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Graham Johnston concludes his book on preaching to postmoderns with a quote from a Samuel Shoemaker poem,
“I stand by the door. I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out. The door is the most important door in the world – it is the door through which men walk when they find God (174).”
This quotation sums up Johnston’s approach to preaching. Preachers, he says, must stand near the door, not going in too far where they will not be able to connect with secular listeners, but standing near the door where they can reach out to people and draw them in to the faith. This is an effective metaphor for Johnston’s project. He wants to encourage preachers to understand the times so that their message can be tuned to the language spoken by people today. This should be the fundamental homiletic task. Our message may be suppled by our hermeneutics but it is shaped by our homiletic. Johnston is speaking to the issues that shape and nuance the way our sermons can be formed so as to help our listeners hear.
Johnston is very well read. The book overwhelms the listener with quotations, stories, and ideas sifted from a wide range of sources in Christian literature and from popular culture. Johnston watches TV, goes to the movies, and has a good sense of how contemporary people think. While this does not always make for the smoothest reading, it does make for an informed reading. Readers will need to look elsewhere for a careful academic discussion of postmodern philosophy and language theory. However, they will emerge with a strong sense of how people think and what the preacher is up against.
The book offers a number of helpful "practices for engagement." The author counsels, a dialogical approach (150), an emphasis upon induction (151), storytelling (155), the use of audiovisuals, drama, and the arts (162), humor, and other similar aspects of delivery. There is no new ground here, but the opportunities are put forward compellingly.
One of these days, someone like Johnston needs to go further than the descriptive approach that is offered here, developing a thorough theology of preaching for postmodern times from an evangelical perspective. For instance, how does human fallenness and finitude correspond to a postmodern sense of human limitation? How is divine revelation heard by human beings locked in space and time? One must look elsewhere for answers to questions such as these.
Nevertheless, Johnston’s work will serve the pastor or professor looking for a competent, accessible description of the preaching task in the 21st century. It will help preachers find their rightful place by the door, compelling many to come in and find the Truth they have been craving.