Page 60 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

the congregation by presenting solutions to their problems and needs. The nature of preaching is,

therefore, to find the need and meet the need.

Sun-Do Kim, senior pastor of Kwang Rim Methodist Church, the largest Methodist

Church in the World, is one of the representative preachers in this model. Succeeding the

thoughts of Henry Emerson Fosdick 127 and Robert H. Schuller, he contends his theology of

preaching as follows:

Preaching should give comfort and solutions for the spiritual and mental problems
of the Christians and non-Christians. Many Christians in my congregation go to
church primarily not to learn the ethical teachings of Jesus but to receive comfort,
encouragement, peace, and love to face problems in their daily life. As the pastor, I
should communicate comforting messages from the pulpit so as to meet their
needs. 128

Kim’s philosophy of preaching is well documented in one of his sermon books. 129 In this

book of thirty-two sermons there is not a single sermon on the cross and resurrection, judgement,

or redemption. Instead, the book was full of sermons on hope, healing, power of faith, power of

positive thinking, and how to lead a successful life.

The major problem of this type of preaching is that the contemporary problems come to

be the “controlling element in the interpretation process.” Scripture, then, takes the role of a

springboard or a proof text to support “what the preacher has already assumed to be true.” 130

127 Harry Emerson Fosdick, “What is the Matter with Preaching?” Harper’s (July 1928),
134.

128
Sun Do Kim, “Pastoral Care and Counseling,” in Korean Church Growth, 261.
129
Sun Do Kim, The Dialogue of Hope for the Modern People (Seoul: Kwang Rim
Publishing Co., 1980).

130 Chi Kay, “Contemporary Protestant Preaching in Korea,” 61.