ISBN
978-0-310-32561-1
Published by
Zondervan
Reviewed by
Clint Walker
Most
preaching books read like how to manuals. They instruct you on how to study
your Bible as you prepare your sermon, they often give you helpful hints on how
to use speech skills to communicate effectively, and many preaching books may
give you ideas on how to be more “contemporary” or “user-friendly”. For people
who grown have tired of books on preaching like this, Folly, Grace and Power by
John Koessler will come as a breath of fresh air. Koessler asks and begins to
answer the questions, “Just what is God doing when his word is preached?” and “How
do we understand the preaching event theologically?”
These
questions are essential in our day and time. Too much of what passes for
teaching and preaching in our culture is pure drivel, with all of the appeal of
an infomercial. Koessler brings us back to basics in Folly, Grace and Power,
as he challenges us to notice what God does through preaching, and how the act
of preaching can be done in a way that honors the mysterious power and work of
Jesus Christ.
Much
of this text is not easy for the typical preacher to hear. Folly, Grace and Power challenges its readers to pay more careful
attention to what is happening when the gospel is preached, and to preach with
excellence in order to please God and not to please human beings. Over and over
again, in its own way, it challenges those that preach to have the courage to
be honest, even when it is not easy. Koessler says toward the end of the book, “Preaching
is having the last word. To preach is to take your stand before the pit and
bear witness to the rubble of this ash-heap world that the kingdom of God is at
hand….preaching is an eschatological act” (p. 130).
Koessler
believes that most pastors have abdicated their posts as their church’s
resident theologians. At times, he argues, this is because it is difficult to
bridge the gap between the theology of the academy, and the lived theology of
the lay person. So pastors either chose to preach over their congregation’s
head, or they avoid theology entirely. Instead, Koessler encourages us to
communicate good theology in ways that the average person can understand. In
this sense, the pastor is a translator or intercessor of sorts between God and
his people.
I
believe that Folly, Grace, and Power is one of the best preaching books to
come out in years. For the careful reader, it will encourage pastors and lay
persons to put, “first things first.”
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