On Friday February 19th, Outreach Magazine named Jerram Barrs’ Learning Evangelism from Jesus the book of the year in the evangelism category.
The Outreach Resources of the Year is a celebration of the best books, DVDs and curricula produced to help the Church and Christians reach out in areas such as evangelism, compassionate service and cross-cultural ministries.
Congratulations to Jerram Barrs!
Barrs studied Jesus’ conversations with diverse people in his day and drew lessons and principles for attractively communicating the gospel to unbelievers in ours. While our culture may tempt God’s people to conform, retreat, or be silenced, Jesus exemplified how to attract people to the gospel. He modeled how to initiate spiritual conversations full of grace and truth. Christian evangelism, then, both in theory and practice, must be shaped by his pattern.
We invite you to read the sample chapter on Jesus and the Bible Teacher and consider getting a copy of his award winning resource.
I am inspired by this article. I have been studying communication in evangelism and came across a study by Favil Yeakley. His article, Communication Stances in Evangelism, approached the different theories used by ministers to communicate to their congregations and their effectiveness. I agree with Yeakley that many ministers use a manipulative approach, much like that of a salesman, that is learned in their studies; however, no matter how effective in converting this approach is at first, this is not a preferred approach, nor does it have a lasting effective. The most effective approach is seen as dialogue, a conversation. This is why I was drawn to your blog and will look forward to the suggested reading. Jesus did use a conversational method to relate to the public. He was also able to find a “safe place” to communicate with people to bridge the awkwardness of difference, (Arnett, et al. 2009, p. 81). You summed it up very well, when you said that “Jesus exemplified how to attract people to the gospel,” as well, as how to effectively communicate with people.
Cheryl White
Graduate Student
http://www.drury.edu
References:
Arnett, R. (2009). Communication ethics literacy : dialogue and difference. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Yeakley, F. (1979). Communication stances in evangelism. Religious Communication Today, 2(Sep), 38-41.
Comment by Cheryl — February 17, 2012 @ 12:24 pm