I love to read and I love to preach, so as you can imagine, books on preaching are usually very good experiences for me. With that in mind, I was very anxious to jump into this book and to process all that Darrell Johnson had to say about The Glory of Preaching. Unfortunately, I was let down. This book was not great for me. And truly, it may not be that the book is that bad, but simply that there are so many books on preaching that eclipse this one.
However, as is nearly always the case, all is not lost in this book. Chapter three, which deals exclusively with expository preaching is the books greatest contribution. On the opening page of htat chapter, we read this from Johnson,
In what mode does human speaking of human words become the speaking of words that are the word of God? And the ansewr I want to commend to all who preach is in expository preaching. It is the only place I know where I can stand and have any confidence that what I say is what the living God is saying. it is the only place I know wehre we mere humans can dare to say or think, “thus says the Lord.”
Johnson’s conviction that expository preaching is the only true and proper mode of preaching is timely for today. It is this conviction, no doubt, that leads Johnson to conclude, “expository preaching is not about getting a message out of the text; it is about inviting people into the text so that the text can do what only the text can do.” This invitation into the text, according to Johnson, is an invitation to meet the God of the universe on his terms.
Unfortunately, Johnson’s work seems to go down hill from there. An entire chapter on verbs of participation was painful for me to read. Further, in his chapter on application and implication, I believe Johson goes entirely too far in suggesting that application not be made by the preacher. Relying on the fact that ultimate application can and does come only from the Lord, Johnson seems to argue for open ended sermons. Unfortunately, this concept does not leave open the necessity of application in the sermon when texts are imperative in nature.
The fact of the matter is no one can apply the text but the Lord of the text; he is the only one who can “make it happen.” To expect preachers to apply the text for their listeners is to ask them to play God. have you ever thought about it this way? preachers can “imply the text,” suggesting and showing the necessary, inherent, logical consequences for life which the text is declaring. But a preacher cannot ball the listeners to make th text relevant to their lives. the only things the preacher can do is enter into the new reality announced and described, and by the power of the Spirit of the text, “live into” the new reality.
The purpose of application in the sermon is never to usurp the role of God in “applying” the text, but rather to be tools of the Spirit to leverage the application of the text into the lives of its hearers. This is one of the greatest weaknesses of the book.
He closes with chapters on the person of the preacher and the life of the preacher which are worth while. The chapter on the life of the preacher is especially well written.
In summary then, two of the ten chapters in this book are solid and worthwhile, but the remaining eight are shaky at best. If you want to buy one preaching book, don’t buy this one because there are many resources that you will find more useful. If, however, you love books on preaching and want to build your preaching library, buy this book for the two great chapters and skim through the others.
