Text-Driven: The First Distinctive of Range Hillsness
How Range Hills Baptist Church Thinks About Itself
I began pastoring Range Hills Baptist Church in December of 2024. As a new pastor, my year one goal was simple: I wanted the saints of Range Hills Baptist Church to know that I loved them, that I loved the Bible, and that I loved evangelism. A way to communicate this was through vision. I presented a simple vision of who we are: We are Text-Driven, Christ-Centered, and Others-Focused. I further communicated this through emphasizing evangelism. I, to the glory of God, entered a church that was already these things, and hungry for evangelism. My year two goal is to sharpen the vision so we act on what we, as a church, are attempting to be and do. More than sharpening the vision for Range Hills, I desire to sharpen the vision for myself. My “Church-Based Evangelism” series, being published by the Conservative Baptist Network, explains our evangelism approach. These articles will explain our three-fold self-identification vision. As these articles are meant to sharpen my focus, they are primarily written to and for myself, but with the hope that they may encourage and help others, especially the beloved saints of Range Hills Baptist Church.
The phrase Text-Driven was coined by Dr. David Allen to describe a method of preaching that went beyond expository preaching. As Allen notes, the term expository preaching was stretched to fit almost any kind of preaching that had some association with preaching the Bible. Someone preaching a single verse could be called expository, and someone preaching the topic of a passage, without interacting with the text, could be called expository. In a desire to be more precise for his students, he said that true expository preaching is when a sermon is driven by the text, where the text, not the preacher, decides what is preached. Allen, alongside other professors at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, would refine this to mean preaching the substance, structure, and spirit of the text. Years later, Dr. Timothy Pigg, pastor of Fellowship Church in Southwest Florida and Director of the Conservative Baptist Network, began using the terminology of “Text-Driven” to describe a holistic approach to ministry. I would be exposed to the terminology of “Text-Driven” by Dr. Scott Colter (Chairman of the Danbury Institute) and Pigg. As the concepts behind “Text-Driven” had been discipled into me by Matt Wilkins, appropriating “Text-Driven” to my ministry philosophy was a logical step. This ministry philosophy would then mesh well with Range Hills Baptist Church, as they are a people who already hold to the concept behind “Text-Driven,” so likewise appropriating the language was easy. Range Hills Baptist Church not only seeks to be Text-Driven, but we think of ourselves as Text-Driven.
Yet, like the problem with “expository” and all terminology, the danger of losing the undergirding meaning of “Text-Driven” exists. As Range Hills Baptist Church characterizes ourselves as Text-Driven, we desire not to allow our “Range Hillsness” to define “Text-Driven.” Rather, we desire “Text-Driven” to define “Range Hillsness.” In order to keep this order secure, we must define how “Text-Driven” defines each aspect of ministry.
The first, and primary, aspect of “Text-Driven” that we desire to describe “Range Hillsness” is Text-Driven Preaching. We adopt in our preaching the definition of Text-Driven Preaching given by David Allen, and most specifically spelled out in Recapturing the Voice of God by Steven Smith. In preaching, we desire the text to be re-presented, allowing the substance, structure, and spirit of the text to be clearly seen. The three major genres that Smith describes are used to determine the preaching schedule, I.e. a series through a book with the genre of story, a series through a book with the genre of letter, then a series through a book with the genre of poem, and then repeat. As I preach through books of the Bible, I desire to allow the text to say what it says and accomplish what it desires to accomplish, separating my preaching duties from my pastoral duties. This means that I believe I am bound to say what Scripture says, even if it were to cause me pastoral difficulties.
The second aspect of “Text-Driven” that we desire to describe “Range Hillsness” is Text-Driven Pastoring. As a pastor, I am firmly convinced that I have nothing to offer anyone. In myself, people cannot benefit from me. My experiences, my talents, my education, or my abilities, on their own, provide nothing to anyone. God, through Scripture alone, has what benefits people. Scripture has something to offer people. My duty as pastor is to bring Scripture into people’s lives as much and as often as I can. Text-Driven Pastoring involves my counseling duties and my leadership duties. Range Hills Baptist Church does not desire a pastorate that flows from experiences, education, or talents, but flows from Scripture through experiences, education, and talents. Text-Driven Pastoring is predicated on believing Scripture is absolutely and maximally sufficient for life and godliness.
The third aspect of “Text-Driven” that we desire to describe “Range Hillsness” is our approach to Sunday School. At Range Hills, we still do Sunday School. Currently, that is the hour before our morning worship service. The reason for doing Sunday School is just because this is our tradition and it works for us. But we desire our Sunday School to be “Text-Driven.” What that means, first, is that we want our material to be driven by Scripture. We don’t use topical material or material that skips passages. Rather, we use material that carries us through a book of the Bible. We use “Text-Driven Ministries” Bible study material for this. What “Text-Driven” means, second, is that we want fellowship around Scripture. The biblical warrant for small group ministries comes from the book of Acts, where believers gathered together outside the local church gathering to fellowship. In those small groups, they dedicated themselves to the apostle’s teaching. The model of church-auxiliary small groups, which Sunday School would fall under, is fellowship around Scripture. Our goal in our Sunday School classes to pursue this. Sunday School isn’t meant to be another teaching time, where church members gather in smaller groups to hear another sermon. Rather, the Sunday School teacher guides the class through discussion and interaction, where the Sunday School class becomes closer to one another through Scripture. On the other end of the spectrum, Sunday School isn’t meant to be only fellowship. A time for pure fellowship exists and is good. Range Hills seeks those times twice a month. On the first Sunday of every month, instead of Sunday School, we have breakfast together. On the last Wednesday of every month, we go to the local Chick-fil-A instead of our normal Wednesday night service. We do not desire Sunday School to be another time of general talking, interaction, and fellowship. While we don’t want Sunday School to be another sermon, we also don’t want it to be another pure fellowship time. “Text-Driven” Sunday School means fellowship around and through Scripture.
The fourth aspect of “Text-Driven” that we desire to describe “Range Hillsness” is Text-Driven Evangelism and Outreaches. Evangelism and church organized evangelistic outings are necessary for a church to be healthy. Sadly, many think that evangelism means leaving the Bible since non-Christians do not believe in the authority of Scripture. Range Hills does not believe this. We believe the Bible is sufficient to be used in evangelism. This is why we use Birthday Verse Evangelism. This method immediately brings the Bible into the evangelistic discussion. Further, the way we think about our outreaches starts with the Bible. To be “Text-Driven” in planning church-organized evangelistic events, we start with what the Bible commands us to do, and what Scripture allows us to do. In order to do this, we always start with the conversation about how we will intentionally evangelize. The point of an evangelistic event is evangelism, not to have an event. Scripture has no warrant to have an event, especially one that coincides with cultural events (I.e. trick or treating), that’s purpose is to participate in that event. Yet, the book of Acts gives warrant to participate in those cultural events if evangelism is at the forefront and the primary purpose (see Mars Hill and the Temple activities). A church has warrant to participate in these events, but only as long as evangelism is not drowned out by the event. Range Hills starts with the question “How will we evangelize at this event?” Then moves to the planning of the event.
The fifth aspect of “Text-Driven” that we desire to describe “Range Hillsness” is Text-Driven Cultural Engagement. Scripture calls local church to engage in our culture, especially in politics. The concepts of liberty and justice arise out of Scripture. We are to be salt in our culture, preserving it and calling for the people and the government to do right. “Text-Driven” means publicly advocating for equal protection for the unborn. It means fighting for religious liberty so we, as well as other churches, can evangelize the lost without fear of us being persecuted, or fear of the evangelized thinking they’ll be persecuted.
The last aspect of “Text-Driven” that we desire to describe “Range Hillsness” is being unashamedly Baptist. To be Text-Driven is to be Baptist. Baptists are the people of the book. We have been since the first-century and every century since, there has been a people dedicated to organizing themselves at the New Testament pattern. They have been called different things through the age, and now are known as Baptist. Joe Odle’s A Church Member’s Handbook has helped us identify this and allow other Baptists to lead us back to Scripture. Range Hills Baptist Church does not hide the name “Baptist.” We proudly use it. When someone reads “Baptist” in our name, they can read it as “Text-Driven.”
Range Hills describes ourselves as Text-Driven. This is what we mean when we say it. Prayerfully, we will never attempt to change the definition of Text-Driven. Prayerfully, we will never desire “Range Hillsness” to describe “Text-Driven” but “Text-Driven” to describe “Range Hillsness.” In describing “Range Hillsness,” “Text-Driven” is the “how” of Range Hills.