PREACHING IN THE SPIRIT

Review of Dennis F. Kinlaw, Preaching in the Spirit, Francis Asbury Press: Anderson, IN, 1985. 

Introduction: Preaching Without Inspiration

I once sat under a pastor who described his approach to preaching in this way: “In truth, I only have two or three sermons that I preach. Each Sunday I deliver a variation of one of those three.” His most common sermon was an exhortation to reach out to the surrounding community of unbelievers. He considered his repetitive approach a virtue. The congregation, however, was never transformed. 

He, and not the Spirit of God, determined what the congregation needed to hear. When he saw no movement, he hit the crowd with another version of the same message. His preaching was uninspired and, therefore, uninspiring. This fundamental issue of preachers lacking inspiration – which kills the effectiveness of preaching before the sermon even leaves the pulpit – is what Dennis F. Kinlaw addresses in his book Preaching in the Spirit. His thesis is clear, direct, and simple: “The greatest problem in preaching is not the preparation of the sermon, but the preparation of the preacher” (17). 

Overcoming The Greatest Problem

Kinlaw begins his book with the foundation upon which his solution to this “greatest problem” is built: the preacher’s first call is simply to be with Jesus (18). The author raises Abraham as the model of being in right relationship with the Lord. What God found in Abraham was “a friendship of personal intimacy and trust” (24). The preacher must be God’s friend before being God’s preacher and, in order for his sending to be useful, he must be more attached to God than to any other thing, including the congregation itself (26). 

Although this relationship between the preacher and the Lord is a friendship, it is also about the work which God desires to be done in his church. Kinlaw believes it is key for the preacher to understand “our calling … is not to work for God but with him” (40, emphasis in original). If the preacher gets this wrong, the danger is the temptation towards self-glorification (45). The key to working with rather than for is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Kinlaw further explains that the Spirit must fill and empower not only the pastor but the collective worship of the church as well. Here, as in the life of the pastor, sin threatens to interfere with the Spirit’s work, but the Spirit can and does enable sinners to turn to Christ (58). In fact, Kinlaw believes, if the preacher is faithful in presenting God’s message in the sermon, the listeners will recognize the ring of God’s Truth (70). Since God’s word often stands in contradiction of the culture and human nature, it is useful if the preacher is a careful observer of both (73). 

Kinlaw’s “Law of the second witness” states that before the delivery of a sermon, the preacher must humbly remember that God has already been at work in the lives of the congregants (81). There is no need to manipulate a person into feeling his or her own guilt; Christ can do that work if it is necessary. 

Kinlaw concludes his short book with the reminder that the Spirit brings life while the preacher merely acts as a midwife (95). Preachers must remember their dependence on the infilling of the Spirit if they hope to hear the Lord’s guidance in finishing the work which Christ started and doing it in His way (119). 

Conclusion: Proper Preparation

Dennis Kinlaw’s writing in Preaching by the Spirit clearly stems from the sort of conviction which firsthand experience brings. As a young man, he experienced the ineffectiveness of preaching in his own power and the profound difference which the Spirit has made in his preaching since discovering his mistake. Other textbooks can give direction on processes behind sermon forms or advice on effective delivery, but the sort of “preparation of the pastor” through intimacy with the Holy Spirit which Kinlaw urges is simply foundational.