Different ethical situations require different homiletical responses. John McClure organizes recent literature on ethics and preaching into four ethical approaches. Does your situation require public moral leadership? Then a communicative ethic is best. Does your situation require the development of countercultural moral character? Then a witness ethic is best. Does your situation require ethical consciousness-raising and organizing for social justice? Then a liberationist ethic is best. Does your situation require genuine moral conversation and the discernment of shared commitments in spite of our differences? Then a hospitality ethic is best. Each ethical approach is briefly and carefully explored, correlated with appropriate contexts and situations, and demonstrated with model sermons. The result is a useful handbook for quickly discerning what ethical approach is needed, how to preach that approach, and what to expect as a result.
