Why I Wrote This Book

I had two main goals in writing Preaching and the Emerging Church. First, I wanted to give pastors a tool to judge the preaching advice coming out of the movement. I made my assessment based on the biblical pattern and precepts that support expositional/text-driven preaching (Neh 8:8), which by nature seeks to glorify God, exalt and exult in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and is guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

My second goal was to show the implications of emerging church preaching for evangelical (expository/text-driven) preaching. Two concluding implications are as follows. First, modeling the preaching ministry of the revisionists will lead to a diminishing of the role of traditional, evangelical preaching. Second, modeling the preaching ministry of the relevants will lead to delighting in the role of traditional evangelical proclamation.

So What?

What significance do these two observations have for the church? The former, having emerged from a low view of Scripture, leads to a culturally driven conversation concerning an unorthodox gospel. The latter, having emerged from a high view of Scripture, leads to a text-driven heralding of an orthodox gospel—one that Jude calls the church to “contend earnestly” for, knowing that it has been “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Furthermore, since it pleases God “through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21) and to establish the church as the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15), preaching then is of grave importance to the culture and to the church. As Piper states, “Preaching is God’s appointed means for the conversion of sinners, the awakening of the church, and the preservation of the saints.”

Therefore, choose wisely when discerning over the preaching counsel of the emerging church—for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the proclamation of the gospel, the edification of the church, and the advancement of his kingdom in the context of this emerging yet passing culture.

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 11 (pgs. 332-335). Available here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt seem to prize the Bible more as mystery than knowable, propositional, eternal truths about God and man. If by mystery it means they are acknowledging the glory and ways of God that reigns supremely over mankind’s finitude (Isa 55:8–9; Job 42:2–6), or reacting against the downsizing of God to a mere box of propositions, then fine. But, as Kevin DeYoung’s critique of the movement asserts, if mystery is somehow linked to an “implied doctrine of God’s unknowability,” and used as a way to jettison taking responsibility for the clear truth claims of Scripture, then something has gone awry with how these preachers are interpreting, or to draw from emerging church vernacular, dancing with mystery.

Dancing with Mystery?

For example, Pagitt claims, “Mystery is not the enemy to be [conquered] nor a problem to be solved, but rather, the partner with whom we dance.” He continues, “We are called to show each other the way into mystery.” This may sound postmodern and spiritual, but does it sound biblical? The Apostle Paul, one who proclaimed the words of God (1 Cor 14:37; 1 Thess 2:13), called believers into a meaningful, joyful, hope-centered relationship with God; not by leading them into some vague spirituality or existential maze of mysticism, but rather into the revelation, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of the revealed mystery—the person and finished work of God in Jesus Christ (Eph 1:17–18; 3:1–12; Col 1:24–29).

Get Your Preaching Directives from Jesus

Paul’s teachings did not focus on humanity coming into the way of mystery; Paul’s teachings, according to David Wells, focused on humanity coming to the “knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 2:25; cf. 3:7–8; 4:4). Where did Paul receive such an idea as objective, rational truth, having not lived in the age of enlightenment or modernity? Paul claims to have received his directives from Jesus (Gal 1:12), the full embodiment of truth, who naturally taught truth and established his followers in truth (John 17:17). Jesus himself even ties the believer’s joy to the knowledge of truth: “These things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13, emphasis added).

Preach the Mystery Revealed—Jesus

McLaren and Pagitt, in contrast to Jesus, seem to relish tethering joy to mystery, not knowable truth. Doctrine, dogma, and deliberate truths are out; mystery is in. For both preachers to continue down this postmodern epistemological path, one that Wells claims cherishes a “studied uncertainty,” it might imply (or expose?) that conversing about mystery, as a biblical trait to treasure, is nothing more than an emergent cloak to cover a denial of the knowable “knowledge of truth”—at least as revealed in Scripture and understood (down through the ages) as “God’s perfect knowledge of himself and of all reality.” Mystery is a beautiful thing, but so is mystery revealed, “Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 9. Emerging Church Revisionists: McLaren and Pagitt (pgs. 211-214). Get it here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

Preaching and Mission Connected

Researching Mark Driscoll’s preaching philosophy, I discovered, not surprisingly, that just as he believes preaching cannot be detached from the true church, he also believes that it cannot be disconnected from the church’s mission. How then does Pastor Mark maintain a reformissional focus in his preaching?

Why Do We Resist the Truth?

First, upon discovering the biblical author’s intent, he raises the question, “Why do we resist the truth?” His goal is to predict potential rejection points by the listener with the aim of countering any objections with God’s truth. Then, modeling what he believes to be the scriptural example, he works at understanding the cultural context of his listeners with the intent to communicate these truths in the most effective form. “The gospel,” states Driscoll, “must be contextualized in a way that is accessible to the culture and faithful to the Scriptures.” Therefore, scriptural accuracy remains a must, but so does seeking to be culturally accessible. Contextualizing the gospel in this culturally accessible way will prayerfully enable the preacher, asserts Driscoll, to bring about a “co-opting” of “their cultural hopes” and bring non-believers to see the gospel “as the only answer to their deepest longing.”

Why Does This Matter?

Second, he asks “Why does this matter?” Driscoll incorporates in his messages the biblical mandate for living out the gospel as a missionary from Mars Hill to the city of Seattle and beyond. He counters inactivity by emphasizing the significance of why it matters, both individually and corporately, to be a missional people.

Therefore, Driscoll’s reformissional preaching aim, in his own words, is to connect the message to a “missional purpose for our lives, families, church, and ultimately God’s glory.” Missiological preaching is more than a sermon point shared a few times a year; for Driscoll, missional preaching is the point.

How Is Jesus the Hero?

The final sermon-framing question used by Driscoll to maintain a reformissional focus is “How is Jesus the hero/Savior?” This places the spotlight on the hero of the church’s mission—Jesus. Jesus came as a missionary to culture preaching the gospel and the kingdom of God. Under his authority, preachers live in culture heralding this same message (Matt 28:18–20).

Driscoll asserts, “We derive our authority to preach the gospel to all peoples, times, and places from the glorious exaltation of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed all authority for himself and commanded us to go in his authority to preach the gospel truth.” How serious is Driscoll at embracing this truth? Read his own words: “My answer to everything is pretty much the same: open the Bible and preach about the person of Jesus and his mission for our church.” Thus, for Driscoll, reformissional preaching means lifting up Jesus before the culture as the centerpiece of the Bible, which reveals a unified story that highlights Jesus as the undeniable hero.

What Is Reformissional Preaching?

What then is reformissional preaching? Reformissional preaching is preaching that unpacks the biblical truth, counters the culture’s objections to the truth, reveals the relevance of the truth, and heralds the gospel of the truth incarnate—JESUS—for the conversion of sinners, transformation of saints, and mission of the church.

How about you, pastor? Is your preaching connected to the mission of the church? Is it reformissional?

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 7. Mark Driscoll: Reformissional Preaching (pgs. 177-179). Get it here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

Missing Any Homiletical Gears?

In my search for a used Jeep at a great price I came across just the right one—well, sort of. It had the right mileage, the right color, the right look, and the right price. Only one problem: it was missing a gear. In my research on the emerging church, I found that some pastors, similar to this Jeep, were either reluctant to engage the homiletical gear of heralding confrontationally, or they were missing it altogether.

Confrontational Preaching Can Be Offensive

For example, in an interview with Preaching, Dan Kimball asserts that a messenger of Jesus cannot just say, "We'll, you've got Jesus wrong. He ain't like Gandhi. That's offensive. He's the Son of God!" His reasoning, he argues, is this philosophy or method of confrontational preaching has the potential to "shut people out." His conclusion implies that it is unfortunate that "a lot of preaching forms have been like that."

Confrontational Preaching Can Be Effective

Ironically, Kimball's relevant counterpart (Mark Driscoll) often heralds in this exact manner—seeing it used by God to bring people into the church by the hundreds, if not thousands. Better yet, Kimball's missionary model, Jesus, likewise used direct and provoking language to expand his kingdom (John 4). His voice through Scripture continues this trend by commanding preaching that by definition will require confrontation, contending, and, yes, what Al Mohler refers to as the "cringe factor" (2 Tim 4:1–5). As D.A. Carson contends, there are multiple examples of confrontation in Scripture, "not only from the ministry of Jesus, but from the ministries of Peter, Paul, John, and others.... Think, for instance of Jude!"

In an attempt to contextualize the message to a postmodern culture, in hopes that non-Christians might come to love Jesus and like the church, Kimball's non-confrontational homiletic might just inadvertently be itching the ears of those he is trying to reach.

Confrontational Preaching Should Be Biblical and Balanced

Therefore in light of Scripture and the role of the Holy Spirit, discarding or diluting this form of preaching might actually be an offense to God instead of an offense to man. As Greg Heisler notes, "The Holy Spirit of God is confrontational, and his conviction is powerful. He will not empower nonconfrontational preaching that waters down the gospel, compromises the Word, and takes sin lightly." Heralding with compassion, love, grace, and kindness is a biblical mandate, but no dichotomy need exist between these homiletical aims and the necessity of timely confrontation and/or purposeful contention. A balance then is called for in preaching that guards against what Brian Chapell refers to as getting "stuck in one gear," or just as detrimental, refusing to engage some homiletical gears all together.

From Preaching and the Emerging Church, Chapter 10. Emerging Church Relevants: Kimball and Driscoll (pgs. 308-312). Get it here.

Preaching & the Emerging Church

This ebook offers a thorough critique and evaluation of the preaching of four leaders of the emerging church movement. Get it here.

An e-book by Dr. John S. Bohannon

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The emerging church movement has significantly influenced contemporary Christianity. Evidence abounds—the creation of blogs, conferences, seminary classes, doctorate programs, and the birth of an entire class of literature. In recent years much has been written to help the church better understand this latest Christian phenomenon. However, a deficiency still exists when it comes to understanding the role of preaching within the movement. Since preaching is God’s appointed means to convert sinners and preserve the church, then an understanding of this movement’s preaching is of vital importance to the church and the culture it serves.

Endorsements

"An absolutely superb treatment. Dr. Bohannon's critique and evaluation is thorough, even exhaustive! It is also judicious and compelling. This book is a must read for those who care about the importance of theological conviction and its impact on the contemporary ministry of the Word. Not all who read this work will agree with his conclusions (I do!), but all will be forced to carefully consider what he says."

—Danny Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"If you're passionate about preaching and want to discern what preaching should look like in emerging contexts, you'll want to read this book. Bohannon provides the reader an exhaustive and insightful look into the preaching ministry of four of the emerging church movement's most colorful and sometimes controversial leaders. There are things to affirm and others to reject, and now, thanks to Bohannon, we have a helpful tool to help us discern the difference between the two."

—Ed Stetzer
President of LifeWay Research

"Much has been written about the emerging church, but little thought has been given to the preaching of this movement. John Bohannon offers us a thorough taxonomy of the homiletics of the emerging church, showing how the movement's leaders measure up as expositors. In so doing, he offers each of us the opportunity to take the pulse of our own preaching. If the health of the church depends upon the quality of its preaching, we will want to pay attention to this critique."

—Kenton C. Anderson
Professor of Homiletics, ACTS Seminaries of Trinity Western University; author of Choosing to Preach

Who Is John Bohannon?

John S. Bohannon (Ph.D., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the cofounder and preaching pastor of Water's Edge Community Church in Lake Country, Virginia. He has authored publications on preaching and church planting and serves as an adjunct preaching instructor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. John resides with his wife and three children in Lake Country, Virginia. To learn more about him, visit his blog.