The flexibility and adaptability of presentation without changing the essential content were modeled for us by both Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3) while later telling the crowd that unless they drink his blood and eat his flesh (as the bread of life) they cannot be saved (John 6). Peter tells a Jewish audience that they have killed their Messiah and that their Messiah now lives, which means judgment for them, and to avoid this judgment they must change their mind about Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2). Later when confronting a totally pagan Gentile audience the Apostle Paul starts by talking to them about their idol to an unknown God (Acts 17). The flexibility and adaptability of the message come as Christians present the message to various audiences, some of which may know a lot about God and Jesus Christ while others may know little or nothing about God, the Bible or Jesus Christ.  

In my lifetime I have seen numerous ways in which people have been presented the gospel message. As a child I remember very effective evangelistic meetings in our church where the evangelist would come for a week and preach every night, then give an invitation, and people would go forward and make decisions to believe in Jesus. I remember when people used to give out tracts that were actually read and led many individuals to believe in Jesus Christ. I remember when street meetings were conducted and how God used them to lead people to himself. Many of us remember the effectiveness of a method of evangelism called “Evangelism Explosion”. Others may recall and have even come to Jesus through the usage of the “Four Spiritual Laws”. These examples reflect the varying ways in which the gospel message has been preached in just one lifetime. These examples also reflect methods that assume the person hearing the message had some understanding of God, the Bible and Jesus Christ.  

However, today we live in a post-Christian world in which many people are totally ignorant of the teachings of Jesus and have been turned off, not by spirituality, but by organized Christianity. Two results of this phenomenon are that older evangelistic methods often do not work in helping people hear the truth they desperately need to know in order to experience salvation. Also the concept of “evangelism” has gotten a bad name in the culture in general and the Christian culture specifically. Many individuals find it difficult to evangelize because they do not know how and often are not sure of how such behavior will be accepted by the people they might encounter in doing evangelism.  

Therefore, I would like to suggest a book for pastors and lay leaders to read. That book is Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey, by Rick Richardson. It is published by InterVarsity Press. Richardson suggests that the paradigm of the twentieth century was one of “Closing the Deal” or “Making a Sales Call.” The new paradigm he is suggesting is that of a “travel guide” or “mentor” helping others on a journey. This new paradigm comes to us from our new teachers in evangelism who live in Asia, Africa and Latin America.  

I found this book very intriguing and helpful. I think it may help many Christians become reengaged in talking with those God leads them to in order to become their travel guides and mentors. If you would like to read a summary of the book click here. This book presents a new way to communicate the old eternal message of God’s love for the human race through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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