Evangelism and PROOF

I have recently finished reading two great books.  Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles and PROOF by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones.  I received both for free at the conferences I attended in Louisville in April.

Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles, Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 2014 $14.99

       Evangelism is part of the 9Marks series on building healthy churches.  Each book in the series is an extension from Mark Dever's book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Dever's book is very helpful and I am thrilled they have continued to expand upon his original work.  J. Mack Stiles does not present a new method of how to do evangelism.  This is not FAITH 2.0 or EE 2.0.  From the foreword (by David Platt) and throughout the book it is clear that Stiles is arguing for a "culture" of evangelism that does not rely on programs, events, projects, and professionals (14).

After the Foreword and Intro Stiles Has five chapters and an Appendix. In chapter one Stiles argues that "...the Bible never uses results to guide or justify evangelistic practices"(24).  The point of evangelism is not to be good at a method.  It is to be faithful to communicate the message.  God can overcome bad evangelism or methods because it is the message, the gospel, that ultimately bares fruit.  Evangelism is defined as "teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade." (26)  Christians should persuade but not manipulate.  Churches should engage but not aim to entertain.  Stiles then defines the gospel and explains the urgency of why getting evangelism right is so important.  He says"Unbiblical evangelism is a method os assisted suicide for a church, so there is much at stake in getting evangelism right." (39)

In chapter two explains how to create a culture of evangelism where every church member is active in naturally haring their faith.  In chapter three Stiles ties the culture of evangelism to the church and how having a correct ecclesiology helps create a culture of evangelism.  Next, in chapter four Stiles argues for intentionality in our evangelism and how is should be considered a spiritual discipline for all believers.  Finally, in chapter five, Stiles offers examples of how each Christian can be a true Ambassador for Christ.

Stiles work is right on point.  It is convicting, to the point, and filled with great illustrations.  A great resource for pastors and laymen.  I pray that not only my church, but churches everywhere will cultivate a culture of evangelism.

PROOF by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2014 $16.99

       I received copy of PROOF at Band of Blogger 2014 in Louisville, KY and I am so happy I did.  Jones and Montgomery have written a significant work about a significant topic at a very significant time.  PROOF is all about grace.  In fact PROOF is an acronym for planned grace, resurrecting grace, outrageous grace, overcoming grace, and forever grace.  The authors open with a chapter about the works based mindset that we all are born with and struggle to fight against even after coming to faith.  They state "at the root of every man-made deity and every human religion is the notion that our performance can achieve some sort of negotiated settlement with a Holy God." Therefore PROOF is "an alarm clock that awakens you from the delusion that life depends on you and frees you to discover the intoxicating joy of God's wild and free grace."

Chapters two through six then go through each point of grace.  Instead of following the acronym TULIP to describe the doctrines of grace the authors follow the Synod of Dort (A response to the false teachings of Jacob Arminius).  The strength of each chapter is the careful walk through the Scriptures (and particularly feasting on Ephesians) and how well each chapter is written.  PROOF is filled with great examples and illustrations from both authors.

The jewel of the book for me was chapter seven,  titled "Grace for Life."  In this chapter the authors walk through the reformation, the response to reformational teaching by Jacob Arminius's followers (not Arminius himself), and the rebuttal by pastors at the Synod of Dort in 1618.  The response to the heresy of the followers of Arminius did not represent new truths.  Many church fathers had already advocated these truths well before the reformation.  The idea of the TULIP did not develop until 1905 when a Presbyterian pastor in Brooklyn chose the flower to make the teachings more rememberable.  The problem with the acronym is that language and changes were made that had nothing to do with the decisions made at Dort.  It comes across as harsh in both the view of man and of God because of the language used.  The authors rightly reject the flaws and the false theology that can come from extreme views of the TULIP (i.e. Hyper Calvinism).  But they whole heartedly agree with the decisions made at the Synod of Dort.

Calvinism is a very hot topic right now.  Some for good reason and a lot for bad reasons.  PROOF is a great work that provides balance and understanding to the history of the debate and how and why it has caused issues now.  The authors state that "the point of PROOF is...to point you away from Calvinism-or, perhaps more precisely, to push you away from Calvinism as a system and toward the gospel of God's grace."  To this I say AMEN.  The authors provide several charts and graphs to describe the prevalent views of grace right now and how each other view is wrong.  Again, this chapter, this book is very helpful. The disunity and the controversy over this topic seems to come from parties who do not have balance.  One party over emphasizes God's sovereignty, the other party over emphasizes man's responsibility. Balance is needed.

What the Synod of Dort and PROOF push is the Scriptures, not a system of rational or theological statements.  The more I read the Scriptures the more these truths of grace become evident.  God is indeed completely sovereign and yet man is also responsible.  What we need now is balance and PROOF is a great step forward to balancing God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.  Those turned off by Calvinism will benefit greatly by carefully studying this work (they provide great appendices and 'proof' texts).  On the flip side those who are extreme in their understanding and proclamation of Calvinism will greatly benefit as well.

I whole-heartedly recommend every believer pick up PROOF and glean from the wisdom and great exposition of these two authors.  I pray this work will bring unity (especially within the SBC) and enlightenment to the truly amazing and irresistible grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.