I just finished reading Mark Dever's The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Crossway, 2007) and found it to be extremely clear, practical, refreshing, motivating and worthy of recommending to you. This little book was not only fun to read, but it also seems to have been fun to write. Dever writes in a plain, conversational style following a clear and purposeful outline, incorporating personal illustrations, and being very careful to speak to the introvert as well as the extrovert. This last point is one that stood out to me the most. Dever admits that he is an extrovert and that he understands that not everyone else is. Throughout the book he keeps this in mind so that his counsel remains applicable to all.
Of the books I've read on evangelism this tops them all for clarity and balance. While reading this books I was anxious to get out and share the gospel, at least to be more "salty", as he put it.
I'm intending to write a full review for SharperIron, but for now I'd like to jot down a few notes.
1) The Gospel is not what a lot of people think it is. Dever argues that every Christian ought to be able to verbalize what the Gospel is. This is so true. It's so frustrating to ask "Christian" teenagers, and especially adults, to explain what the Gospel is and they act clueless. Dever does a superb job at articulating this point.
2) In like manner, Dever argues for what Evangelism is and is not. This is a must read section. In his conclusion to this chapter he writes, "Evangelism itself isn't converting people; it's telling them that they need to be converted and telling them how they can be."
3) Door-to-door evangelism is not mentioned at all. This is a dying hallmark of my ecclesiastical tradition. We will be going out this Saturday, too. It seems to me that we are afraid to change our method because we might give someone the impression that we are not zealous evangelists. On the contrary, Saturday morning door-to-door visitation can become a snare and/or a rut for those who would rather segregate their evangelistic efforts from the rest of the week. I admit that I struggle against this.
In fact, Dever talks a lot about sharing the gospel in the park, around town, with neighbors, etc. His main point is to remind us that, as Christians, this is to be our all-the-time lifestyle. We (I) need to be purposefully seeking opportunities to share Christ with others. A major part of this is developing relationships with non-Christians. He mentions frequenting certain stores and restaurants in order to get to know people (even if informally) looking for opportunities to share the gospel with them.
4) Where my ecclesiastical tradition tends to go immediately to the jugular vein of "getting people lost" and then telling them the gospel, Dever presents--what seems to me--a more balanced approach. Dever mentions that the Gospel has to do with the forgiveness of sins. He doesn't downplay sin, nor does he exclude it from the essential message of the Gospel (cf. pp. 56-57). He argues that we must be honest and urgent about the telling people about the holiness of God and the consequences of sin. However, "defensiveness is natural to the fallen human heart, so we want to do our best to help people hear the good news" (p. 65). Basically, we need to learn to "ask good questions and listen to their answers" (p. 66).
We need to pray that the Lord will provide an audience for the Gospel. I believe that the Gospel can be discredited when we use it as a billy club. It is certainly discredited when it is used in a manipulative way.
5) One last comment I'll make now is that I was glad to see that he included a section dealing with the sovereignty of God in evangelism. I've come to rejoice in the great motivation found in the doctrines of the Sovereignty of God and Divine Election. I heartily agree with Dever when he says, "I think a better understanding of the Bible's teaching on God's election would help them. I think it would give them confidence and joy in their evangelism" (p. 105).
Well, I'll save some more for my review. Oh, and in the meantime, I'd encourage you to read Doug Smith's review of this title here. Doug has also compiled a nice list of resources mentioned in this book here.
Crossway Books $9.99 | Westminster Bookstore $7.49 | CBD $7.99 | Amazon $9.99
Sounds like a good book. I've struggled in the area of personal evangelism, too. The preaching I heard and the books I read 25 - 30 years ago stressed techniques with little or no biblical theology to support the technique. Some sound teaching on God's sovereignty and election would have helped me. Dever's book should fill a great need in the church.
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