bible teaching is in place in their church.
As a pastor or Sunday School teacher teaches the Scriptures in this way, they help their people
grow internally through Bible study. This often leads to external church growth as others come
to have their needs met in this way also.