Michael Quicke is author of 360-Degree Preaching, the Preaching magazine Book of the Year for 2003. Quicke now teaches at Northern Baptist Seminary; but prior to that, he was Principal (President) at Spurgeon’s College following a number of years as a pastor in Cambridge. In an interview several years ago, while still serving in his native Britain, Quicke talked about the challenge of biblical preaching in an overwhelmingly secular culture:
“I believe we have to rediscover the power of biblical preaching, which really listens to the text for the people today. I believe that because the Word of God is so sharp, it is always going to make entrance into the culture when you don’t expect it. We’re being driven back to listen to the Word and with eyes wide open, in our context, to dare to speak the Word in new ways. I believe the unpredictability of preaching is part of the Spirit’s work. This is why a new generation is going to hear the old truths but with a fresh urgency and a new sharpness.
“There’s a tremendous mission field of people to hear the authentic Word, but we as preachers have got to make sure that we don’t think we know what it’s about, but that we let the Word do its thing — which is always unpredictable — so that Jesus is heard again. An illustration is my church in Cambridge. When we rediscovered the gospel for the poor — it is a city center church, with the homeless in the street and all the rest — in the end it was really the Word of God that challenged us.”