Page 164 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

Craig Loscalzo points out the importance of the listeners’ participation through

identification. Identification occurs when the preacher moves beyond “the rhetoric of authority”

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and sits where his hearers sit, seeing and feeling the life of his hearers. The methodology of
identification comes through speaking their language through proper word choice, gestures, tone,

image, and attitude. He communicates that he is one of them, with their needs, aspirations, and

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fears. The Korean church yearns for this type of relational authority in a preacher.

Korean preachers should also learn the functional authority of Jesus. Jesus preached as

one who knew the subject matter about which he was talking. Position does not claim authority

as much as it did previously in Korean society. The church now desires functional authority in

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the preaching. In a culture of professionalism, complex specialization in various disciplines,
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theology notwithstanding, is a consequential expectation. Thus, Korean preachers must

cultivate themselves in the many facets of spiritual leadership and preaching enough to be

regarded as competent professionals. Such development is essential for the Word of God to

penetrate the encrusted soil of the heart and bear fruit in the lives of the congregation. If the

incarnational, relational, and functional authority is practiced by the preacher, Korean

44
Craig Loscalzo, Preaching Sermons that Connect (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 1992), 16-17.

45 Ibid., 20-21. See also Harold Freeman, Variety in Biblical Preaching (Waco: Word,
1987), 28. He maintains the importance of bridging the world of the Bible and the realities of the
lives of people for the conversation to be possible in preaching.

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Ramm, Pattern of Authority, 10-13. He explains various types of authority. He lists the
functional authority, and says that it is related to “the process of acquiring truth,” in which, for
instance, “the learner must accept the authority of the teacher until the learner can know the truth
himself.”

47
Francis Schussler Fiorenza, “The Crisis of Scriptural Authority: Interpretation and
Reception.” Interpretation 44 (October 1990), 353-57. // 353-68.