Three books come to mind in a hurry. (1) Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness, by Bryan Stone;
(2) The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West…Again, by George Hunter III; and
(3) More Ready Than You Realize: Evangelism as Dance in the Postmodern Matrix, by Brian McLaren.
Each of these books has inspired, challenged, and equipped me. When I read a book, that’s what I want to happen to me. I want to be stirred within and see new, imaginative possibilities; I want to be pushed and stretched in my current modes of thought and outfitted with realistic ideas and practices that I can contextualize within my own community. Each of these books has done that for me.
Regarding Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness, I feel that this book is first theological then methodological, which I love. I am all for methods but love when they are rooted in rich theological meaning. The book isn’t particularly practical (it wasn’t meant to be), but it does lay a comprehensible biblical foundation for evangelism and puts forth a stout framework for everyday practice around common themes such as hospitality, presence, justice, peace, reconciliation, etc. I also found this book to be thrilling on one hand and crazy scary on the other. Thrilling in the sense that I am able to see what could be, should the church live out the intended ways of God. I found the book to be scary in the sense that I realized how much of my own life has to change in order to be a faithful witness.
The Celtic Way of Evangelism is one of my all-time favorite books on evangelism simply because of its candor and simplicity. It certainly isn’t a simplistic book, but it does confront the church’s need for a new kind of evangelism head on in a no-nonsense way that elicits immediate action. You can’t read this book, agree with even some of it, and not change your life and practices accordingly.
I haven’t read this book for some time, but I remember two key elements of new thinking for me. The first element is a comparison between the Roman way of evangelism and the Celtic way. In short, the Roman way is based on a presentation followed by a call for a decision, and then community with the people one is evangelizing comes later. The Celtic model begins with community, continues with conversation, and then leads to an invitation to commit to the Christian faith. I found this model comparison relevant to the church and culture some time ago when I read it. I still find this model relevant to the way in which the church and culture co-exist and converse, toward intermingling, no doubt. The second element I found helpful is the concept of “soul friend” (anamchara) in the Celtic way of community formation. A soul friend is a peer who aids you in your spiritual formation. We need soul friends! Spiritual formation happens in community.
Finally, More Ready Than You Realize helped me see past some of my own junk as it related to my view of evangelism. As with The Celtic Way of Evangelism, it has been a while since I have read it, I remember being moved by two things in particular. First, the book helps event-based thinkers move away from the idea that salvation is a moment rather than a process. I found this book helpful to give to volunteers in my ministry for this reason. Second, the book follows the narrative of a person, and out of the relationship the author has with this person, the ideas of evangelism are brought about. I much prefer engaging concepts about evangelism within the context of a narrative, rather than mere opinions and conjecture.
This book is great for helping people come along in their view of personal and corporate witness; moving them away from static—and often stagnant—practice of faith sharing and toward a dynamic and relevant practice driven by authentic community. I also like the author’s metaphor of evangelism as dance, as opposed to a wrestling match that we are trying to win.
Helpful Resources for Teens:
Being Real: Sharing Your Faith without Losing Your Friends
Mike Kipp and Kenny Wade
|
I have probably spent more time contemplating this question than any other Slant33 post I have written. I must confess a couple of things before I attempt a response. The first two decades of ministry for me were focused primarily on youth evangelism. I taught evangelism. I did evangelism. I was called a “youth evangelist.” Man, do I have stories! The last couple years of those first two decades were spent struggling with the concept that I had been taught and had embraced concerning how evangelism was to be done.
That 20-year period was followed by a decade of shifting my focus to discipleship and a process of de-emphasizing evangelism, especially the kind I had engaged in within my youth ministry praxis. This timeline now brings me to around three years ago, when my passion for evangelism returned. I believe a combination of factors (Holy Spirit, conversation partners, theology, church, experiences, Scripture) fueled my passion, imagination, and calling to begin reengaging in evangelism again, though from a much broader theological perspective and different methodology.
As I reflect on my early practice of evangelism, I remember how uncomfortable it was to find a way to make sure people knew they were sinners headed for hell. I whipped myself with the reminder that I was not to be ashamed of the gospel. In spite of the self-motivation and self-condemnation for lacking the faith and courage to boldly let people know they were presently doomed, the attempts to remove my discomfort never worked. It just seemed wrong.
I’ve discovered gradually over the last three years that the problem was my insistence to do what many evangelicals do—start the story of humanity in Genesis 3 instead of Genesis 1. We start with the fall instead of the creation of human beings imago Dei by a loving Creator. I have found it not only easier but also more human and natural to engage in unforced conversation that, most of the time, unfolds into a delightful opportunity to bear witness to every human being’s connection to the imago Dei.
I have found it a joy to be a blessing to people and make the connection to unique ways they are cooperating with God regardless, of whether they know it. It is also amazing how often the reality of people’s brokenness comes up naturally—except it’s not me but the non-believer bringing it up. I have amazing stories of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people who actually respond as if the gospel is actually good news.
Well that is the introduction for my answer. I wanted to give you my context so it might make sense to you when I answer this question by saying, I don’t know. I don’t currently have an answer to the question concerning “the three best books” on this subject. But I will make a few suggestions that you can consider along with me.
My first suggestion is The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach The West…Again, by George Hunter (Abingdon). Dr. Hunter is the dean of world mission and evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary. I have traveled to Ireland and Scotland extensively and have explored the monastic outposts of the Celtic evangelists who converted Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales. I am intrigued by the story of these ancient evangelists who converted a very pagan culture to Christianity. This is fascinating history. To study this more, I would also recommend author and historian Thomas Cahill, who wrote the bestselling book How the Irish Saved Civilization. In addition to evangelizing a whole culture, they also kept western culture alive by preserving classic western literature.
A couple of books that are important theological considerations for the issue of evangelism are Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, by David Bosch and The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, by Lesslie Newbigin.
Another recommendation is Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community, by Robert Webber. Additionally, I suggest Webber’s fourth title in the Ancient-Future series, called The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life, because I think one of the most important issues involved in recovering a compelling environment for evangelism is for Christians to live passionate Christian lives, following Jesus Christ with fervent devotion and deep spiritual intimacy with God.
|
My three favorite books on evangelism are those that have helped me clearly articulate paradigm shifts that affected me personally and through which I have tried to lead others. Others may have written about these subjects better; but these books were seminal perspective changers for me.
As a young man who was not really engaged with the church growing up, my coming to put my faith in Christ was marked by a moment in time. Not surprisingly, my earliest understanding of evangelism was to seek conversion decisions from others. Robert Coleman’s The Master Plan of Evangelism stunned me by introducing me to overwhelming evidence that embedded Jesus’ evangelism efforts in the center of his disciple-making strategies. Since reading that book in college, I have continued to resist forms of decisionalism that reduce evangelism’s goal to securing a prayer commitment from someone. These approaches threaten disciple making as a process that brings about fruit of character transformation and reproduction.
This is not to say that decisions for Christ are not intricately connected to the formation of a disciple. It is, rather, to understand evangelism as targeting the process that leads one to initially decide to become a follower of Jesus Christ—the first in a lifetime of decisions that must be navigated well if we are to live as those who bring honor to God.
The burden of carrying the weight of responsibility for evangelism’s fruit troubled me considerably in the early part of my career with Youth for Christ. That’s when I read J.I. Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. As someone who tilted toward the Arminian side of free-will discussions, I could never understand why a Calvinist would even participate in the evangelism enterprise. This book introduced me to a picture of a high and holy God who draws his people into a mission that is for his glory. I came to understand evangelism as an important aspect of living all of my life in obedience to the Father. And the most important practical benefit was that I began to grasp the idea that God is the only one who can bring about the true fruit of a transformed life. There is incredible rest in this reality, without reducing the urgency of my need to be faithful all the time to a God who loves me deeply.
The third book is Joe Aldrich’s Lifestyle Evangelism. It came at a time when I struggled with tools that would help me coach the many volunteers in our ministry, most of whom were not inclined by gifts or disposition to practice proclamational or confrontational evangelism. Not only does Aldrich make the biblical case for why each of us is to be actively involved in evangelism, he instructs us how we can do so by putting the rightful priority on living as salt and light. Even more intriguing is the concept of how churches often breed “professional weaker brothers” who effectively squelch the freedoms of those who otherwise could move into relationship with non-churched people. It’s safe to say that the seeds of this book found their way into the YFC 3Story philosophy and curriculum we use today.
Honorable mention for me is the book Persuasion, by Em Griffin. His application of communication research to the task of evangelism profoundly affected me and probably helped form the passion for one of my own books. For many years as an academic I asserted that I would not write a book unless I could make an original contribution. Evangelism Remixed (which I co-authored with Terry Linhart) is the result of researching the factors that are present when adults raise up students who influence others for Christ. I consider this book to be an important extension of what I learned from Coleman, Packer, and Aldrich, with Em Griffin lemon-twisted on the side.
|
Comments
I wonder what this might mean?
Romans
John
James
Aside from these,
Same Kind of Different as Me,
The Whole Truth,
Classic Christianity