5 Ways to Integrate BioLogos Topics into Your Sermons

This constant narrative has raised all sorts of questions in our culture: Why believe in God when we live in a world of science? Or, Isn’t believing in the resurrection of Jesus a pre-scientific idea? And, hasn’t science disproved the miracles of the Bible? All of these cultural objections should be thoughtfully answered by the church. But the church (as a people) also needs to be equipped to respond to them.

With so much influence coming from media sources, it is easy to feel like the church and culture are locked in a never-ending war. I’ve talked to several Christians recently who have begun to question the historical authenticity of the resurrection of Jesus and the reliability of the Bible. They have not been equipped to respond to objections about the “absurdity” of Christianity. Without such equipping, their faith suffers.

But the culture isn’t exactly buying into New Atheism hook, line, and sinker. For all the influence of the media, the vast majority of people in our culture believe that religion does more good than harm. The culture war isn’t lost. But the church must equip the people to know how to think and respond to cultural questions about the Christian faith.

Address Social Concerns

The discussion on science and faith is tackling new challenges. New concerns about bioethics, care for the environment, and pop culture are being raised. As pastors, our congregations need to hear our voices on these topics. We need to provide theologically informed pastoral insight. We must help our churches to think through the implications of not caring for the environment and the ethics behind applied technology.

I know this may sound like a daunting task. I never took a course on technological ethics or environmentalism in seminary. I’m guessing most pastors haven’t received any training on how to think about these issues, let alone help others think biblically about them. But seminary should only be one of the first places pastors learn, not the last. Whether you view culture as inherently in conflict with the church or not, one thing we can agree on is that if the church is to reach the culture, it must understand it. It is hard to make sense of something we don’t understand. Pastors must be constant students of culture. If we are not actively seeking to understand the questions of our culture, we will never be able to show how Christianity makes sense of them. We can’t provide answers if we don’t know the questions.

Reading and incorporating resources on these topics into our sermons will help people gain a new appreciation for the natural world, and prepare them to discuss with their coworkers, family, and friends how Christianity makes sense of current questions and problems. We don’t have to pretend that we have all the answers, but it is important to show that we are willing to consider the questions.

As pastors, we must take the lead in responding to questions. Not as authoritative know-it-alls, but as patient listeners. We give thoughtful responses to those who ask tough, but good questions. But we are also responsible to equip God’s people to give an answer for the hope that lies within them. Integrating BioLogos resources into your sermons is one effective way that you can do that.