Book: Evangelism without Additives

Author: Jim Henderson

Publisher: Water Brook Press

Details: trade paperback, 152 pages

This is a book about evangelism. Wait, wait, wait. Don’t run the other way. This is not your typical book about evangelism. Let me explain.

Our research shows that most Christians would rather forget about evangelism. In fact, most of them do. During a typical year, only half of all born again adults even bother to engage in some form of evangelism. Most of the Christians who do share their faith in Jesus believe they do a poor job of representing Christ in the process. In spite of the Great Commission, spreading the gospel is one of the areas in which Christians have the lowest self-esteem – and, tellingly, the least interest in self-improvement.

No wonder Christian publishers typically regard books on evangelism with the same enthusiasm that Americans possess for cricket. You can’t take people where they don’t want to go, and most people have lived the evangelism guilt trip long enough that they would rather avoid the topic altogether.

Jim Henderson, a former pastor and currently a well-regarded conference speaker and ministry leader, is one of the people who love God but hate traditional witnessing approaches. Yet, because of his love for Jesus and his desire to be faithful to God, he has spent most of his adult life trying to figure out how to use his life to honor God and nudge others toward the grace that God wants to give them. This book is the result of his journey. Jim has good news about spreading the Good News.

The essence of his perspective is that we have made evangelism a program rather than a natural point of connection with people. Jim’s solution is for us to engage in “ordinary attempts” or OAs. An OA is simply what it sounds like: something simple and not necessarily complete, but which puts another plank in the bridge between the “lost” person and Christ. (FYI: Our research shows that one of the most offensive things Christians do is call non-Christians “lost.” They prefer being called explorers or any of a half-dozen other terms. “Lost” strikes them as very judgmental.)

Ordinary Attempts acknowledge that evangelism is a process, and that any one of us may play a small part in the process through a countless variety of creative and natural points of connection. And because God calls on us to be obedient rather than successful, our responsibility is to be Christ with others through the questions, encouragement, spiritual conversations, service, attention, covert prayers, overt prayers, listening, or other simple approaches we offer to them.

Evangelistic purists will snicker and complain that Jim’s ordinary attempts amount to something less than authentic evangelism. I pray they will read the book and discover that in most situations even Jesus didn’t engage in what we have turned evangelism into. I especially appreciated the sections in the book where Jim describes WJDD – “What Jesus Didn’t Do.”

Let’s be clear about this: this book is not Evangelism Escapism 101. It recognizes that enabling someone to embrace Christ as their savior is the most significant decision the person will ever make. But the book also releases us from the debilitating pressures and restrictions that our programs and procedures have placed us under. This is an affirming, refreshing and motivating book.

In our country, we love to keep score. In evangelism, the only score we keep is “who gets the kill.” We tend to disregard the Lord’s teaching that some plant, some nurture and some harvest. We are a nation of harvester zealots. But Jim reminds us that God uses all of our efforts to achieve His ends. And, like Jesus, we are effective when our efforts are built on love for God and others, a desire to bless people, a willingness to go to them, and the importance of establishing a meaningful connection with them.

Evangelism without Additives is easy to read and enjoyable. It contains some wonderful humor and a few great stories. The appendix even provides five values that inform the ordinary attempt mind set. If you struggle with evangelism, feel guilty about your E score, need to be re-energized in your enthusiasm for outreach, or care about fellow believers who are downcast over their evangelistic impotence, give this book a chance. I bet you’ll emerge feeling motivated to fulfill the role that you can reasonably and joyfully play in advancing God’s kingdom.

GB

NOTE: This book was formerly titled a/k/a/Lost: Discovering Ways to Connect with the People Jesus Misses Most

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 9:19 am by Terry and is filed under
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