Baptists and Unity
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 51, No. 1 – Fall 2008
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
By Dennis M. Cahill. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007. 175 pages. Softcover, $13.99.
Every preacher knows the stress of designing the structure of his sermon. Dennis Cahill helps alleviate that stress as he discusses the various shapes sermons may take in The Shape of Preaching. Cahill brings more than twenty years of experience in preaching to his new work on sermon design. Having served as the founding pastor of Christ Community Church in New Jersey, Cahill’s book is a practical work that ministers to those who are doing the hard work of preaching week to week. Cahill expresses the thesis of this book when he writes, “The goal of this book is ultimately practical—greater variety and ability in preaching the gospel to the world in which we live” (10).
The book is written in two independent sections. In section one, Cahill deals with sermon forms and the theological, literary, and cultural issues related to sermon design. In the second section, he gives a step- by-step process for moving from sermon design to sermon structure and finally to sermon delivery.
One of the strengths of The Shape of Preaching is Cahill’s challenge for preachers to let the literary genre of a passage influence one’s sermon structure. Most preachers are comfortable using the same sermon design and form for a Pauline Epistle as they are for a narrative text in Genesis. Cahill, however, notes that when one preaches an Old Testament narrative the structure of the sermon will look much different than the structure of a sermon from Romans 12:1–2. Consequently, he challenges preachers to seek out sermon designs that will allow them to preach in new, effective ways, while following the structure of the text.
Cahill also helps pastors realize more is at work in the sermon design than the pastor himself. Sermon design is more “art than science,” yet he points out the vital role of the Holy Spirit in one’s preaching. Without the Holy Spirit’s help preaching is ineffective. He writes, “We should form the sermon with conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit” (88). Preachers do this best when they spend time in prayer as they develop the sermon. Cahill’s main focus, therefore, is that the “goal of [the sermon] must always be to speak the gospel well” (47). The gospel is spoken well when the Holy Spirit is relied upon and the structure of the sermon comes from the structure of the text.
When it comes to the area of improvements, I mention only two. First, Cahill intended the independent sections of the book to be uniquely useful; however, this approach has lead to some redundancy and some disconnection between the two sections. The format of the book is such that one can read section two without having to read section one thereby leaving one with a method of sermon design and not a foundation for sermon design.
A second possible improvement pertains to his discussion on culture and sermon form. While his chapter on culture and sermon form is helpful, Cahill, however, places as much emphasis upon the audience as he does the structure of the text when it comes to sermon structure. While he does not say the audience is more important than the text of Scripture, his description of the role of the audience and culture, however, can be misleading and can point one to such a conclusion. For example, in chapter 5 he places too much emphasis upon the culture when he writes, “If there are a large percentage of young adults (age thirty or below) in attendance, you may want to make more use of narrative or inductive forms” (75). Cahill, therefore, implies that deductive preaching should not be the preferred method of sermon structure if one is speaking to young adults. The problem with placing too much emphasis upon the audience in sermon design is that the preacher’s audience or culture dictates his sermon structure, rather than the text of Scripture. The text must reign supreme even above the audience. If, therefore, the shape of the text is deductive one’s sermon structure should be deductive regardless of the make-up of the audience.
Cahill successfully communicates that sermon structure and design matter. If preachers want to increase the effectiveness of their preaching they must give attention to the design of their sermons. The Shape of Preaching gives pastors the instructions they need to develop sermon structures that honor the text and thus glorify God. I encourage preachers of the Word to read this book and be challenged to present the gospel in a new, effective way while following the structure of the text.
