Evangelism Outside the Box: Helping People Experience the Good News

"They [pre-Christians] were asking questions I wasn't prepared to answer, and they no longer seemed interested in the questions I was prepared to answer." Does this ring true for your efforts at evangelism with postmoderns (pre-Christians)? It was common for author Rick Richardson until he began to truly understand the postmodern mind. But once he understood, God began to work in truly new and exciting ways in Rick's evangelism efforts. Rick began listening to postmoderns, and learning how they viewed various major life issues. He studied postmodern thought, and asked postmodern, pre-Christians what they were looking for in spirituality. Now he knows where postmoderns are, and what is necessary to help them experience God's love. And you can too, by reading Evangelism Outside the Box.

This book is a vivid reminder that God is looking for people to work with and through to bring the lost into His kingdom. In Richardson's words, God "wants to turn the big, ugly green station wagon (maybe an appropriate analogy for our church or ministry!) around and race to wherever these lost and hurting people can be found. But he's letting us drive." What a privilege and responsibility! But before we can do this, we must remove the boxes we have tried to constrain God in, and the boxes in which our evangelism efforts reside. We must understand the way postmoderns think about life and spirituality, we must understand their questions, and how they come to know and love God. And then we must change our ways (not our message) of reaching out to them to fit their experiences and thoughts.

To that end, Richardson shows us what some of our boxes might be, and offers practical insight into how to effectively reach out and offer a life-changing experience with God. He emphasizes awakening the souls of pre-Christians (making them realize their need for Jesus), drawing them into community, challenging them to convert, and helping them be transformed into disciples. These four practices have been used throughout Christian history to bring the lost into the kingdom, but Richardson has added a distinctly postmodern understanding to each one. The result is a practical, life-changing and ministry-changing book that will stir the embers of your evangelistic fervor into a roaring flame. And that flame will bring heat and light to a lost generation that God longs to reach.

Many churches feel embarrassed and discouraged about their lack of evangelism, says Richardson, national coordinator of evangelism for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. Here, he provides a heartfelt challenge, offering an excellent analysis of postmodern thought as the current milieu for evangelism and a brief introduction to many useful resources for practical application. Particularly helpful to many Christian leaders will be Richardson's explanation of the transition from modern to postmodern thought and the ways this change has reduced the effectiveness of "traditional" approaches to evangelism. The depth of Richardson's analysis reflects his experience with campus ministry. While many churches will not encounter the academic level of postmodern thought Richardson describes, the basic patterns (for example, the move from propositional to experiential truth) still hold true. Also remarkable is Richardson's application of ancient patterns to contemporary situations, as when he demonstrates the continuing usefulness of the evangelism models used by John Wesley and Saint Patrick, or interprets Paul's "Mars Hill" sermon from Acts 17. The book's value for study within churches will be limited by the very critical tone Richardson uses for the established church. Also, many of his suggestions assume a large-church context with an army of volunteer helpers. Despite these limitations, this book offers penetrating analyses and useful resources for a crucial area of Christian ministry. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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Reviewed by David R. Bess (Charleston, West Virginia), September 18, 2003

Rick Richardson does a good job here of getting 21st century Christians to THINK about evangelism in new and innovative ways. He encourages readers to get a better understanding of today's society, emphasizing that we as a church can't provide Biblical answers if we don't take time to listen to the questions. The author stays true to his title and draws outside the lines to explore new means of bringing people to Christ. Some people may misunderstand this book, thinking that Richardson is forsaking the time-honored gospel by substituting church growth gimmicks and man-made strategies. Actually Richardson is very conservative in his theology, but very progressive in his methodology. Unless the reader distinguishes between the two, he/she will have a difficult time benefiting from this work. I recommend this book to all believers, especially church leaders, who are looking for new ways to cultivate relationships with the lost and to bring them to salvation in Christ.

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