What follows is an incredibly common story I’ve heard dozens of times from pastors all around the globe. When you read this, hopefully you’ll catch a glimpse of why I’m motivated to offer hermeneutical training in how to study the Bible to pastors who are desperately hungry for it.

The powerful and vibrant rhythm of the pastors’ voices joined together in African praise choruses that echoed through the streets and filled my heart with joy. As I walked toward the half-built block church which was the training site for the Bible training I was offering Tanzanian pastors that week, Pastor Paul walked next to me. We had developed a good relationship, and he felt comfortable sharing with me. “Pastor Eric, this training in how to study and preach God’s Word well is so very important. You see, quite often the situation in Africa is very different than what you are training us to do.” Pastor Paul went on to share that regularly it is the pattern in Africa that the pastor of a church will wait for a “word from the Lord,” or for “the Spirit to move him” about what he will share with his congregation. He has not spent time during the week studying a text to preach on, because he himself does not understand much of the Bible. He listens to popular television preaching, which is largely prosperity theology, and tries to replicate this in his church. He tells the church that if the Spirit has not yet moved in him, laying a message on his heart, then they should sing another song and ask God to speak to him. Perhaps he thumbs through his Bible, looking for a verse that jumps out to him. Eventually he reads a verse to the congregation, closes his Bible, and begins his sermon, usually with much volume and passion, which Pastor Paul tells me is how you know the Spirit is working. He tells interesting stories and shares areas where he wants the congregation to grow, often related to giving more money to the Lord’s work, having more faith in God and doing what is right.

When I reached the training site with Pastor Paul, I was warmly greeted by the other pastors I would be training that day. Gathering the group together, I asked them about their perceptions of the issues Pastor Paul had shared. Every one of the pastors began to roll with laughter, nodding their heads, confessing that this is very common in Africa. “Careful Bible study throughout the week is not how the Spirit ‘speaks’ to us, giving us a message,” Pastor David shared. “Rather, we just pray and wait for God to move in our hearts, and then we share what we feel, or what we’ve heard others share that seems powerful.” Throughout the rest of the training, my heart was filled with joy as I watched the pastors eagerly receive the hermeneutical tools which would equip them to study, understand and preach the Bible, the primary way God has already spoken to us by His Spirit.