Rarely do I read a book more than once. Still rarer do I read a book a third time. John R. W. Stott’s book Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century is one of those rare exceptions. It was published in 1982 and was required reading in my graduate class at FHU in Advanced Preaching. If you flip through my copy, you notice that almost every page has some highlighting, underlining, or notes in the margin. That is rare.
“Preaching is indispensable to Christianity” (15) is the first sentence in Stott’s book. That statement fires up a preacher. We need to hear that frequently. In fact, the whole congregation needs to hear that frequently. Not in order to draw attention to the preacher but to emphasize the importance God places on His message and the primary avenue by which God chose to disseminate that message.
Stott’s first chapter gives an historical overview of the history of preaching, both biblical history and church history. Stott is well read in a host of Christian literature and he brings that knowledge to the task of encouraging modern day preachers. He opens his second chapter with this affirmation: “The prophets of doom in today’s Church are confidently predicting that the day of preaching is over” (50). If that were true in 1982, how much more true is it 34 years later? Just take a look at so many denominational worship services and see where so-called followers of Christ have given up on preaching.
But in order for preaching to be affective, it needs to be effective. An effective message begins with the proper theological foundations. In Stott’s third chapter, he argues for a proper attitude toward preaching. Man needs a conviction: about God, about Scripture, about the Church, about the “Pastorate” (His word for the role of the preacher), and about preaching. On page 109, he writes: “The Word of God is the sceptre by which Christ rules the Church and the food with which he nourishes it.” Amen.
Stott’s view, and I share the view, is that all true preaching is expository preaching. In that regard, he writes several pages on the power of expository preaching but then dedicates a whole chapter on preparing sermons (chapter 6). Before that, Stott discusses the idea that preaching must build a bridge (thus the title of the book). The preacher builds a bridge from the first century message to the 20th (now 21st) century audience. A chasm exists between those two worlds. Stott writes: “Our task is to enable God’s revealed truth to flow out of the Scriptures into the lives of the men and women of today” (pg. 138).
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Stott concludes his study of the work of the preacher by focusing a chapter on “Sincerity and Earnestness” and a final chapter about “Courage and Humility.”
Between Two Worlds was worth reading (at least) three times. It’s worth your reading as well. If you are a preacher or a Bible class teacher – anyone who takes teaching the Word of God seriously, you will benefit from the book. “Preaching is indispensable to Christianity,” Stott writes in the Epilogue. The final sentence I have highlighted tells it all: “The privilege is great, the responsibility is taxing, the temptations are many, and the standards are high” (338).
Preach the Word!
–Paul Holland
