Telos statement in preaching by Art Azurdia
"The telos is a succinct statement of summary that is ruthlessly bound
to the Spirit-intended purpose of a selected text.
The telos does not incorporate the potential implications,
applications, and theological inferences of the selected text. This is not to say that these potential
implications, applications, and theological inferences cannot or should not be
mentioned in the actual sermon (which, more properly speaking, is an issue to
be determined when considering the sermon’s unity).
When constructing a telos the expositor must never impose
his own purpose on the text. Such is imposition, not exposition. Once again, the telos is a disciplined statement of
summary that confines itself exclusively to the truth contained in the
pertinent text (or, perhaps, asks a question that the truth of the text
answers).
Outline/Supportive
Structure
In an expository sermon (over against textual or topical sermons), the
main points of a sermon outline (sometimes referred to as “the headings”) are
to be drawn out of the selected text, reflecting its natural divisions (or its
“shape”). In turn, you (and your
hearers!) must be able to easily and obviously reread these points back into
the text itself.
“Merely because an idea is true,
because it has a biblical foundation, or because it comes to a preacher’s mind
does not mean it has a place in an expository message. The main idea of an expository sermon (as
embodied in the telos—parenthesis mine),
the divisions of that idea (the main points), and the development of those
divisions (the subpoints) all come from truths the text itself contains”
(Chapell, p 131).
It is not always wrong to add theological points to your outline. But you (and your hearers!) need to recognize
that you are going beyond the text (“I realize what I’m about to say isn’t
specifically in the text, but the text does trigger a related thought that we
need to explore for a minute”). This
divergence should be motivated by the unique need of the congregation, not the
theological interests/appetites of the preacher.
Of course, if there is a pressing
issue (practical or theological) that needs immediate attention (e.g., the
hints of universalism that may disturb people when reading The Shack), it would be more appropriate to break from your
expository series and find a specific text that, by the Spirit’s intention, directly addresses the issue at hand."
