Preaching with Cultural Intelligence: Understanding the People Who Hear Our Sermons

by Matthew D. Kim

2018 Preaching Magazine Book of the Year -- To preach effectively in today's world, preachers need cultural intelligence. They must build bridges between listeners who come from various denominations, ethnicities, genders, locations, religious backgrounds, and more. Experienced preacher and teacher Matthew Kim provides a step-by-step template for cross-cultural hermeneutics and homiletics, equipping preachers to reach their varied listeners in the church and beyond. Each chapter includes questions for individual thought or group discussion. The book also includes helpful diagrams and images, a sample sermon, and appendices for exegeting listeners and for exploring cultural differences.

Genres: Christian, Church

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2017

About the author

Matthew D. Kim (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is professor of preaching and pastoral leadership, holder of the George W. Truett endowed chair in preaching and evangelism, and director of the PhD in preaching program at Baylor University's Truett Seminary in Waco, Texas.

He is the award-winning author and editor of numerous books, including Ready to Preach: An Introduction to Homiletics (Baker Academic, 2026), Becoming a Friendlier Church: A Pathway to Genuine Community (Baker Books, 2026), What's God Saying Here?: How to Navigate Awkward, Troubling, and Bizarre Passages We Would Rather Skip (Zondervan Reflective, 2025), We Follow Christ: Helping Women to Discern God's Call (Baylor University Press, 2025), and more.

He has three books under contract: Preaching with Emotional Intelligence: Reconnecting Pastoral Ministry and the Pulpit (Baker Academic, 2027), Chasing Holograms: Redefining and Reforming Our Christian Identity (Zondervan Academic, 2028), and The Ministry Mentors: Best Practices for Pastoral Leaders (coauthored, Baker Academic, 2030).

Reviews

[Porter Sprigg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best preaching book I’ve read since Keller’s. Kim writes with a deep sense of compassion and pastoral care and instructs us to preach using those gifts as well.

[Bledar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Kim offers a great book by which to exegete the culture you are called to preach to. Through the acronyms HABIT, BRIDGE and DIALECT, he invites the preacher to exegete the text faithfully while asking keeping in mind the audience the message will be preached to.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Dr. Kim’s book thought provoking and challenging. His suggestions are not so novel that they disrupt the whole foundation of sermon preparation, but there are enough new ideas to make me stop and consider how I plan for preaching. He affirms the historical, grammatical, literary method of studying scripture while at the same time allowing for post-modern criticism. We cannot step out of our culture and pretend to be an objective observer of scripture. At the same time, we must not despair of finding meaning, indeed the intended meaning, of a passage of the Bible. Kim asserts that we must examine our own cultural setting and contrast it with the scriptures. Done correctly this is both a hermeneutical and homiletical tool.
What Kim suggests is that we pay special attention to the cultural setting of a biblical author. Spend time considering what Babylon was like in Jeremiah’s day or what it meant to live in Ephesus when Paul wrote his letter. This will allow certain cultural tensions to float to the surface of scripture which is helpful when it is time to preach. Identifying the passage’s cultural setting makes it easier to see those tensions in our day. And lest you think it is all too theoretical, the second half of “Preaching with Cultural Intelligence” applies Kim’s method to various scripture passages. In an interesting organizational twist Kim not only applies his method to various passages, he applies it with an eye to crossing specific cultural barriers. There is a chapter about preaching across denominations, another about preaching to different cultures as well as chapters on preaching to both genders, in different locations and with an eye to different religions.
Kim’s method is encapsulated in three acronyms. For hermeneutic Kim uses the acronym HABIT to stand for Historical, cultural literary study, Author’s setting, Big Idea, Interpreting your own context and that of your listeners and finally, Theological presuppositions. The deliberate addition of “authors setting” and “interpreting your context” are what make Kim’s book original. His two other acronyms BRIDGE and DIALECT cover such homiletical issues as understanding the beliefs, rituals, idols and dreams of your congregation as well as the illustrations, applications and content in your sermon.
In talking to other pastors, the only concerns I heard were that there is nothing specific about preaching to multiple sites. Also, when considering the culture of the biblical authors there was no discussion about the multiple settings in some books. For example, Jesus is talking to Pharisees in first century Galilee, but Mark is also talking to Gentile Christians in Rome. Which setting are we to consider, or is it both? But these are small points. Overall, I found that the book challenged me as a white, middle-aged , evangelical man as I seek to preach and love the many, many cultures around me.

[Dr. Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful read, would benefit all preachers in this day and age.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guide for preachers and teachers to become more sensitive toward cultural differences and values to assist them in more effectively preaching and embodying the Gospel.

The author sets forth a homiletical template in three parts: follow a HABIT (historical context/grammatical study/literary study, author's context, big idea of text, interpret in our context, theological presuppositions) in exegetical study of a text, build a BRIDGE (beliefs, rituals, idols, dreams, God, experiences) to explore how to communicate the meaning of the text in light of the context of the hearer, and then speak the DIALECT (delivery, illustrations, application, language, embrace, content, trust) in order to speak, deliver, and embody the message. The author encourages the preacher to explore himself and his context and how he has become a creature of that context so they can more effectively understand why they do what they do and to own up to their own culture.

The author then uses the homiletical template to explore cultural differences in denominations, ethnicities, genders, locations, and religions, and how best to promote the Gospel in light of these differences.

Many times the author has good insight worthy of exploration. I strongly differ from his more ecumenical views on denominations but can understand where he comes from with his advice. Many do well to consider how people of different ethnicities, genders, places, and religious backgrounds will hear and perceive what we say and do, and do what we can to understand them and to not give offense where none needs to be given.

I understand why the author felt compelled to use the homiletical template throughout the work, but that layout of the material I found difficult, sluggish, and more challenging to get through than it needed to be. Nevertheless, there is generally excellent substance if one is willing to go through all three steps time and time again.

**--galley received as part of early review program

[George P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

America is increasingly diverse, and so are American churches. Matthew D. Kim wants “to prepare twenty-first-century preachers for the realities of congregational diversity in North America and beyond.” To do so, he outlines a “homiletical template” to help preachers more effectively take into account their communities’ diversity in their preaching. He focuses specifically on diversity of denominations, ethnicities, genders, locations and religions. Preaching with Cultural Intelligence is a must-read for preachers who want to effectively minister to people different from themselves.

Book Reviewed
Matthew D. Kim, Preaching with Cultural Intelligence: Understanding the People Who Hear Our Sermons (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017).

P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.

P.P.S. This review is cross-posted from InfluenceMagazine.com with permission.

P.P.S. Check out my Influence Podcast with Prof. Kim about the book!

[Josh Sweeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew D. Kim’s book, Preaching with Cultural Intelligence: Understanding the People Who Hear Our Sermons, he writes to prepare today’s preachers for the realities of congregational diversity in North America and beyond. Kim wants his reader to “become equipped with a conceptual framework and practical model to better understand and preach effectively to various types of listeners.” He divides the book into two parts by first giving a setting up the history and language of the theory of cultural intelligence then putting the theory into practice by using a homiletical bridge and acrostics to make the reader move from analytical to practical application. The practical application Kim offers is a cultural exegesis that a preacher must add as they prepare their sermon and within their ministry. Kim defines cultural exegesis as “the process by which we obtain and employ cultural intelligence. It is taking what we know and what we learn about specific cultures and using that to help them apply God’s truth in tangible ways and in culturally germane forms.” Kim’s hope and central point is to create a culturally intelligent preacher with a vision for a church culture that “not only welcomes the Others but even accepts and celebrates their culture. They will integrate the best of all cultures to display to the world that “God created us as cultural beings and that God values diversity in all of creation.”

I loved the fable that Kim introduced at the beginning of the book. I will continue to use that fable throughout my ministry, and it will definitely work it into a sermon illustration at some point. Kim reminds me that by working within the establishment, Presbyterian Church (USA), I will continue to look for ways that "elephants" and other wildlife will thrive in a home built for giraffes, hoping that one day will build a house together. His vision and goal match that of my own, which reassured me that I was on the right path as I engage the world around me. Kim writes, "Therefore our goal in cultural intelligence is to grow in empathy and begin to embrace cultural differences so that we can fully function as the body of Christ." Empathy within a sermon I find so compelling is that I have not seen regularly or come naturally to me. By incorporating empathy and cultural intelligence within the message from the pulpit, hopefully we'll see a world that is less divided than it is now.

I objected throughout the chapter, Preaching and Denomination, and Kim's stance that we need to drop our differences and get along. During this chapter, it came to my attention that Kim may define a pastor as strictly a male profession or vocation. This is hugely problematic for me as my wife is an ordained minister. Even within our own denomination, women are mocked, belittled, and pushed aside to allow for a male preacher to speak. Some denominations will not even recognize her as a minister, and that is something I will never compromise or "get along with" for the sake of getting along. I am happy to work with another denominational pastor to educate them on the numerous women who held positions and went above the role of their male counterparts. Kim writes, "To dismiss or claim ignorance about these denominational nuances could involuntarily place the preacher's foot on a ministry land mine." It seems that Kim supports nondenominational churches for institutional churches, and I object to his sentiment entirely. I will not go into it here, but it was hard for me to finish this book after his strong stance against mainline denominations and their flaws.

This book gave me a new method of sermon preparation that I had not considered before in my writing. As I would prepare sermons, devotions, or homilies in the past, I would make sure the commentaries I used were from different voices and would quote them appropriately, but I do not think that my voice encouraged listeners to evaluate their own selves. Kim writes, "Preaching with cultural intelligence means altering not simply our conventional methods for sermon preparation, but also, even greater, our habits of life." I have enjoyed a blessed life of interacting and engaging with cultures that are not mine but afraid of appropriation.

[Eric Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very thorough and practical book for enhancing one's ability to communicate effectively with various audiences. Matthew Kim is a professor of preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; his doctoral research was on Korean-American preaching, and he has also pastored a multiethnic church. He is a well-qualified guide to help us preach with more cultural awareness.

The book is written from a conservative evangelical perspective which affirms biblical inerrancy. Its instruction for preaching builds on the work of John Stott and Haddon Robinson, so those who have read these authors will feel at home with Kim's work. He builds on John Stott's model by providing a three-stage template for moving from biblical text to sermon.

The first stage involves analyzing the biblical text, with particular attention to the original cultural context of the biblical author and his recipients. Culturally sensitive preaching involves finding correspondence between the way the text spoke to its original cultural context and the way it speaks to contemporary cultural contexts. During interpretation, preachers are also to interrogate their own cultural background and blindspots to see how this might impact their interpretation. The second stage involves analyzing various aspects of the listeners' social-cultural-spiritual identities in order to better understand how the biblical text speaks to their needs. The third stage involves thinking through issues of sermon delivery and illustrations, which can communicate differently in different contexts.

After explaining this three-stage process, Kim shows what it looks like in practice. He devotes one chapter each to analyzing different cultural contexts that impact how listeners hear the sermon. The different cultural dynamics he analyzes are theological traditions/denominations, ethnicities, genders, locations, and religions. In each chapter, he takes a sample biblical text and follows his three-stage model, giving particular attention to the aspect of culture under consideration in that chapter. In each chapter, his analysis is sensitive, winsome, and pastoral.

The book has helpful appendices at the end which include blank sermon construction templates for those who wish to follow Kim's model. I plan to consult these next time I prepare a sermon.

Often, evangelical preachers give so much attention to interpreting and explaining the biblical text that they do not give in depth consideration to the specific needs of their listeners and the way that individual listeners' different cultural backgrounds impact the sermon. Further, as Kim explains in the book, if we preach in ways that are culturally intelligible to many people, we will either lose credibility with them or inadvertently seem like we don't want them there. Thus Kim's book helps preachers be more pastorally attuned to the needs of specific individuals. His book is highly recommended for all who preach or teach regularly, as it provides an thorough yet practical overview of how to honor the intent of a biblical text and also respect the unique needs and backgrounds of contemporary listeners.

(This review is also posted at GoodReads.com)

[Kiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a preaching professor from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, this book takes aim at pastors who deliver sermons to diverse congregations and seeks to provide a template for nuancing one’s message so as to communicate the Bible clearly, and avoiding common yet needless offenses. As the author is Korean American and has endured various kinds of discrimination, sometimes the anecdotes make it seem like he thinks the problem is the white male majority, a notion that is too broad to be helpful and is weaponized politically. However, he ultimately makes clear that it’s majority culture blindness from any majority that may exist that tends to hinder effective preaching in diverse settings, even referencing his time serving in a Korean church where third culture congregants were overlooked. He sets forth a very helpful template for interpretation that utilizes historical-grammatical commitments taught in any orthodox seminary. Following that he relates a process for bridging the text to your context. He then provides a template for communicating to diverse audiences from the perspective of ethnicity, gender, location, religion, and denomination. The three templates combined make his overarching homiletical template. The interpretation part follows the acronym HABIT (1. Historical, grammatical, literary context. 2. Author’s context. 3. Big idea. 4. Interpret into personal context. 5. Theological presuppositions.) The bridge part follows the BRIDGE acronym (beliefs, rituals, idols, dreams, God, experiences). The communication template follows the acronym DIALECT (delivery, illustrations, application, language, embrace, content, trust). While this book is geared more toward western preachers in diverse settings, I think it is helpful for missionaries too. I believe it will also be of help in more homogenous settings as there is usually more sub-diversity than is realized, even in rural areas. 288 pages of homiletical nuance and careful contextual thinking for the sake of communicating God’s word clearly.

[Demetrius Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great ideas and considerations here for the minister who wants to grow in cultural sensitivity. Matthew Kim presented early on a comprehensive template for running a weekly text through for sermon preparation. For the remainder of the book, he then utilizes his template for each chapter (topic), thus presenting his content and showing the reader how the model works. I'm not really sure if this method worked for me though. In one sense, it allows the reader to see how the template works. However, the result was nothing like a sermon. So the method created a little dissonance for me. But to his credit, he adds a sample sermon in the appendix.

Regardless of the method, though, there are some great insights here. The author shares from his own experiences as a racial minority. His tone is charitable, warm, and engaging. He quotes widely and is clearly a gifted teacher. I will likely resource this in the future.

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much-needed work in the area of homiletics. The strengths of this book lie in the cultural templates that Kim devised in his work of developing "cultural intelligence" for preaching. The limitations of this book lie also within the cultural templates. Both worksheets would likely consume a great deal of preparation time for the busy preacher. As a perfunctory project, this work will be annoying to some.
However, to the culturally intelligent preacher (the one who is invested in developing a culture in which the gospel can be heard and can perform its work in the lives of the hearers), the challenge is in making the time. As Kim argues, we can no longer take much of anything for granted when it comes to preaching. We who handle the word of God must handle it well, which includes developing cultural intelligence.

[Bret Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is much here that the preacher needs to read and know. Matthew Kim does a wonderful job of distilling the sermon writing process. However, I found much of the book difficult to get through. I don't want to say it didn't apply to me, because it did--it needs to. I didn't have an affinity for the way it's organized.

Having said that, there's a lot to hold onto in this one. I want to give the HABIT, BRIDGE, DIALECT homiletic template a try as I prepare my next sermon. The chapter on Exegeting the Preacher was convicting and somewhat haunting. I need to come back to that soon.

I read this one because my best friend recommended it. His preaching setting is much more multi-cultural than mine. I see why he values this book. I would be glad to recommend it to other preachers.

[Mrs C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful template for a thorough approach to preparing sermons that account for the biblical contexts and current realities of 21st century living.
There is a hint of stereotyping that goes on when looking at different realities for urban, suburban and rural settings. This is a shame when much of the book is attempting to get the reader to appreciate nuance and intersecting realities of 21st century life.
This doesn't detract from a very good attempt at equipping preachers to broaden and deepen the lenses through which they approach their preparation. I recommend this to all who are preparing for a preaching ministry.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

His method is great, but the book took a really disappointing turn in the 2nd half, when he specifies topics (gender, ethnicity, place, etc.). He assumes all the preachers reading this book are men. He assumes binaries that just don’t exist in a lot of spaces. He says he is trying to speak against generalities but falls into them in a big way (farmers don’t like poetry? Men only speak in “report talk?” Come on, man!).

[Mario J. Jiménez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful content but I found it a hard read

This book has good content and useful tools that will help you to understand your text and audience better. However, I found it boring sometimes. It is like a looooooooong essay, with many quotes from other authors and abstract terms. Don’t read it before going to bed, use it a text book. Specially if your in seminary or something like that.

[Luke Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Kim touches on the essential need for pastors to be cultural exegetes during a growing multicultural society. While many folks are primarily trained to have a good biblical exegesis, the lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity can be just as damaging for listeners.

[Simon Wiebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Buch hat mich nicht überzeugt. Er spricht vieles an, was schon zig andere Homiletikerinnen und Homiletiker gesagt haben. Dafür, dass es ein akademisches Buch ist, finde ich es wirklich schwach. Hab es nach dem Theorieteil weggelegt.

[Chris Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical and applied.

Kim offers practical exercises for preaching to a wide range of audiences and then applies the framework to varying listener groups.

[Justin Ruszkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for school! Really only had to read the first couple chapters for my assignments, but I did enjoy getting some more out of the rest of the book too.

7/10, four stars.

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book twice and have enjoyed it both times. Yes, preachers need to understand the text but they also need to understand the culture(s) in which they are preaching.

[Ben Adkison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Helpful. Slightly overwhelming if you were to follow his entire process for every sermon (he gives this warning, and yet still it feels overwhelming).

[Conrade Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many books on preaching. Some of the classics include ; Martin Lloyd Jones's "Preaching and Preachers"; the late Dr Haddon Robinson's "Biblical Preaching" that highlights the single big idea preaching; Charles Spurgeon's "Lectures to My Students"; Fred Craddock's "Preaching" and more recently, Thomas Long's "The Witness of Preaching" and Tim Keller's "Preaching." Continuing Gordon-Conwell's tradition of innovation and development in the art and craft of preaching, associate professor of GCTS Matthew Kim has given us a book that focuses on the recipients and contexts of sermon delivery. This book grows out of the author's elective courses, "Cultural Exegesis for Preaching" and "Preaching to Culture and Cultures" which explore how hermeneutics, preaching, and cultural contexts intersect. Beginning with the story of giraffes (majority culture) and elephants (minority culture), Matthew Kim observes that our churches are increasingly non-homogeneous. There are diversities lurking behind every supposedly distinct areas. No longer is it about ethnicities because there are intermarriages. Neither is it about similar backgrounds because generation gaps exists. With increased cross-cultural interactions, mindsets are constantly changing. In other words, do not build our houses with solely giraffes or elephants in mind. Acknowledge the increasing diversity of not only elephants and giraffes but others as well. Lest we preach to a congregation that no longer exists!


Kim helps us address this in two parts. Part One teaches us about cultural intelligence, how our understanding culture can help us hone our preaching; how to use the homiletical template in our preaching; how to understand perceptions; and to consider the preacher's own cultural contexts. Kim's use of "cultural intelligence" is similar to Christopher Earley and Soon Ang's "cultural quotient theory" (CQ). The author defines holistic cultural understanding as: "a group's way of living, way of thinking, and way of behaving in the world, for which we need understanding and empathy to guide listeners toward Christian maturity." He combines CQ with David Livermore's four stages of cultural intelligence to come up with a model of three concentric circles. The four stages provides a framework to build our cultural intelligence. It covers motivation (CQ Drive); cognitive (CQ Knowledge); Strategy (CQ Strategy); and Action (CQ Action). These are built into the model of Cultural Intelligence represented by three concentric circles. The inner circle is the way of thinking; the middle circle the way of behaving; and the outer circle the way of living. Then there is the use of the homiletical template that helps the initial hermeneutics stage; followed by a bridge; and a delivery phase. The hermeneutics is a core preparation stage in which the preacher tries to understand the main idea of the text; the cultural contexts both modern and ancient; and himself.

Part Two fills a more substantial portion of the book, which deals with practical matters such as the five cultural contexts of denominations, ethnicities, genders, locations, and religions. Kim goes in depth by applying the homiletical template to each of the given context, in three stages. There are many helpful resources to the novice preacher who might be called to preach across different denominations. Even the use of illustrations has to be carefully thought through depending on the denominational or non-denominational background. For this is about dealing with a core part of the Church: Identity. The ethnicities chapter is an important one, but I cannot help but feel it could benefit from contributions of a larger spectrum of authors from other ethnic groups. Having said that, I applaud Kim for his ability to condense so much material into one brief chapter. That is a feat in itself. The chapter on gender highlights the uniqueness of each gender and how preachers ought to be sensitive to the different gender perspectives from the pulpit as well as from the congregation. At the same time, this cultural context could become even more complex as society moves toward a wider range of gender identities. Locations are huge because it impacts the way the sermon could be delivered. The chapter on religions cover only a few mainstream religions in a world that are full of sects, cults, and religious groups. What about secularists and atheists? What about the rising number of NONES?

If there is one thing I can takeaway from this book, it is this: The preacher must know what is unchanging and what is not. The Word of God is unchanging. The faith is unchanging. It is only the people and their contexts that continue to change. At the same time, the preacher himself is also changing over time. The way forward is to know what is unchanging first of all. This requires the preacher to know God personally and the Word of God with conviction. If we try to reverse it, that is, to understand the culture first before understanding the Bible, that would be a serious mistake. For all the desire to be relevant and to be culturally intelligent, we must remember that only the Word of God is eternal and unchanging. Cultures will always change and we most likely will change with them. It will be good to remember the wise words of David Wells. In "The Courage to be Protestant," Wells writes:
"Studies on contemporary life, whether of a demographic or psychological kind, are helpful in understanding the way life is in a postmodern world, but these studies do not themselves give the church its agenda. At least they should not. The agenda comes from the Word of God. In the rhythms of marketing, and the pandering to generational tastes, this agenda is often being lost. The agenda, in fact, is coming from the culture, from its consumers, from the world. In these churches it is sola cultura, not sola Scriptura. Unless evangelicals recover their confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture and their willingness as a result to be different from their culture, their claim that Scripture alone is authoritative will remain empty, and their character will soon be lost." (David F. Wells, The Courage to be Protestant, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017, p195)
May we know what is unchanging and what is changing, and even as we seek to bridge the ancient and modern contexts, we will know the difference and to build everything we do on the Rock of Truth.

Dr Matthew Kim is Associate Professor of Preaching and Ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.