Recently I led a group of pastors in a discussion about our preaching. When I asked, "What areas would you like help with in your preaching?" most responded with:

—"I want help in making connection with my listeners, relating the gospel to their everyday lives."

—"I want to preach sermons that really hit my people where they live."

—"I want to preach in a way that is real, that addresses real-life concerns people have."

In sum, these pastors wanted to preach in a way that addressed their culture.

There was a time when I would have agreed this was one of the primary purposes of Christian preaching-to relate the gospel to contemporary culture. However, I have come to believe that is our weakness rather than our strength. In leaning over to speak to the modern world, I fear we may have fallen in.

One-way traffic

Most of the preaching I have heard in my own church family struggles to relate the gospel to the modern world. When we sought to use our sermons to build a bridge ...