| Out of the Salt Shaker and into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life - Rebecca Manley Pippert I'm not a huge fan of any kind of self-help or how-to book anyway, and I'm just learning how to interact with books of this type. My first reaction to Becky and her evangelism advice is to cry out "It's not that easy! It's NEVER that easy! I wish it was that easy!" Becky sits down on a bus and asks a little question and KABLAM someone's pouring their heart out and becoming a Christian. But on second consideration, I realize that this is probably just the way the how-to genre works - whether it's teaching evangelism or cooking a souffle on "frugal gourmet", they always seem to make it look easier than it is. Maybe that's so us naive ones at home will be encouraged and at least give hard things (like sharing our faith with others) a shot. Or maybe it's because if you're going to write a book about something, that means you're really good at it, and if you're really good at it, that probably means it comes easy to you. So it is that easy for Becky and Bob Vila and the Frugal Gourmet (whatever his name is). And for the rest of us, well, we gotta try and fail and scrape through and learn what we can from them. I can't cook a souffle for the life of me, but my omelettes aren't too bad. I've been cooking on evangelism for a while. Coincidentally, I currently lead an evangelism team for InterVarsity on a campus where Becky used to work-WAY before my time. Becky's got all the basic stuff here in this book, presented well, accessible, all that. Probably the strength of this book is that all of it is here. She emphasizes building authentic relationships with people instead of "project-building". She hits the importance of learning to ask good questions and be an active listener. She also points out the importance and usefulness of having a basic knowledge of apologetics, and an ability to converse about the more philosophical side of the faith, engaging tough questions people have. And she confesses that the Holy Spirit does all the real work, not solid debate or amazing listening skills. This is a good, full, big picture of evangelism. Her stories are incredible, almost unbelievable, though I trust her not to embellish. Miracles tend to be rather unbelievable, don't they? All said, I'd rather read Henri Nouwen, Kathleen Norris, or Augustine, because I love the sense of mystery and profundity there. But Becky is helpfully practical, beautifully basic, and solid. Definitely solid. So far, it's the best "how-to evangelize" book I've read. But I'm holding out hope there's a shining one out there I just haven't found yet. Like looking for gold, when you find silver you don't treat it like trash. But you keep looking. |