Doctrine That Dances: Bringing Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life
It’s unlike any other preaching book I’ve read.
Doctrine That Dances: Bringing Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life isn’t a preaching manual. It’s a written sermon of sorts on preaching given by Robert Smith, professor of Christian preaching at Beeson Divinity School. I’ve heard a podcast of Smith teaching, and it helped as I read this book. I didn’t read this book so much as I imagined Smith preaching it. He teaches us how to bring doctrine to life in this book, but primarily he models it. It’s why the prose in this book pulsates with energy: “God turns hindrances into helps, interruptions into invitations, problems into possibilities, stress into strength, and tragedy into triumph,” he writes, for instance. This book preaches about preaching.
The image in the book is of preaching as a dance: one that unites “the sermon functioning as a privileged partner with doctrine in what can be described as a joyous doxological dance to the glory of God.” The preacher participates in the dance as well, escorting the hearers into the presence of God, relinquishing our solo sermons and dancing with our Savior.
According to Smith, preachers are both exegetical escorts and doxological dancers. We bring doctrine and joy together, magnifying Christ “to present Him in such a way that the hearers see Him in a more glorious, majestic, holy, sovereign, just, faithful, and mighty manner than they have ever seen Him before.” We must do more than speak words. We must use images that connect with both head and heart. We must learn how to speak in a way that leads the congregation to join in the dance before we sit down and watch the dance continue without our help.
How do we preach this way? By paying careful attention to the text, and by caring for our people. Smith also helps us learn from jazz music and from other preaching traditions. But there’s more: he wants us to preach with joy.
My advice: don’t read this book if you’re looking for a how-to manual on preaching. It will frustrate you. Read this book when you’ve lost some of the wonder of what it means to be a preacher. Read it when your sermons sag. Read it for an injection of “burdensome joy” into your preaching. Read it to remind yourself of the power of a well-turned phrase and prose that pulsates with life. It not only tells you how to become a preacher who joins the dance, it shows you the dance and invites you to participate. Read it if you long for what he describes in his closing prayer: “May we escort the hearers into the presence of God with the Word of the Lord as we dance before Him in our preaching!”
I’ll post some highlights and tips from this book on Thursday.
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