Priority of Preaching

This review appeared in this month's Banner of Truth magazine. You can buy this book online here.

There are several errors that preaching books often make. One is that they are too theoretical or technical, written perhaps by someone who has read about preaching, but who has rarely been engaged in the work. Or, for the same reason, they are written in such a way as to make the connections with actual preaching opaque. These books aim at making their mark in the lecture hall more than in the pulpit. Other books are eminently practical, but based on dubious theological or exegetical premises. Ironically, books written in defence of expository preaching often rely on poor exegesis to make their points. But his little book, written for preachers by an experienced preacher, largely avoids all these pitfalls.

 Christopher Ash is himself an experienced preacher. And he knows that preachers often face discouragement when they consider their work. In the introduction he writes of his own early preaching- often discouraged, convinced he was not doing something ‘strategic’. But the real value of this work lies not in the author’s empathy or practical knowledge, but in his plain and clear exegesis. The heart of the book is a study of Deuteronomy, chapters 18, 30, and 4, with a final plea at the end to ‘give God the microphone’. These central chapters focus on the authority of the preached word, the effect that preaching can have on the church and the effect that it has on the world. While one might quibble here and there with a minor point of exegesis, Ash makes his case well, showing the ongoing significance of preaching both for the church and the world. In making this case, Ash relies on the Bible’s witness and power, leaving the reader not only with solid words to encourage his preaching but with an example once again of the power of God’s spirit to use his word in reproof, correction and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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