I have heard Chandler sermons about 5 or 6 times. He is funny, effective communicator, blah, blah, blah (all that good stuff). However, though one cannot fault him for this or for his orthodoxy (at least not from the examples I took in), his manner of communicating seems particularly tailored to sound ‘inculturated.’ He sounds like a guy that wants to appear ‘relevant’ to the God-hating 13 year olds in the congregation. No doubt, if asked, he would defend himself by way of the usual garbage about ‘contextualization’ that has become so popular today. I recall what I heard R.C. Sproul say on one occasion. It bears remembering and heeding. Here it is (I am relying on memory so this is a paraphrase):
“the form is part of the message.”
He was speaking with particular reference to art, but it has equal bearing on homiletics. It is simply inappropriate to preach the propositions of scripture (spiritual thoughts mixed with spiritual words) in a fashion that seems a thousand miles below sublime. If you read Edwards, John Donne, Calvin, etc., you find a sweet correspondence content and form. There is a sober, serious, fear of holy things in their words. I recall hearing a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovani performed the English National Opera in London. They kept the sublime music but translated the original Italian libretto into vulgar English (that is, adding *&%# and &%4& and *#^$, etc.). I feel the same way about much modern preaching (whether Chandler, Driscoll, etc.) as I did when I heard that terrible performance. It is not enough to be orthodox. Or, if you will, we must speak of an ‘orthodox form’ to marry orthodox content (however difficult this task may be). Sproul is right about form and content and their relation. Let the jesters quit their pulpits and flirt no more with sacred things. Let the ‘contextualizers’ try their hand at the deep fryer or whatever other vocation will not waste the time of the saints. The church doesn’t need preachers who want desperately to be cool (dropping dumb jokes every second, making infinite references to popular films and technology, using street jargon, etc.).
“He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42)
