A Taste of a Good Book

[greenbaggins]

T. David Gordon, who has written one of the best recent books on preaching, has given us now a sample of it in the latest issue of Tabletalk.

I’m going to be a bit rude here and suggest that much of what passes for preaching these days is nothing more than constipated, triviality-coma-inducing, stream-of-unconsciousness, bill-of-banality, navel-nuzzling, tritch-tratch twaddle. Someday ask me what I really think, and then I’ll tell you. Listen to Gordon and learn something. Of course, I always find it awkward to recommend a book entitled Why Johnny Can’t Preach to a preacher. However, I defy any preacher to read that book and not learn something from it.

 

[au5t1n]

I own a copy. I guess I should read it.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

I read it a few months ago. It's excellent.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

There seems to be two extreme ends of the spectrum out there in Reformed preaching.

1) "Broad Evangelical" Preaching

Preaching with no meat and no desire to teach but merely to pleasure oratorically with anecdotes and illustrations. "Your Best Life Now" couched in Reformed verbage.

2) "Systematic" Preaching

Preaching that sounds like the Pastor is just reading a Systematics textbook for 45 minutes to an hour with no passion or application. In other words preaching that lives on fancy words and 15-letter theological terms like the Pastor is just regurgitating Turretin all over the congregation and with just as much energy and viability as reading Turretin provides and the congregation is just supposed to figure out the benefits on their own.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

Another thing I was thinking of while at work today was the propensity of some in the "systematic" camp to use logic which is above the comprehension of most lay people.

An example of this would be a Pastor who preaching uses a formulation of argumentation that look like "A and B and C therefore D".

I hate to break it to so these preachers but most people in your congregation do not and cannot think on the level you can so be nice and do not require what they cannot fulfill in hearing.

 

[Herald]

Lane,

Dr. Gordon's article takes a high view of preaching and the preacher. It is quite sobering as it gives pause for reflection. Thank you for sharing.