BOOK SUMMARY: WHY JOHNNY CAN'T PREACH - CHAPTER 4 - A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT CONTENT

Even sermons with a unified point may be making a point not worth making.  This chapter will address content. 

The content of the sermon should be the person, character and work of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Part of what we preach are morals so that people can grow to be like Christ.  But that preaching of holy living should be done so in light of the fact that Jesus is saving us from the power and experience of sin. They aren't just commands to do. They are salvific changes that Christ, by His Spirit and preached Word, makes in us. We are being rescued from depravity. 

In preaching we must also declare the character of Christ. He was meek and lowly. He was faithful over God's house. He is a sympathetic High Priest. These are not only attribute to emulate, but they are specific ways in which He accomplished salvation for us. This type of preaching nourishes or trust and faith in Him as Savior. It transforms sermons from moralistic speeches to redemptive proclamations. This is what Christ-centered preaching looks like when it preaches law and commands. Christ-centered preaching isn't only about the cross and empty tomb. It is showing how Christ fulfills all of Scripture whether it be prophecy, shadows, the overall narrative recapitulated in His life, His obedience to the law, His offices, His character, His already/not yet reign, His dispensing of law, etc.\
Bryan Chappel, author of Christ-Centered Preaching, teaches his students to look for the FCF to help them get to a Christ-centered understanding of Scripture. FCF stands for the Fallen Condition Focus. It answers the question: how does this particular text address our fallen condition and thus point us to the need for redemption. 

Jesus told Peter that if Peter love Jesus then he was to feed HIS sheep. Sheep must be fed. When we feed the sheep we are nourished their trust and faith in Jesus as Savior. They must have confidence in His ability to redeem and save. 
Preaching should be such that we can readily see what Baptism and the Lord's Supper mean. Or at least it should be done in a way as to aid our understand of these ordinances. 

Preaching Christ and His sufficiency does not promote a license to sin. Rather it nourishes us and sanctifies us. 

STRONG ALTERNATIVES EXPOSED: FOUR FAILURES

In opposition to Christ-centered preaching stand these four failures.

(1).  Moralism: Protestant Liberalism arose during the transition from the 19th-20th century. It reduced Christianity to moralism (ie. Christ as a great teacher and example to follow). It denied miracles and the ineranncy of Scripture. It denies the gospel as presented in Scripture. J. Gresham Machen wrote about the dangers of this movement.  Protestant Liberalism views Scripture as the proper way to live...an ethic, without it's redemptive focus.  Many preachers today identify as conservative, but their views are in line with Protestant Liberalism. They use the term conservative in our current political and social context but not in the context of history as it relates to Christianity and the Protestant Liberalism.  Christianity that emphasizes morality and not redemption is Protestant Liberalism.  Be good, do good type sermons characterize the liberal pastor, liberal sermon, liberal church. This is why the world regards "being preachy" as trying to correct behavior. We cannot preach be-good-do-good sermons and then whip out the obligatory gospel at the end and rescue a sermon with two minutes of gospel. 

(2).  How-To: How-To sermons are not about what we ought to do, but how we are to go about doing it. It's about the method one employs to do the right thing. In these sermons the person and work of Christ are not in view. Rather, our method that supposedly leads to righteousness is in view. It suggests that sanctification is not part of salvation but rather a technique to employ. 

(3).  Introspection: This type of preaching calls the sinner to focus inwardly at their lack of love for the Word, or their failure to obey the Lord, or some other lacking discipline in their life. This sermon creates self-righteousness in the one who is not failing in these matters. But it creates despair in the person who is in utter failure and it leaves them despondent because Christ is only mentioned in passing. His sufficiency to save is not heralded. Unbelievers are not shown the Savior and believers think they're not saved. 

(4).  Social Gospel/So-Called Culture War: The sermonizer uses his time in the pulpit to proclaim what is wrong with culture and society and how we or the government or policy can fix it all.   This presents a good-guy-bad-guy mentality. And us versus them. It doesn't not present Christ as Sovereign Savior and Ruler under whom we must all submit. It removes our mandate to take Christ to the nations and instead makes policy or change the Savior. Cultural Warriors favor policy and laws over reasoned discourse and example setting. Coercion is their main tool. They require people to say "One Nation Under God" even if all do not believe in Christ as Savior and God. This could be blasphemous. 

WHY THESE ARE FAILURES

They do not nourish the soul by nourishing our faith in Christ. 

DO THESE FOUR FAILURES HAVE A PLACE?

There is a place to preach the law. There is a place for introspection to see if one really is in the faith. There is a time to examine our world and to see where it falls short of Godly living.  But these must be in the background of Christ and His sufficiency and competency to save. They are not the focus of the sermon; Christ is.  These may occur as secondary results of Christ-centered preaching, but they ought not to be the focus and emphasis of a sermon. Christ's person, work and character must be preached from all of Scripture. 

Preachers need to recover proper preaching sensibilities as discussed in previous chapters. They need to be Christ-centered in public preaching and not use the sermon as a catchall, trying to cover everything or every aspect of pastoral ministry.