Understanding the Bible in a Modern World: How Pastors Can Further Elaborate on Sermons

While we might understand the overall story of the gospel, it can be easy to get lost in the details and the nuances of truly understanding the ways in which Jesus was culturally, spiritually, and religiously groundbreaking during the times of the New Testament. 

For this reason, an effective way we can learn to deeper understand and empathize with stories and characters of the Bible is through the help of modern day examples. In learning about the Bible with the help of a modern context, we not only grow an appreciation for these Biblical stories, but we also see the ways in which God’s wisdom and Jesus’ teachings are still relevant and groundbreaking in today’s world. 

This blog will be going over why pastors should use modern day examples of the Bible to engage with the congregation on a deeper, more personal level.

Stories As a Means of Learning

As children, we tend to learn through the medium of stories. 

My mom was raised in a Mexican household where my grandma would use folklore to warn her to beware of “el mal de ojo” (“the evil eye”) as a way of promoting good behavior. My brother and I would read stories such as The Tortoise and the Hare or Chel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree; learning life lessons of taking your time and having humility, or lessons of loving unconditionally while understanding selfishness. My dad, experiencing a wild and carefree, hippy lifestyle in his young adulthood, would often teach my brother and I cautionary tales through his misadventures.

In school, kids learn stories about historical characters, analyze fictional characters, and for some generations, would learn cautionary PSA’s against drunk driving or drug use. 

What is it about stories that are so effective for learning? 

Wharton Interactive of the University of Pennsylvania, gives us an insight into this question when discussing the role of instructors using stories to teach students: “Instructors tell students stories to pique their interest, to ground theory in specifics, and to create a reference point for new ideas; students tell stories to integrate new ideas and to make sense of their experiences.”

This is similar to how we learn from the Bible. The Bible is filled with letters, parables, poems, psalms, and proverbs, communicating God’s word through different mediums of writing. Within these stories, we’re not only given lessons and morals to learn from, but also levels of interpretation to analyze for our own lives and to discuss with others. 

Because the Bible is from a different time, culture, and takes place in different countries, we may not fully comprehend the impact of some of these stories based on our own experiences of the modern world. 

Why Use Modern Day Examples For Effective Sermons?

Now, part of the pastor’s role in the Church is to “be able to teach” and “keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Timothy 3:3-9). So how can a pastor do this with scripture, while also being able to communicate the scripture in a way that has the same impact to a modern day audience as it did to the original Church of the New Testament? 

A solution: pastors can use modern day examples of how we can understand or apply stories of the Bible to our life in modern America.

What do I mean by “modern examples”? 

By using “modern examples,” I’m not advocating for re-inventing the Bible to keep it “fresh” and “modern.” What I am saying is using anecdotal stories, hypotheticals, or comparisons to modern day experience or current events, to drive home the impact of these Biblical stories and what they’re trying to teach us. 

Modern Examples in Effect

It’s not uncommon to see modern day examples used in pop culture as a means of explaining classic art, literature, or history.

For example: when I was in college, a literature professor gave us an opportunity for extra credit if we watched Gil Junger’s 1999 movie, 10 Things I Hate About You. This movie is a popular teen, romance-comedy set in a highschool during the ‘90s, but it’s also a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrewd. My professor had assigned this movie for extra credit because she explained that it would give us a better idea of the original source material. 

While the movie may not be a one-to-one comparison of everything that happens in Shakespeare’s original play, it captures the essence of the drama, the character’s dynamics, and ultimately the story’s main conflict and lesson. My teacher recommended this movie as a modern example of understanding some of the ideas of Shakespeare’s work, helping us to connect the original source material with a more familiar perspective. 

How Can Pastors Apply This To Their Teaching?

Obviously pastors aren’t going to assign extra credit, asking the congregation to go home and watch a ‘90s rom-com. So how can pastors use modern day examples in their sermons?

One way pastors can do this is by drawing an example from their own experience. 

Recently some friends and I were talking about the book of Job. My friend was struggling to understand why God would allow Job to be punished without there being wrong doing. Another friend of mine used the example of how he’s personally experienced fatherhood to interpret the story of Job. 

By my friend’s example: my friend’s father raised him with a set of values and understood that by the time my friend became an adult, his father can no longer defend him from the world; whether it’d be from danger, conniving people, or certain ideologies. While it’s no longer his father’s job to protect him from the world, my friend has his father’s trust in the fact that he’s been raised with his father’s values and will know what to do. My friend equated this to God allowing Satan to challenge Job, as God knew Job to be “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). 

Pastors can also use hypotheticals or references to modern life as explanations of scripture. I’ve heard pastors compare the pharisees and sadducees to modern day ideologies, compare the disparity of communion in 1 Corinthians 11 to modern day social classes (those working salary jobs vs hourly), or even play scenes from a movie in church to make a direct comparison to scripture.  

By using modern day examples in support of the scripture, the congregation can have more of a direct correlation to the impact and feelings that are being conveyed through God’s Word. 

Need Help Coming Up With Modern Examples?

If you’re having trouble finding modern examples that align with scripture, aren’t feeling inspired, or simply find yourself not having enough time in sermon preparation –– there are tools to help.

Pastors now have access to sermon preparation applications that are not only able to generate prompted modern day examples of scripture, but are even able to create sermon outlines, quick search verses, Bible stories, and create character studies. 

Impacting the Congregation Through Relatability

The Bible has stood the test of time for God’s divine wisdom, though we may start to lose some of the impact of these stories through years of changing cultural and social context. While pastors, theologians, and Bible scholars are able to pick up on these subtleties through deep biblical studies, congregants may not be as keen to these subtleties. 

For this reason, it’s important that pastors are able to fully communicate to the congregation the qualities that make these stories impactful. Through teaching scripture with the help of modern day examples, pastors can better contextualize the relevancy and significance of God’s Word.