Review: Keller on Preaching
Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. New York: Viking, 2015.
When a preacher who has communicated the gospel faithfully and effectively for over three decades to secular New Yorkers writes a book on preaching, we should all sit up and take note. I’ve never known Tim Keller to disappoint, and his new book on preaching is no exception.
The first quality that stands out about this book (as well as others of Keller’s works) is the consummate sense of balance that we find on every page. He offers expository preaching as the rightful bread and butter of our pulpits, but also cautions us against some of its common pitfalls. He warns against both legalism and antinomianism as “non-identical twins from the same womb,” and against the tendency to “preach the text without preaching the gospel,” as well as “preaching the gospel without preaching the text.” He challenges us neither to merely adapt to the culture nor to merely confront the culture, but to adapt in order to confront. Perhaps most importantly, he tells us, “Sound preaching arises out of two loves–-love of the Word of God and love of people.”
Keller’s balance is healthy, not just because he avoids extremes by answering “either-or” questions with a “both-and” or a “neither,” but because his reasoning is anchored in the right centre: the gospel. Preaching, he believes, has two tasks: to serve the Word, and to reach people. Both of these happen when we preach Christ.
The main sections of the book develop these two primary tasks. “Serving the Word” requires preaching the text clearly, with an emphasis on expository preaching, and preaching the gospel every time. Keller makes a strong case for preaching Christ from all of Scripture, and gives a good survey and summary of the various paths to Christ from different types of texts. The most important and foundational principle in this regard is to show how the text fits into its canonical context, the overarching story of the Bible, which resolves and climaxes in Jesus.
Keller’s experience as a working preacher in New York City shines especially in the section on “reaching people,” which contains the most helpful contributions and the freshest insights of the book. Reaching people requires us to “preach Christ to the culture,” and to “preach Christ to the heart.”
Tim Keller gives us an excellent list of pointers for contextualizing our preaching, drawn from biblical (the Apostle Paul) as well as historical (Jonathon Edwards) examples:
Use acceptable or well-explained vocabulary.
Employ respected authorities to strengthen your thesis.
Demonstrate an understanding of doubts and objections.
Affirm in order to challenge baseline cultural narratives.
Make gospel offers that push on the culture’s pressure points.
Call for gospel motivation.
In the chapter that I found to be the real jewel of the book, he discusses four contemporary secular narratives, showing how each of them originally emerged from the Christian worldview, and thus have root aspirations that we can affirm. In each case, proclaiming the gospel is a matter of pointing out the inadequacy of a godless narrative to sustain these aspirations, and the sufficiency of the gospel to realize them.
“Preaching Christ to the heart” means moving beyond merely making the truth clear and understandable, to make it gripping and real to the total personality – mind, will, and emotions. Hearers can be “changed in their seats” when we engage their imaginations and not just their intellects. In his discussion of how this takes place, we find Keller’s insights on traditional homiletical issues such as style, illustration and application.
In the final chapter of the book, Keller addresses the element that he believes makes the difference between good preaching and great preaching. We can accomplish good preaching through diligent preparation and skillful communication, but great preaching is a matter of the Spirit’s power. Even here, he gives us insights into how we might invite the Spirit’s work into our preaching. Here the focus is on the character and spiritual life of the preacher, both in and out of the pulpit. Especially helpful is his discussion of the “subtexts” of the sermon (the message under the message): the subtext of reinforcement (“Aren’t we great?”); the subtext of performance (“Aren’t I great?”); the subtext of training (“Isn’t this truth great?”); and the subtext of worship (“Isn’t Christ great?”).
If you are a beginning preacher, you will find in this book both the theological mindset and many practical pointers to help you grow in your pulpit identity and practice. If you are a seasoned pulpiteer, you will find here fresh expression of intuitive truths about your craft, as well as gentle correction and encouraging motivation to stay the course. Either way, it is an excellent read for any preacher.
