Book Review: The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever
I just finished
I just finished The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever. It’s a little book (124 pages), packed with useful thoughts and explanations of how and why we should be involved in the activity.
I was really encourage by reading this book. It’s straightforward, useful, and humble in its tone. This is not a book about perfecting strong-arm techniques in order to force unsuspecting passers-by into praying meaningless sinners’ prayers. Nor is it a book aimed at “guilting” Christians to participate in sharing the gospel. Dever wants to demonstrate to his readers the joy of sharing the gospel. And he accomplishes this task by presenting a theology of personal evangelism, equipping readers to participate in the task, and remaining truthful and loving in his tone.
Chapters
The chapters in the book are:
1. Why Don’t We Evangelize?
2. What is the Gospel?
3. Who Should Evangelize?
4. How Should We Evangelize?
5. What Isn’t Evangelism?
6. What Should We Do After We Evangelize?
7. Why Should we Evangelize?
As these chapter titles illustrate, the book is straight forward, and yet it is full. For instance, take Dever’s chapter on “What isn’t Evangelism?” He explains that imposition, personal testimony, social action, public involvement, apologetics, and the results of evangelism are not by themselves evangelism. They can lead to evangelism, and are not all bad things, but they are not in and of themselves, the gospel. This is good insight and worth pondering. Dever helps the reader to think through these issues in an insightful manner.
A Few Quotes I Love
“We are called to love others. We share the gospel because we love people. And we don’t share the gospel because we don’t love people. Instead, we wrongly fear them” (27).
“The gospel, you see, is not simply an additive that comes to make our already good lives better. No! The gospel is a message of wonderful good news that comes to those who realize their just desperation before God” (40).
“Saving belief is not mere mental assent, but a believing in – a living in – the knowledge of that news. it is a leaning on, a relying on” (41).
“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough – a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice – which costs nothing, and is worth nothing” (Dever quoting J. C. Ryle, 42).
“Too often, advocates of relevant evangelism verge over into being advocates of irrelevant non-evangelism. A gospel that in no way offends the sinner has not been understood” (64).
“Societies are challenged and changed when, through this gospel, the Lord brings individual men and women together in churches to display his character and to pursue their own callings in the world” (76).
“Have you heard it said that the doctrine of God’s choosing some for salvation (the doctrine of election) undercuts evangelism? It didn’t in Paul’s life. As he later wrote to Timothy, ‘I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory’ (2 Timothy 2:10″ (104).
Conclusion
I like this book enough that I’m going to keep copies of it on our resource table at 24church. In fact, I’m honestly not sure that I have read a better book on personal evangelism. You should read it. I did. Now by God’s grace I hope to apply it.
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No commentsTwo New Goals…
I’m currently fulfilling a goal to read an average of a-book-a-week for this entire year. It’s been fun so far. Really fun actually. I’d suggest this goal to anyone (unless you’re in seminary or law school or in some other situation where additional reading might make you lose your mind). At least a few of my reasons for setting the a-book-a-week goal are:
1) To better develop my mind and thus better love God with my mind (Mark 12:30).
2) To practice writing by briefly reviewing the books upon completion.
3) To be relevant. I think the whole “relevancy” thing can be pushed too far, but it’s still true that we need to understand the world in which we live. And, reading books may actually be a better way to pursue relevancy than watching tv or reading newspapers. I say this because the material in books has usually been mulled over for a longer period of time, and thus may contain more mature thought than other forms of media. In fact C. S. Lewis lamented the fact that boys in his day were encouraged to stay abreast of current news. As he says in Surprised by Joy, “I think those are very wrong who say that schoolboys should be encouraged to read the newspapers. Nearly all that a boy reads there in his teens will be known before he is twenty to have been false in emphasis and interpretation, if not in fact as well, and most of it will have lost all importance. Most of what he remembers he will therefore have to unlearn; and he will probably have acquired an incurable taste for vulgarity and sensationalism and the fatal habit of fluttering from paragraph to paragraph to learn how an actress has been divorced in California, a train derailed in France, and quadruplets born in New Zealand” (152-153). So I want to read a lot of books because with Lewis, I believe it is better learning.
However, the thought hit me today that, in addition to the reading, I also want to find at least one good quote from every book that I read. I want to take these quotes and catalogue them so that I have a readily accessible list of good quotes when I am preparing a sermon or writing an article or book. So this is goal #1.
Goal #2 is to try to witness to at least one person a week. This is what I was asked to do while in seminary at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. While I did not love everything about the way in which the seminary asked us to pursue this endeavor, I do think it was a great requirement. I know that the Bible plainly teaches that I’m to share the gospel regularly. I’ve never quit believing this, but I have not challenged myself to pursue evangelism (the first step in disciple-making) enough since seminary. So I’m setting a goal of witnessing to at least one person a week for the rest of the year. I’m going to reevaluate this goal at that time, see if I fulfilled it, and ask myself whether I should change it in any way.
So there you go. Two unrelated goals. We’ll see how I do.
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2 comments7 Characteristics of Highly Evangelistic Christians
I know I haven’t done a good job sharing my faith the last several years. Part of the reason has been due to disillusionment, but part of the reason has just been plain old disobedience too.
After graduating from a seminary (in 2006) that required me to share my faith regularly (but in a somewhat formulaic way), I’ve struggled to figure out the best method for sharing the Gospel. For the record, I’m not opposed to being asked to share my faith (by a church or a seminary), in fact I think it can be a really good thing. The one thing I am opposed to is the mandate that I have to ask the person I am witnessing to, “Would you like to accept Christ today as your personal Lord and Savior?” even when I invariably know that their answer will be, “no.” This is not a bad question necessarily, but in a situation where body language indicates that a person has no intention of being converted, or in a situation where the comprehension of the Gospel by the person being witnessed to is still lacking, I don’t like being forced to ask that question. At the seminary that I attended, this question was necessary for the witnessing experience to “count” as part of our requirement to regularly share our faith. I have a problem with that specific rule because it left me feeling like I was sometimes forcefeeding the Gospel to someone who didn’t want it or didn’t understand it.
The other struggle that I have is that I doubt the the effectiveness of door-to-door evangelism. I know that many people have been, and still are being, led to relationships with Christ through door-to-door methods. However, the question I have is, “For all the people that are led to Christ using door-to-door evangelism, are even more left with a bad taste in their mouth by the experience?” I don’t know the answer to this question to be honest, but I struggle with this fear. I do know that making friendships with others, and inviting them to church, and speaking truth into their lives spreads the Gospel. But oftentimes I am lazy, and a coward, and not nearly bold enough in my witnessing when I use this “lifestyle” method.
So I want to strike a balance in personal evangelism between legalistic tendencies and formulaic approaches on one end, and laziness and fear and apathy on the other end. I’m trying to get better, and I want to be obedient. So, in that vein, I found this article on the 7 characteristics of highly evangelistic Christians encouraging. I didn’t come up with this list, it is a partial repost of Thom Rainer’s blog http://www.thomrainer.com/2010/03/seven-characteristics-of-highly-evangelistic-christians.php
7 characteristics of Highly Evangelistic Christians
1. They are people of prayer. They realize that only God can convict and convert, and they are totally dependent upon Him in prayer. Most of the highly evangelistic Christians spend at least an hour in prayer each day.
2. They have a theology that compels them to evangelize. They believe in the urgency of the gospel message. They believe that Christ is the only way of salvation. They believe that anyone without Christ is doomed for a literal hell.
3. They are people who spend time in the Word. The more time they spend in the Bible, they more likely they are to see the lostness of humanity and the love of God in Christ to save those who are lost.
4. They are compassionate people. Their heart breaks for those who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They have learned to love the world by becoming more like Christ who has the greatest love for the world.
5. They love the communities where God has placed them. They are immersed in the culture because they desire for the light of Christ to shine through them in their communities.
6. They are intentional about evangelism. They pray for opportunities to share the gospel. They look for those opportunities. And they see many so-called casual encounters as appointments set by God.
7. They are accountable to someone for their evangelistic activities. They know that many good activities can replace Great Commission activities if they are not careful. Good can replace the best. So they make certain that someone holds them accountable each week either formally or informally for their evangelistic efforts.
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No commentsBook Review: Finally Alive by John Piper
I received a free copy of Finally Alive last month at the Death to Performance Conference in Nashville. Finally Alive is a new book (published in 2009) by John Piper that is all about regeneration. Regeneration is the technical (but still Biblical) term used to describe what the Bible calls “being born again.”
Piper’s aim is to return to a true, biblical understanding about the new birth. In the first chapter he offers a scathing rebuke to those who misuse the term “born again,” as well as an example of true regeneration by examining the conversions of C. S. Lewis and Augustine. Building upon the argument that Christians must truly understand regeneration, Piper then spends the next fifteen chapters unpacking the biblical teaching about the new birth. In typical Piper fashion, the exposition of Scripture is precise, the writing is technical, and the truths are glorious. Piper ends the book by spending two chapters urging believers to spread the message of the gospel. Christians must proclaim the message of Jesus. As he says, “God’s role in bringing about the new birth is decisive, and our role in bringing about the new birth is essential” (166). Piper is a Calvinist, but a biblical Calvinist who realizes that humans are the agency that God has appointed to proclaim the gospel to the world.
I found this book really encouraging. Piper’s balance in explaining the doctrine of regeneration is spot-on. He studies the work of regeneration from both God’s perspective and man’s perspective. The new birth is unashamedly God’s work, but it is always accompanied immediately by faith in the life of a believer. As Piper says on page 33, “When answering the question What happens in the new birth? never separate these two sayings of Jesus in John 3: ‘Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (v. 3), and, ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life’ (v. 36).” Equally important in Finally Alive is Piper’s explanation of grace and work in the life of a believer. The new birth occurs by grace alone, but by grace Christians become irreversibly linked with Christ and his life. This union with Jesus always results in love and good deeds, and the good deeds are evidence of true saving faith in the life of a believer. The most compelling part of the book for me was definitely the last two chapters. In chapters fourteen and fifteen, Piper encourages believers to return to good old-fashioned evangelism. As he says, “We’re ending with personal evangelism – an old-fashioned commitment in new contexts for the sake of the new birth in thousands of spiritually dead people for the glory of Jesus Christ” (177). He urges believers to “Tell people the good news of Christ from a heart of love and life of service” (166).
Having read this book, I’m more compelled than ever to embrace God’s absolute sovereignty in salvation, and my absolute need to share Jesus to those around me. Christians must never bow to a fatalistic mindset that ignores the necessity of sharing the gospel. While I know this to be true, I still struggle to be bold with my faith. But as Paul said, “the gospel…is the power of salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
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