Lesson 10 | Main Point Summary
Ministry with Your Paraphrase
In this course, we have mostly been speaking of summarizing and paraphrasing as technical tools for understanding meaning. But don’t let that convince you they aren’t practical for ministry! Before you dive into the tenth and final assignment of this course, consider the following two applications.
In your Teaching
...expositional preaching is preaching that takes for the point of a sermon the point of a particular passage of Scripture.
Mark Dever
We must beware lest we take the truths of a text and, in our teaching, assemble them how we see fit. For faithful teaching of the word demands we faithfully teach its logic. It demands we teach the main point of the text and support it in the way that it is supported in the text itself.
Biblearc’s Didactics Course
That may be all well and good, but how do we communicate logic without sounding too technical? How do we teach a text with precision and clarity, in a manner fit for the congregation? Your main point summary and paraphrase are a critical part of answering this question.
Tips for Using Paraphrasing and Summarizing in Your Teachings
- Tailor your main point summary for your congregation and use it as part of your introduction and conclusion.
- Weave in portions of your paraphrase to accurately and colorfully communicates the flow of thought.
- Present different paraphrased options in order to justify your take on an interpretational dilemma.
In your Counseling
The passage above indicates that the inner brokenness of sinful humanity is complex.
How is our inner brokenness illustrated? As a “stronghold.” Strongholds are built with the express intention of being impenetrable. Thus, a great power is needed to destroy them.
What are these strongholds an illustration of? “Arguments” and "opinions." An argument is much more than a standalone lie. It is one lie built upon another, just like the bricks of a stronghold. So lie is placed upon lie until an impenetrable stronghold of brokenness, shame, guilt, alienation, blame, control, anger, and addiction is erected.
What is the cure? “Tak[ing] every thought captive.” The healing of a person’s inner world demands that each wrong thought be addressed and subdued. It is not enough to throw a Bible verse or two out there and expect the emotional and mental adaptation to the stronghold will simply go away. Brick by brick, thought by thought, proposition by proposition, the stronghold must be torn down. New pathways of thought in the brain must be built, and new emotional responses learned.
Such is the battle the biblical counselor faces. But by the grace of God, we do not just have scattered verses in the form of platitudes that we throw at our problems. No! God has given us arguments in the form of his very thoughts. For that is what Scripture is—the thinking of God. When one is able to accept into their soul by faith the truths of Scripture, they learn to think and feel in an entirely different way.
The counselor hears the stories of individuals, learns their emotional make-up, and can trace their thoughts. Then, he (or she) gets the chance to bring God’s Word to bear upon those stories, emotions, and trains of thought.
How does paraphrasing tie into this? The skilled biblical counselor, who can accurately follow the train of thought of Scripture with a paraphrase, can effectively communicate new trains of thought for the person sitting before him.
Tips for Using Paraphrasing and Summarizing in Your Counseling
- Let the counselee paraphrase a portion of Scripture back to you so that you can understand what he is understanding.
- Use paraphrasing to explain the sense and tone of a passage to someone who is having a hard time seeing it rightly.
- Demonstrate how the thought patterns of the counselee differ from those of Scripture with a paraphrase.
- Use paraphrasing to draw attention to the relationship between gospel-truths (which often appear as Grounds in one's arc) and commands (which are the new behaviors those truths lead us to).
- Task them with paraphrasing or summarizing Scripture into self-talking points.