I recently spoke with a pastor who described the basics of his church’s preaching this way: “Each week we think about the needs of the congregation and then we preach a message to meet those needs.”
This approach, what many call “felt needs” preaching, seeks to help the congregation grow spiritually and overcome the problems it faces. In the case of this shepherd, it stems from a love for his flock and a deep understanding of their lives, something every shepherd must strive for.
There are times when this approach in preaching should be preferred, at least for a short time. For example, when a church experiences a tragedy or there is serious fighting in the congregation, the pastor may want to preach about the situation.
But is felt-needs preaching the best practice for preachers in the long run? I do not think so. Especially when compared to the . Here are four reasons for my answer:
1. God knows our needs better than we do.
The God who created us knows us better than we know ourselves. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Is 55:8-9). Only his Word brings to light our spiritual needs and exposes the thoughts and intents of the heart (2 Tim 3:16-17; Heb 4:12).
Our attempts to faithfully diagnose the needs of our churches cannot be compared to those of God
Therefore, our attempts to faithfully diagnose the needs of our churches cannot be compared to God’s. We need His Word to illuminate our blind spots and expose our true needs. Just as preventive medicine is better than treating a health problem after it appears, preaching through the books of the Bible meets a variety of needs that the congregation and the preacher may not know they have.
Let’s not depend on our limited knowledge to diagnose needs and prescribe solutions.
2. Our felt needs are often not real or deep
Our felt needs may be imaginary or simple contemporary “problems” that expose our superficial and myopic state. Often what we think of as “needs”—like the pursuit of significance or earthly prosperity—disappears from our priorities as we take a more biblical view of God and how He works.
At the same time, sinners are in real need of a Savior who will transform our hearts and lives as we repent and believe in the gospel. However, how many sinners would say that this is a need of which they are aware? One temptation for felt-needs preaching is to give people self-help Band-Aids when they really need a heart transplant that only Christ can give.
3. We lose the deeper focus of biblical books and passages
God gave us the Bible in the form of books, not random collections of verses and stories. Therefore, if preachers only preach thematic messages or expositions, they will miss out on the deeper richness of the passages and books of the Bible. Preaching the great message of a book helps us teach our church to read the Bible better and treat it less like a book of inspirational quotes or a self-help manual.
For example, not preaching through the big ideas of Genesis will lead us to lose sight of the larger story of how God preserves his purposes to bless the world despite the sinfulness of humanity. This story probably doesn’t fill a felt need in some churches, but it does fill humanity’s real need to know that evil is not something that thwarts God’s sovereign plan.
4. We communicate a distorted view of the Bible
If felt-need preaching is central to our ministry, then let’s communicate that the Bible is primarily about having our perceived needs met rather than receiving God’s revelation.
Approaching the Bible as God’s revelation to humanity puts Him at the center of our lives and not ourselves
The Bible is not primarily about us, it is about Jesus. Human history is not primarily about us, but about God and his actions to redeem sinful humanity through Christ (Lk 24:24, Eph 1:3-14).
Therefore, approaching the Bible as God’s revelation to humanity puts Him at the center of our lives and not ourselves. This means that coming to the Bible with the question “How can I solve my problem?” It is useful, but insufficient. Only when we give God his proper place will everything else fall into line (Mt 6:33).
a better way
Some argue that preaching about felt needs helps us as preachers to get the attention of our audience. While that may be true, we don’t have to choose between meeting the felt needs of our church and preaching the Word. We can preach through a book of the Bible, while keeping in mind the lives of our listeners and making our message appealing to a 21st century audience. In this way, God sets the agenda and needs are organically met.
These are some suggestions for preaching through the books of the Bible, keeping in mind the real needs of our churches:
- Consider preaching through books that address issues facing your church. If your congregation lacks evangelistic zeal or is bitter, try preaching Jonah. If you need to understand the Christian worldview, try Genesis. If it lacks unity, you can preach Philippians.
- When a need in the church becomes obvious, find a Bible text (or several) that address the issue and preach them accordingly. .
- As you consider each text you preach, think about the relationship between the needs of your church and the main ideas of the text. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you should find a more relevant sermon application than you might think at first glance.
- Simply focus on preaching the Word, trusting that God knows how to respond to the needs of our churches. For example, amid the headlines of the #MeToo movement in the United States exposing serious cases of sexual abuse, Pastor Colin Smith was preaching through 2 Samuel and came to chapter 13, which tells the story of how Amnon seriously sinned by raping his sister Tamar. As he preached the text, he drew attention to how Scripture speaks to our deepest pains and instilled confidence in his listeners in the sufficiency of the Word.
A version of this article first appeared on . Translated and adapted with permission into Spanish by the Coalition Team.