Page 154 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

Second, the nature and function of Jesus’ preaching is his revelation of himself. Through

his preaching, Jesus revealed himself as the Son of God. The Kingdom of God, the essential

message of his preaching, had come in and through Jesus Christ, himself. Thus, preaching

should be the revelation of Jesus as the Savior and Lord. To overcome the shallow commitment

among Korean Christians, they need to expose themselves profoundly and frequently to Jesus

and his Gospel through preaching. Korean preaching must be the revelation of Jesus.

Conservative, moralistic preaching favors moral precepts as content to sermons. Pragmatic, life-

situational preaching and syncretistic Pentecostal preaching emphasize success principles and

solutions of human problems. In contrast, the solution to the Korean preaching problem is the

recovery of the Christo-centricity in both homiletic nature and methodology.

If people come to church to worship God and listen to His Word, then they have the right

to listen to a sermon that pivots around “the purpose of preaching-namely, the hearing of

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Christ.” William Thompson expresses a similar concern when he says:

For a time they can endure sermons of good advice, autobiographical revelations,
discussions of interesting theological topics, commentaries on the social issues of the day,
even explanations of biblical texts. But it was not with such preaching that the church
19
was built, and it is not through such preaching that it will be saved.
Jesus himself proclaimed that “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to

give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28); “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the

wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal

life” (John 3:14-15); “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”

(John 12:32). Through Jesus’ revelatory preaching of himself and his mission, people were

18
Roger E. Van Harn, Pew Rights: For People Who Listen to Sermons (Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992), 4.
19 William D. Thompson, Preaching Biblically (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1981), 12.