Devotional Exposition

Introduction

While there is nothing wrong with any type of speaking or writing, the purpose of this article is to argue that the main model for exhortation (written or spoken) should be “devotional exposition”. The letter to the Hebrews states, “And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words” (Heb 13:22). The implications are startling for it describes the letter as a “word of exhortation” and yet it is a difficult letter, full of types and patterns, detail, involved knowledge and exposition.[1] We might doubt whether the letter is devotional, but it is certainly expositional. Is the letter of Hebrews a model for exhortation today?

Situation Today

The situation today no doubt varies from culture to culture and so we must describe a situation rather than the situation. This is one where exhortation is not devotional exposition but rather “homiletical lessons for living”. The BBC runs a program on Sunday morning which is a church service. It features a sermon which could be characterized as “homiletical lessons for living”. It has certain characteristics:

  • It will often start with an anecdote from the news or the speaker’s life and experience; it will certainly include these at suitable intervals throughout the talk which is usually about 10-15 minutes at most.
  • There will be little Bible content; parables may be used, well-known stories; certainly no exposition or doctrine.
  • A modern Bible version will be used and probably a paraphrase version to make any material accessible.
  • The point of the sermon will be a moral saying or a lesson for life, something to which the audience can easily relate. It will be unobjectionable inane advice and backed up with illustrative stories.
  • Probably, the sermon will have an ecumenical aspect so that non-Christian religious believers who might be listening will not be offended.
  • The talk will be rhetorically good—polished.
  • The talk may be by any person in society (male or female) who has been arranged to speak to the church on that Sunday.

Is this kind of talk of any value in the Christadelphian community? While exhortations in the community may not be ecumenical, this model is not uncommon among speakers in the UK. Is it a Biblical model? Are there any disadvantages with this spirituality?

Exhortation

A review of the word exhortation (para,klhsij) shows that it is more things than devotional exposition; our argument is just that this model of exhortation is neglected today in the community. Our reason for making this point is that we ought to “give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim 4:13).

The lexicon gives a suitably large list of English words for the Greek para,klhsij: exhortation, admonition, comfort, consolation, solace and so on. The synagogue pattern was for a word of exhortation after the reading of the Law and the Prophets (Acts 13:15). Hence,

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort (para,klhsij) of the scriptures might have hope. Rom 15:4 (KJV)

The Scriptures are the focus here and learning or teaching (didaskali,a) is a means through which comfort (exhortation) is ministered to people. In NT times, the Spirit gift of prophecy ensured that Christian prophets exhorted the people as their OT counterparts had done (Acts 9:31; 1 Cor 14:3).

What this illustrates is that “exhortation” is what you do through doing other things; comfort is given through things like teaching, like telling a person that you mourn with them, or that you desire the return of Christ, or that you are so zealous for the Lord that you run a bookstall each Saturday, and so on:

And not by his coming only, but by the consolation (para,klhsij) wherewith he was comforted (parakale,w) in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 2 Cor 7:7 (KJV)

Comfort is given or received because of something else—words or actions: words of teaching or of assurance, or with practical actions. So, if we rehearse the promises that God has made to the fathers, we comfort one another (Heb 6:18).

If Scripture is at the centre of exhortation, exposition is also at the centre; hence, Paul advises that an individual gives attention to reading Scripture as well as exhortation. This is not to say that what is going on in the daily life of the ecclesia is not a source of exhortation, things such as witness, preaching, baptisms and the blessings of life. It is just to say that teaching and doctrine are essential to exhortation. Hence, the degree to which we neglect Scripture and doctrine—it is to that extent we show that we prefer to talk and hear only about our own lives—to hear anecdotes and stories and consider general moral advice (lessons) for living.

An ecclesia has ears to hear but it may only hear what it wants to hear; it may only appoint speakers of a certain generation, a particular group of friends, or of a known spiritual style. It is easy for a situation to develop over time where teaching and exposition are rare and neglected, and yet this malaise can be totally unrecognised because a form of spirituality is in evidence, viz. the spirituality of what is practical, of what is here and now, of what is useful as a lesson for living, something about us rather than about God.

Nevertheless, so as not to become unbalanced in our critique, we ought to say that exhortation is about good works—there are many texts that use the schema “to exhort + to do/be”. But what is overlooked about these texts is that they are in letters to ecclesias and individuals known to the apostles: the exhortation is directed to known individuals and groups. The same point applies to Jesus’ exhortations in his preaching. Although we read the exhortation in the NT Scriptures, we should remember that we are not the personally known recipients of the original writings; we have to apply the Scriptures to ourselves. Even if our exhortation is not doctrinal in focus but practical, it will involve exposition because the Scriptures are involved.

Writing and Speaking

The question arises as to whether written exhortation in the community magazines should be different to exhortation on a Sunday morning. One of the disadvantages with the “visiting speaker” system is that the visitor does not know the ecclesia he is visiting—the state of knowledge, the current difficulties, spiritual problems, emotional needs and spiritual requirements. While there is a place for visiting speakers, the rule should be that an ecclesia is exhorted by one of its own (John 1:11). The same point applies to magazine exhortation—it is not personally addressed but generalized.

Generalized exhortation is an ideal vehicle for using exposition of the Scriptures. The Scriptures are what we hold in common. If we exegete the Scriptures and apply their various levels of meaning in an ecclesial context to our lives, then we are engaged in exposition and exhorting one another. Whereas exhortation from the platform by ecclesial members can be direct and relevant, magazine exhortation can only be general and therefore the Scriptures and their meaning should be the preferred model for exhortation in writing.

We can write exhortation that has anecdotes, touching stories, homiletical lessons for living, pithy advice on life, moral aphorisms, sentiment, politically correct values, and such is the stuff of the BBC church service exhortations. However, it is better to place Scripture and some substance at the centre of magazine exhortations. And while spoken exhortation on a Sunday can be more varied, a spiritually balanced ecclesia will also have Scripturally centred exhortation as the main mode in which exhortation is delivered.

The well-known statement of Paul on Scripture is that it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). In a community where the spirit-gifts are absent, it would seem a first principle that the spirit-word be at the centre of exhortation. The presentation of Christ at the breaking of bread should be through Scripture.

Devotion

People might just think of prayer and praise as “devotion” or perhaps meditation and reading. Bible study might not be a person’s first idea about devotion. However, there is no real basis for excluding any of these things from the category of “devotion”. We can define “devotion” to be any spiritual behaviour specifically directed towards God. So, if a person loves the Scriptures, this is an expression of their love for the Father. If s/he loves the Father, s/he will also love the Son. The Son loved the Scriptures as shown by his constant use of them. A person who loves the Scriptures aligns themselves with the values held dear by Jesus. In this arrangement of the mind a person shows that they are faithful followers doing what Jesus commanded.

Exposition is an exercise of love very much as bodily exercise works a person’s joints and limbs. It is part of the devotion of a life towards God; part of the orientation of a life towards God. Its relative absence in a life shows the extent to which a person falls short in their devotion towards God and his Word. All exposition is therefore devotional; it may appear complicated and technical, purely factual, but it is an exercise of devotion because time has been spent with the Word. The amount of time spent with the Word is a measure of the devotion.

Someone might object and say that the time spent with the Word is not an act of devotion because it is just an expression of a person’s intellectual fascination with the material. This is a possible failing but whether it is so can be easily determined by listening to an expositor for the language of devotion in his/her speech rather than the language of intellectual observation. Someone who listens to secular academic treatment of the Bible will readily be able to discern the difference between the devotional expositor and the technician.

Conclusion

Whether devotional exposition has been neglected in your ecclesia is a not a matter for this article. If we examine ourselves we need some measures to do so, and there are various ways of specifying such measures but each is about purpose and the achievement of purpose—the spirit-gifts were purposeful:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Eph 4:11-17 (KJV)

There are several purposes in this text: perfecting, edifying, growing, to name only three. Those who have the oversight in the ecclesia can ask whether the ecclesia is moving positively forward in these ways or whether it is stuck. If devotional exposition is neglected in the ecclesia, then the purpose of “growth in the knowledge of the Son of God” will become stultified.  In order to move forward and grow, the elders have to think in a joined-up way about the week to week and the year to year. The ecclesia should be growing in its knowledge in an organic way and devotional exposition is the major instrument in this endeavour.

[1] 1 Peter is another “exhortation” letter (1 Pet 5:12).