Preaching to a Divided Nation , livre ebook

Endorsements
“Pastors to diverse church communities always deeply feel the tension of congregants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and politics. But when our people start welcoming, loving, and serving one another across the lines of difference because of Christ, it makes living in the tension not only worthwhile but sacred. To help preachers in our role as facilitators of such communities, Kim and Hoffman have provided a wonderful field guide. I can’t recommend Preaching to a Divided Nation highly enough.”
— Scott Sauls , senior pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church; author of A Gentle Answer and Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen
“An issue that matters today is our divided nation, filled with too many divided churches and divided Christians. That is clear to all. For those of us who call Jesus Christ our Lord, we also know the prayer of Jesus ‘that they may be one’ (John 17:22). But how do we do this? We start with the single most influential time in the church each week: the sermon. But how do we do that practically? In Preaching to a Divided Nation , Kim and Hoffman give a useful framework to confront the division in our time with preaching grounded in the Bible’s story line and founded on the redemptive work of Christ.”
— Ed Stetzer , Wheaton College
“ Preaching to a Divided Nation is a must-read for twenty-first-century Christian leaders. Kim and Hoffman offer an excellent road map for preachers, teachers, and leaders on how to use their voice, pulpit, and platform to heal our country’s divides. Get this book and read it with your church staff today!”
— Michelle Ami Reyes , vice president, Asian American Christian Collaborative; author of Becoming All Things
“Kim and Hoffman know well the challenges facing pulpits in fostering true unity among believers. Rightly, they exhort faithful homileticians to listen to various social perspectives as a means of informing authentic Christian preaching. More now than ever, the preacher’s personal development as an emotionally, culturally, and historically intelligent shepherd contributes to the ability to proclaim the Scriptures in a way that makes the church a greater agent of righteousness and love in society. For the sake of the healing of divided nations everywhere, may all preachers eagerly hear this exhortation with ears of grace.”
— Eric C. Redmond , Moody Bible Institute
“In such a polarizing and fractious time, Christian preachers need resources that bridge divides and remind us that God makes a way out of no way. Thankfully, Kim and Hoffman’s timely new book gives us both. Preaching to a Divided Nation is grounded in theory, saturated with Scripture, centered on the gospel, informed by practice, and infused with hope. Job well done!”
— Jared E. Alcántara , Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University
“In a polarized and hostile political, racial, and economic context, preaching has become a challenging and delicate pastoral art. With one simple sentence or sound bite, pastors risk unintentionally dividing their flock in a way that harms not only the local church but also the soul of the pastor. Division hurts all of us. Kim and Hoffman provide a theological framework for preaching while also guiding the pastor to remember that we are but heralds, not heart changers. We’ve needed a book like this for a long time now, and it comes just in time. If you want a framework for preaching that leads to reconciliation instead of division, this one’s for you!”
— Tara Beth Leach , author of Emboldened and Radiant Church
“Preaching has become something of a dreaded task. With self-appointed authorities declaring on social media what pastors should and should not address—and telling people to leave their churches if pastors don’t say the supposed right thing—the pastor bears the impossible task of speaking God’s Word to a disinterested and divided world. In a day where cultural land mines abound, the preacher can either dismiss the concerns of her congregation as invalid or irrelevant or become a prisoner to the narratives and perspectives of the moment. Kim and Hoffman give us a better way. They excavate a treasury of theological resources to address the chief causes of division and map the terrain of our cultural dynamics and historical context. They teach us to become aware of our own lens as preachers and to rely on the Spirit to breathe the Word of God to the people of God. The result is a stunning, scholarly, current, and critical guide for preachers to take seriously the complexity of preaching in a rapidly changing world.”
— Glenn Packiam , lead pastor, New Life Downtown; author of The Resilient Pastor
“Our world is divided, our rhythms are disrupted, and the church is distracted. Nothing has more potential to unify us than the life-changing message of the gospel. Kim and Hoffman’s approach to preaching is practical and attainable. I’m grateful for their effort in training pastors to bring the redemptive power of the gospel in relevant ways to their communities.”
— Scott Ridout , president, Converge
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2022 by Matthew D. Kim and Paul A. Hoffman
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3670-5
Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.
Dedication
To the remarkable women who have contributed much to our ministry and scholarship:
Aída Besançon Spencer, Senior Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
—Matthew D. Kim
Elaine Phillips, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Gordon College
and
Deirdre Brower Latz, Principal of Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, UK
—Paul A. Hoffman
Contents
Cover
Endorsements 1
Half Title Page iii
Title Page v
Copyright Page vi
Dedication vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. The Theological Step: The Sins of Pride and Prejudice 7
2. The Contextual Step: America’s Past and Present Reality 25
3. The Personal Step: Facing Our Sin and Acknowledging Our Prejudices 41
4. The Positional Step: We Are Heralds, Not Heart-Changers 61
5. The Methodological Step: A Homiletic for Reconciliation and Unity 79
6. The Practical Step: Pre-Sermon, Mid-Sermon, and Post-Sermon Practices 99
7. The Categorical Step: Biblical Themes and Texts 119
Conclusion 133
Appendix A: Reflections on Critical Race Theory 139
Appendix B: Sample Homiletical Integrity Covenant 143
Appendix C: Essential and Nonessential Doctrines, and Gospel Implications 145
Appendix D: Sample Multichurch Prayer and Unity Service 147
Appendix E: Ministries Pursuing Reconciliation and Unity 149
Appendix F: Further Reading 151
Appendix G: Sample Sermons 155
On Classism by Paul A. Hoffman
On Ethnocentrism by Ralph Douglas West
On Political Division by Rich Villodas
On Reconciliation by Sandra María Van Opstal
On Sexism by Paul A. Hoffman
On Unity by Matthew D. Kim
Index 191
Back Cover 194
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank several individuals who helped us with this project.
Scott M. Gibson, our mentor and friend, brought us together in friendship over twenty years ago by mentoring us at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has modeled for us the importance of discipleship, reconciliation, and unity.
Manny Cumplido and Heather Joy Zimmerman carefully read the manuscript and offered numerous helpful suggestions for improving it.
Thomas and Amy Cogdell and Christ the Reconciler Community’s prayers and encouragement helped sustain this project.
Trip Wolfskehl used his talents to create the diagrams in this book, for which we are so grateful.
Jared Evan Larson, Matt’s research assistant, identified several resources to include in this book.
We give thanks to the tremendous team at Baker Academic, especially Robert Hosack, Eric Salo, Jeremy Wells, Paula Gibson, and Shelly MacNaughton, for shepherding this project with their time, resources, and expertise.
We cannot thank enough Sandra María Van Opstal, Rich Villodas, and Ralph Douglas West, whose sermons showcase their prophetic voices and solidify the need for Christian reconciliation and unity in our world.
This project could not have been completed without the support of our amazing wives, Sarah Kim and Autumn Hoffman. Thank you so much. We love you and are grateful to God for you.
To our sons, Ryan, Evan, and Aidan Kim and Landon and Kelan Hoffman, we love you and are so proud of you. We pray that you’ll be agents of reconciliation and unity in your generation.
Finally, we give praise and glory to our triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who alone enables the church to be reconciled and unified.
Introduction
Countless pastors, preachers, teachers, and ministry leaders are dismayed at the dysfunction engulfing the church and the wider culture. Every day, headlines reveal a world divided across ethnic, class, sex, and political lines. We are simultaneously a nation and a church with comparable cavernous disagreements. Make no mistake: these chasms are expanding and feel increasingly insurmountable.
For instance, consider the metastasizing tumor of ethnocentrism. In April 2020, Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, issued a warning regarding “a potent