To Win This War, Shepherd, Don’t Scold

If you have ever tried to correct someone for taking a Bible verse out of context, you know how tricky it can be. You hear a dear sister quote Jeremiah 29:11 — “For I know the plans I have for you…” — and everything inside you wants to say, “That’s not about your job interview; it’s about Israel in exile!” Yet even as you’re tempted to reach for your theological hammer, something stops you. She’s not wrong to trust that God has good plans — she’s simply expressing faith with limited understanding. What she needs is not a scolding but shepherding.

That small moment captures one of the tensions Jonathan Pennington addresses in Chapter 7 of Reading the Gospels Wisely. He reminds us that the meaning of Scripture is not found only by authorial intent or technical precision. Meaning, he says, also includes the text’s canonical and theological dimensions and the transformative work it accomplishes in the reader’s heart. “The most important thing,” Pennington adds, “is not method but posture.” Reading the Bible is an act of worship before it is an act of analysis. We come to Scripture not just to extract meaning but to meet the living God.

The Charles Simeon Trust (CST) model of preaching, on the other hand, trains pastors to handle Scripture carefully and to discover the “main point of the passage.” It is an invaluable corrective to careless or self-centered interpretation. In an age of theological confusion, CST reminds us that the meaning of the text is the message of the sermon. Yet as Pennington warns, exegesis without reverence can become mechanical. It is possible to handle the Word with accuracy but without adoration, to outline the passage perfectly yet miss the Person who speaks through it. The goal of preaching is not just to master the text but to be mastered by it.

This union of posture and precision offers timely wisdom for our African context, where the prosperity gospel continues to spread like wildfire. The prosperity message fails on both counts: it misreads the text and misdirects the heart. Its preachers twist verses into formulas for wealth while training listeners to approach God as a means to an end. The result is not faith but transaction — not worship but manipulation. We need pastors who can bring the best of CST’s fidelity and Pennington’s spirituality together, leading people back to the living Word.

Imagine walking with a believer who has built her hope on prosperity promises. The first temptation is to dismantle her theology with quick corrections. But here is a wiser path:

(1) Affirm the right desire.

Many prosperity believers long for life, hope, provision, and dignity. Those are biblical desires! Don’t mock or dismiss them — redirect them.

“You’re right to long for life and flourishing. The Bible does promise those — but the path is through Christ’s cross, not through claiming success.”

Pennington’s emphasis helps you see the heart’s posture before the mind’s error. Begin with empathy: affirm her longing for life, joy, and security — because those desires are not wrong.

(2) Expose the method behind the message.

Using CST-style training, patiently show them how a text like Jeremiah 29:11 or Malachi 3:10 functions in context.

Ask: “Who is this written to? What situation are they in? How does this point to Christ?” Use questions from their contemporary world to subvert their worldview — e.g., “Would you read someone else’s love letter as if it were written to you?”

This trains them to love the process of careful reading. Then, with patience, show her how the Bible defines prosperity through the cross. Teach her to read carefully (CST) and come humbly (Pennington). In doing so, you’re not just reforming her interpretation; you’re reforming her worship.

(3) Re-center the purpose of Scripture.

Teach that the Bible is not a self-help manual but a story of God redeeming His people into Christ’s likeness.

“Scripture doesn’t exist to make us powerful, but to make us faithful.”
This integrates CST’s clarity (what the Bible means) with Pennington’s formation (what the Bible does).

In the end, faithful reading and faithful posture are not two different goals — they are two sides of one obedience. God calls us to study His Word with our minds and to submit to it with our hearts. When both are renewed, we discover that the truest prosperity is not found in wealth or comfort, but in fellowship with the One who is the Word made flesh. As the psalmist says, “In Your presence there is fullness of joy, and at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The Bible’s great promise is not that life will go our way, but that in Christ, we will never walk it alone.