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He Is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World

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Preaching is not just for preachers. Every Christian can, and, I'm increasingly convinced, should be educated about the task and calling of the preacher. I am convinced that there is great benefit in all Christians becoming students of preaching. This applies even to those who will never stand behind the pulpit and bring the Word of God to His people. The book I would recommend to laypersons wishing to learn about preaching and to pastors wishing to learn how to preach better, is Al Mohler's He Is Not Silent. Just released by Moody Publishers, this book is a brilliant and insightful look at the task and challenges of preaching in a postmodern world. It is not a how-to guide and is not a dry exhortation valuable only for those with theological degrees; instead, it is a compelling, winsome, biblical case for understanding the utter centrality of preaching to Christian worship.

This postmodern world has lost its respect for preaching. Once regarded as the center of Christian worship, preaching is now seen by so many Christians as something that is supplemental instead of instrumental. In the Foreword to this book John MacArthur writes, "One of the clearest lessons we can learn from church history is that strong biblical preaching is absolutely vital to the health and vitality of the church. From the birth of the New Testament church until today, every significant phase of authentic revival, reformation, missionary expansion, or robust church growth has also been an era of biblical preaching." Indeed, from the church's earliest days to the Reformation, through revivals and awakenings, it is always preaching that has been the tool God has used to call, draw, change and revitalize his church. And in the face of history's testimony, "it is remarkable that over the past half century (or longer) evangelicals have devoted vast quantities of energy and resources to the invention of novel church-growth strategies that tend to discount biblical preaching." We have taken our eyes off Scripture and off the testimony of history.

Mohler begins his examination of preaching by discussing the state of preaching in our day, turning to Dickens and his famous words, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Though there are signs of great promise and though many Christians are renewing the emphasis on preaching, there remain thousands of churches where the preaching of the Word is minimized or forgotten all together. Mohler offers six factors which together have contributed to undermining the role of preaching in the church and to define it as something other than the exposition and application of the biblical text. Here we see how the world has invaded and shaped the church.

Having set the stage, Mohler puts preaching in its proper context at the very heart of Christian worship, looks to the Trinitarian nature of preaching and then defines true, biblical preaching as being expository in nature. After a chapter defining this type of preaching, he looks to the preacher's authority and purpose, to the importance of preaching the Bible's big story and to the importance of every pastor being a theologian. The book wraps up with a look at the particular challenges of preaching to a postmodern culture, with an exhortation to preachers about the urgency of their task and an encouragement to preachers drawn from the ministry of Ezekiel. An Epilogue provides a brief biography of Charles Spurgeon and discusses his contagious passion for preaching.

This is a book that will challenge and, I hope, shape many pastors. I cannot imagine the pastor would could not derive some benefit from it. Mohler, a great preacher in his own right, is passionate about this topic and speaks as a preacher to other preachers. If you are a pastor, read this book! You will find it a source of great wisdom and great encouragement.

But, as I indicated a short time ago, I think it is also an ideal book for all Christians to read and absorb. Let me illustrate this way. If you were to commit to going to a baseball game at least once per week for the rest of your life, I suspect you would want to understand the sport. Though you would always know that you would never be out on that field, you would still want to know what makes a great player great; you would want to understand how a pitcher faces a batter and attempts to outwit him with a mixture of pitches, speeds, breaks and locations; you would want to see how a manager attempts to set the perfect lineup to face the opposition. Without such knowledge you would not fully understand the game and would not derive as much pleasure and benefit from it. What you take from the game is in many ways contingent on your understanding of it.

In the same way, understanding preaching will help the Christian in many ways. He will know what kind of preaching he should expect and what kind of preacher to seek out; it will give him new respect for the preacher and for the difficulty and uniqueness of the task; it will give him reason to praise God for His gift of preaching and preachers. As Dr. Mohler writes, "A theology of preaching begins with the humble acknowledgment that preaching is not a human invention but a gracious creation of God and a central part of His revealed will for the church." Of course he must read carefully and humbly, knowing that his preacher is imperfect and prone to sin. But his understanding of preaching will teach him how to listen, when to listen and why he must listen to the preaching of the Word.

This is the third book from the pen of Dr. Mohler we've seen in 2008. In my view, it is the best (at least of the three I have read to this point). Though Mohler aptly addressed culture and new atheism in his previous two titles, there is a new kind of passion in this book. Mohler calls for the "re-centering" of an element of worship that has been pushed to the periphery. He does so with confidence based on Scripture and in a way that can appeal to any reader. Buy it, read it, and while you are at it, buy a copy for your pastor.

This book is an absolute must read for all pastors, preachers and lay people who are looking to be under a solid teacher of the Word and it serves as an excellent litmus test for their preaching "techniques" to their congregations as well as others that God has placed under them for instruction. Dr. Mohler does not mince words and is very direct in his approach saying that expository preaching is really the only type of preaching there, is all other so-called types fall short. I wholeheartedly agree that our preachers and teachers should, when delving into the Word of God, Read, Explain, Exhort and Repeat. In this day and age it seems more often than not that only snippets of text are used as mere backgrounds for sermons meant to "enhance your life" instead of teach you how to live right and so the text is further taken out of context. It would be quite refreshing and admonishing if our pastors were to preach the whole counsel of God so that we as the body of Christ would be fully equipped to resist the wiles of the devil.

Everything Al Mohler writes you should read. Mohler is probably the clearest, most thoughtful, engaging voice in Evangelicalism today. A scholar who writes clearly and addresses issues affecting people in the pew, Mohler contributes to the discussion in any area in which he is writing. He is Not Silent is just the same. Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY has hit a home run in a modern call to expository preaching. In a day when preaching is failing on hard times, Mohler's book is a necessary antidote! With the poor state of preaching in the evangelical world today and many readers saying, "another book on preaching?" one must look at the content of Mohler's book in detail to show the contribution it makes to the issue of preaching today in a postmodern world.

The structure of Mohler's book is helpful as it leads in a progressive and logical treatment of the issue of preaching. The preface of the book identifies the problems facing preaching today. Preaching is falling on hard times and Mohler identifies keep issues facing preaching and areas where preaching is suffering today. This sets the stage by identifying the need in churches and the rest of the book provides the cure: expository preaching. Mohler's first chapter outlines preaching as the heart of worship. Mohler writes, "If we as pastors are truly serious about giving our people a true vision of God, showing them their own sinfulness, proclaiming to them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and encouraging them to obedient service in response to that Gospel, they we will devote our lives to preaching the Word" (p. 38). All other issues aside, preaching is the hallmark and capstone of the evangelical worship service.

Mohler moves to address the ground of preaching next and rightly grounds preaching in the nature of the Triune God. God is a speaking God who has communicated to His people in propositional revelation. Preaching's ground and power is from God's revelation ultimately of His Son who through the cross saves men for God. The Holy Spirit finally is the one who is the internal minister of the Word of God who applies it to the hearers hearts. "The preacher is a commissioned agent whose task is to speak because God has spoken, because the preacher has been entrusted with the telling of the gospel of the Son who saves, and because God has promised the power of the Spirit as the seal and efficacy of the preacher's calling" (p. 48).

In chapter 3 Mohler develops a theology of exposition. In this chapter he argues that the only form of authentic preaching is expository preaching. He looks at Deuteronomy 4 and the example of the preaching and hearing of the Word of God to effect change in the lives of people. God speaks, God's people are those that hear God, and God's people depend for their lives on hearing the Word. "We have the Bible, and if we truly believe that Bible to be the written Word of God--the perfect, divinely inspired revelation of God--then expositional preaching is the only option available to us" (pp. 63-64).

The next chapter deals with defining expository preaching and giving characteristics of it. He defines expository preaching as "that mode of Christian preaching that takes as its central purpose the presentation and application of the text of the Bible.... all other issues and concerns are subordinated to the central task of presenting the biblical text.... the text of Scripture has the right to establish both the substance and the structure of the sermon.... the preacher must make clear how the Word of God establishes the identity and worldview of the church as the people of God" (p. 66-67). This kind of preaching is characterized by authority, creates a sense of reverence among God's people, and is at the center of Christian worship. "Worship is not something we do before we settle down for the Word of God; it is the act through which the people of God direct all their attentiveness to hearing the one true and living God speak to His people and receive their praises. God is most beautifully praised when His people hear His Word, love His Word, and obey His Word" (p. 75).

Chapter 5 delves into issues of the preacher's authority and purpose. Mohler highlights the preachers authority as the Word of God and the preachers main responsibility. "The preacher's authority lies not in profession, not in position, and not in personality. It lies in the Word of God alone" (p. 81). Colossians 1:28 reveals the preacher's purpose in presenting every Christian mature in Christ. Thus, the preacher proclaims Christ, warns people, and teaches people, with the purpose of bringing them into maturity in Christ Jesus. "How are Christians going to grow? How are they going to be matured? How is the process of Holy Spirit-directed sanctification going to be seen in them? All by the preaching of the Word" (p. 86).

Chapter 6 deals most decisively with the issues facing postmodernism and that is "big story" preaching. Postmodernism rejects the idea of a "metanarrative" or a "big story." Christianity, Mohler argues, is the big story that explains all other stories. "As Christians, we actually claim that we are possessed by the one story to which all other stories are accountable" (p. 92). Jesus' explanation on the road to Emmaus to the two disciples about how all the Scriptures point to Christ is the foundation of our Christian metanarrative. Mohler argues that the beginning of the Christian metanarrative is creation, followed by fall, followed by redemption, and concluded with consummation. This is to be the content of our preaching. "Many of our people are dying of spiritual starvation because they do not know the Bible's whole story, and thus do not find themselves in the story. True, they know many little stories. They have bag of facts. But a little bit of knowledge is not a big picture. As we preach, we need to bring every text into accountability with the big story of Scripture" (p. 102).

Chapter 7 is worth the price of the book. Every pastor is called to be a theologian. "In far too many cases, the pastor's ministry has been evacuated of serious doctrinal content, and many pastors seem to have little connection to any sense of theological vocation" (p. 106). Mohler then goes on to highlight the theological nature of the pastor's ministry and calling, and his concentration. Mohler discusses his "theological triage" in helping to identify what is the most important theologically over things that are of less importance. Preaching is theological in nature and therefore the pastor's conviction needs to be theologically driven. "All Christian preaching is experiential preaching, set before the congregation by a man who is possessed by deep theological passion, specific theological conviction, and an eagerness to see these convictions shared by his congregation" (p. 113).

In chapter 8 Mohler returns specifically to the postmodern culture and addresses preaching to this culture. He discusses the deconstruction of truth, the death of the metanarrative, the demise of the text, the dominion of therapy, the decline of authority, and the displacement of morality. Looking at how Paul responded in Acts 17:16-34 to the minds of Athens, Mohler argues for an approach to dealing with our people today. This is an excellent section and must be read personally to see how it applies to today. "What is needed is a generation of bold and courageous preacher-apologists for the twenty-first century--men who will be witnesses to the whole world of the power of the gospel and who will proclaim the whole counsel of God" (p. 131).

Chapter 9 deals with the urgency of preaching. We must preach with urgency because sinners need to be saved, because the gospel saves, because people will not believe unless we preach. This thus makes for the preacher of the gospel to be one of great privilege. "This is not an option for us or for the church. It is our commission" (p. 144).

Chapter 10 is an encouragement for preachers. Preaching often seems ineffectual and it seems like the pastor's task is in vain. But instead of giving up, we need to continue to pursue the preaching task as if dying men speaking to dying men. Using Ezekiel 37 and the dry bones, Mohler offers an encouragement in preaching. It is not the preacher who brings about change, but God who does. God calls Ezekiel to prophecy to the dead, and God uses the message of Ezekiel to bring new life. This is how it is encouraging to the preacher. God uses us to effect change. But it is God who brings change! "No doubt, the challenges are great, and the frustrations are sometimes even greater. But we do not preach because we thought it would be easy. We preach because our hearts are broken by the spiritual death and destruction all around us--and because we see the spark of hope in the question of our sovereign, life-giving God put to Ezekie and now puts to us: `Son of man, can these bones live?'" (p. 158).

Finally, Mohler uses the life of C. H. Spurgeon as an example of a passionate pastor-theologian boldly being used by God as an expositional preacher of the Scriptures. "In our era, distanced by more than a century from Charles Spurgeon, we would do well to remember this great man and the impact of his ministry. Beyond this, we should be reminded of the centrality of biblical confidence and theological conviction to the preaching task" (p. 169).

This book is not a "how-to" book for preaching or sermon construction. There are already a million of those out there. This book though serves as the biblical and theological foundation for preaching and should be the beginning of the study of preaching. Before we ever start diagramming a passage of Scripture or deriving a "big idea" for a sermon, we should seek to understand the biblical and theological foundation for expository preaching. This is what Mohler does for us so clearly and so ably. He studies the Scriptures and the culture around us and shows us that in this day we need more clear expository preaching of the Word of God, not less. We need men to know the Word and proclaim it and teach it faithfully. Mohler's book will rekindle the fire in your heart as a preacher of the Word of God or may just motivate you to pick up that most noble calling and serve Christ as a preacher of the Word of God! Everyone, pastor and non-pastor alike, should read this book and be challenged and encouraged.

I have always been a fan of Al Mohler. He is one of the few articulate voices proclaiming Truth in a post-modern culture. So, I picked up this book with great anticipation.

Make no mistake. This is a good book, and it ought be read by any committed Believer. However, I was off-put almost immediately by the foreword. And, it telegraphed the overall theme of the book: "Preaching=good. Almost everything else=bad."

I am conflicted in that I agree with the premise of this book. We HAVE strayed away from the Truth of Scripture. We HAVE given our pastors permission to preach in circles, instead of sticking with the Biblical text. We HAVE been too enamored with modern technology. But, Mohler seems to be making the assertion that God's Word can only be heard through preaching. My fear is that, if this view takes hold, we will move back into the days where "the preacher" was viewed as the anchor of the local church (instead of the Body of people being the anchor), and where vibrant Praise is supplanted by a guy who likes to hear himself talk.

The fact is that the Body Of Christ needs to come together to HEAR the Word and to DO the Word. Solid expository preaching SHOULD be the norm. But, it isn't the only way that God speaks to His people. Music is a powerful communication tool. Christian songwriters ought to be encouraged to dig deep and write modern songs that are full of theology, much like the old hymns. One of the reasons I suspect Mohler reacts to the modern church expression is because music has become the focus and so many of the songs are without any grist. They are "feel good" songs. But, we ought not throw the baby out with the bath water. (The pendulum always tends to swing too far in one direction or the other.) Preaching AND music should be ever-present in our corporate gatherings as Believers, and both elements ought to be full of The Truth.

The same is true with technological accompaniments. Yes, we have become too enamored with them. But, if they serve a visual purpose in accenting the Truth of what is being preached or sung, they are useful and sometimes tremendously so.

So, I think Mohler is on the right track here. I just think he is over-reaching a bit.

That said, I will stand with Al Mohler anytime, anywhere in the cause of reclaiming the Truth for our culture. He is clearly a man of great conviction who is capable of hanging out with the intellectuals. In that context, I hope he will remain a strong voice within Christendom.

Albert Mohler's clear and focused premise could change churches all over America. He offers hope to those who are tired of topical sermons and nebulous stories told to make points about Biblical material. ... Just preach the Word straight through, don't skip the good parts thinking someone will get offended; someone will always be offended by the Word of God. He offers the solution to dying congregations.

autor:Albert Mohler
Type Story:Homiletic's book
Gendre : Christian book
This book is about the preaching in a postmodern world, the world has change , so the people in the church need hear message relevant whit power , this book speak about that contemporary preaching suffers from loss of confidence in the power of the word(the bible) this book challenges to the pastor . the pastor of the church must improve their preaching.

from Mexico

If you are a preacher you should buy this book! In typical brash and straight up style Mohler delivers a theological exposition and defence of expository preaching in a postmodern world. He is very engaging and challenging all the while being extremely encouraging! If you haven't read a book on preaching in a while or you are discouraged in your pulpit ministry then this is the book you need to buy and read!

This book, with its solid and confident support for expository preaching, is aimed mostly at people who are in a position to put its wisdom into practice (for example.. preachers), but as a church member who usually just listens to sermons, I found it surprisingly helpful. For most of the book, Mohler defines what he means by expository preaching (I'm not doing it justice when I say "preaching from the Bible, guided by the text itself," but I think I'm giving a fair first impression), which made me thankful to be part of a church that usually features such sermons. In his last few chapters, Mohler addresses the specific concerns of preaching to people with a postmodern mindset, and he has a chapter to encourage preachers, but what I love about the chapters is that they turn out to look very much like expository sermons, like Mohler is practicing his own principles to give examples for readers. I admit, I find it curious that his main text for the chapter about preaching to a postmodern audience is Acts 17, which is an example of Paul preaching a sermon that doesn't seem to fit Mohler's expository model, but mostly I was delighted to receive such helpful and challenging information in such a well-crafted way.

Although I may never preach a full sermon again (I have gotten to be a guest preacher a couple of times, but who knows if I will ever be invited to do it again), I still found the book helpful and inspirational, and while I would more quickly recommend it to preachers, it is certainly worth reading by anyone who is serious about sharing the gospel in a postmodern context.

Dr. Mohler's book on preaching must be on every pastor and bible teacher's book shelf. It is a great introduction to expository preaching. This book can be read in less than a month and yet contains timeless principles entailed within. One quote that I am reminded of is the following:

"Every pastor is called to be a theologian...The health of the church depends upon its pastors functioning as faithful theologians..."

In an age where Evangelical's are caving to post-modernism, pastor's must love the Word of God and not shy away from preaching it faithfully. This necessarily entails being a theologian. I recommend Dr. Mohler's book whole heartedly.

Dr. Mohler is one of my heroes and this book is a MUST READ! He makes the case of the true purpose of preaching and that is the glory of God. Read this book and when you do - you will not be able to put it down. I promise you that. One of the best books on preaching out there.