How refreshing to find a challenging and stimulating book on evangelism that isn’t based on the latest marketing technique or sales pitch but goes to the life and ministry of Christ as a model from which to learn lessons. Richard Phillips analyses “Jesus’ personal evangelism” from three chapters of John’s Gospel, chapters 1, 3 and 4, and, without falling into the trap of prescribing a list of do’s and don’ts, challenges his readers to think through the way they reach out to others with the good news of the Gospel.
Section 1 deals with John 1 and addresses what Phillips calls “biblical principles for evangelism”. He considers the witness of John the Baptist and Andrew, as well as Christ himself.
Section 2 studies Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus in John 3 and reveals the “theology of evangelism”. Here is good, meaty, biblical substance for evangelism that doesn’t avoid the diffiult areas and doesn’t pull its punches; a great biblical antidote to so much watered down, emasculated evangelism doing the rounds today.
Section 3 tackles John 4 and the well known account of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. Surely more lessons on evangelism have been based on this chapter than any other part of Scripture! Phillips examines the “practice of evangelism” and shows how Jesus deliberately and carefully connected with the woman, addressing her individual situation and needs and sought to break down the barriers and obstacles she raised in self-defence.
The book is intensely practical without being a `how to’ manual. It’s full of biblical principles as helpful illustrative stories from the experience of the author and others. Each chapter closes with a very useful list of thought provoking questions which would work well in a study group as well as benefitting individual consideration. There is also a closing chapter in which Phillips seeks to answer some of those thorny questions people raise about the relationship between evangelism and the sovereignty of God.
Anyone interested in God-honouring, Christ-exalting, biblically faithful evangelism – and that ought to be all of us! – will greatly benefit from reading and learning from this excellent book.
For the purpose of review, I received a complimentary copy of the book from the Publishers. I was under no obligation to write a positive review.
EVANGELICAL PRESS (9 April 2008) Review written in 2012