Book Review: The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, by Mark Dever

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism
by Mark Dever.
Crossway Books, 2007. 128 pages.
ISBN 1581348460

Like most Christians, I struggle with evangelism. Being introverted doesn’t help, but a big part of it is that we live in a culture that so values pluralism, uncertainty, etc., that it is an uphill climb to share a universal truth like the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so, with this in mind, along comes Mark Dever with a book about evangelism. Dever, who is pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, and executive director of 9Marks ministries, also struggles with it. And so he wrote a book, as he says, for one purpose: To help us in evangelism. It’s not a book about techniques for evangelism, though some are covered, and he includes a “Recommended Reading” section. Instead, it is…

…meant to be an encouragement, a clarification, an instruction, a rebuke, and a challenge all rolled up into several short chapters. My prayer is that because of the time you spend reading this book, more people will hear the good news of Jesus Christ. (p16)

And what an encouragement it is! Throughout the book, Dever reminds us of truths we already know but need reminding of:

…if you will realize that conversion always accompanies proclaiming the gospel and the Spirit’s work, then you will stop trying to do the Spirit’s work, and you will give yourself to proclaiming the gospel.

He also reminds us again and again of the essentials of evangelism – not only the essentials of the evangel, the message itself, but also the essentials of delivering it. Again, this is not a book about technique, it’s about approach and attitude.

I considered summarizing each section of the book here, but to do so would essentially repeat most of the content, since the text itself is such a quick read. Dever’s message, ultimately, is simple:

This is to be our evangelism: a God-given commission and method, a God-centered message, and a God-centered motive. We should all evangelize. Evangelism isn’t all those other things we considered; it is telling the good news about Jesus, and doing it with honesty, urgency, and joy, using the Bible, living a life that backs it up, and praying, and doing it all for the glory of God.

Amen. Soli Deo Gloria.

Updates

Yep, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything of any substance. I’m fully aware. It’s been a busy time of year, with homeschooling starting up and small groups for church starting up again.

I do have a few things in the works, though:

• I’m about to finish up a book study with a friend – Disciplines of a Godly Man, by R. Kent Hughes. As soon as I’m done with that, I’ll be posting a review.
• As I said, small groups have started up again for our church. This year, the small group I’m in is studying Hebrews, and this year, I have the honor of taking the lead in the teaching. I plan to blog through much if not all of this book, but I’d better get started soon before I get too far behind the schedule…
• Right now, I’m in the middle of about 5 books, a bad habit of mine. I’m hoping to finish up some of those and get reviews posted soon.

I also, of course, want to post more on things I see in the news. And sometimes, just to post on silly stuff, like the fact that I finally got around to making one of these.

Book Review: The Almost Christian Discovered, by Matthew Mead

The Almost Christian Discovered
by Matthew Mead.
Soli Deo Gloria Books, 1997. 166 pages.
ISBN 1877611727

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If you call yourself a Christian, how do you know for sure whether you really are? How do you know whether you really are saved? That is the question confronted by Matthew Mead in The Almost Christian Discovered. Scripture commands us to “examine [ourselves], to see whether we are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5), and to “be all the more diligent to make [our] calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10-11). This is not an academic question. Nor is it merely a point for argumentation. Indeed, our eternal fate is at stake.In this book, Mead attempts to demonstrate “how far it is possible a man may go in a profession of religion and yet, after all, fall short of salvation.” In this day and age of easy-believism, where many think that they are saved for eternity because they prayed a simple prayer or walked an aisle, the book is a powerful reminder that not everyone who says to Him, Lord, Lord, finds the narrow way to heaven.

The Examination

The bulk of the book is an enumeration, with discussion, of the various ways that a man may be almost, and yet but almost, a Christian. In other words, Mead gives a number of evidences for faith, and differentiates between evidence of true faith, and evidence of false faith. For example, a man may hate sin and be only “almost a Christian.” If a man hates sin because it is “an offense to God, a wrong to His majesty,” then this is as the Christian hates sin. But the almost Christian hates sin only because of “the shame that attends it,” or he hates sin in others but not himself, or he hates one sin because it interferes with another sin. All hatred of sin is obviously not equal.

Most of the distinctions, then, that Mead makes between true and false faith are based on the attitude of the heart toward our duties as Christians, even “duties” like the hatred of sin. The altogether Christian (the true Christian, who is saved for eternity) attends to his duties as a Christian out of sheer joy and willing submission to his Lord and Savior Christ. The almost Christian (the false Christian, who is still condemned to hell for their sin) relies on their duties to save them – i.e., if I go to church, if I read the Bible, if I pray, then God will save me:

And, when you are most in your duties, as to your use of them, Oh, then, be sure to be above duties as to your resting and dependence upon them!… He who is altogether a Christian looks to the manner as well as to the matter of his duties; not only that they are done, but how they are done.

The Warning

Mead warns, as we did earlier, that our very eternal life is at stake here. He warns that how we approach God is just as important as whether we approach Him. Too many, he says, approach God on their own terms, with their own conditions. They don’t approach God on the terms that He requires of us:

Not coming up to God’s terms is the ruin of thousands of souls. Nay, it is that upon which all who perish do perish. A naked sinner to a naked Christ, a bleeding broken sinner to a bleeding broken Christ: these are God’s terms…

Our response to Christ Himself is also a factor. As one Baptist preacher has said, too many people want “to follow Christ around” as we would follow a sports figure or a movie star, but not enough people want to follow and emulate Him in true discipleship. They want to profess faith in order to be saved, but they don’t want to demonstrate obedience afterward. Or, as Mead puts it (emphasis mine),

Now many embrace Christ as a Priest but they do not own Him as a King and Prophet. They like to share in His righteousness but not to partake of His holiness. They would be redeemed by Him but they would not submit to Him. They would be saved by His blood but not submit to His power. Many love the privileges of the gospel but not the duties of the gospel. Now these are but almost Christians, notwithstanding their closing with Christ; for it is upon their own terms but not upon God’s. The offices of Christ may be distinguished but they can never be divided. But the true Christian owns Christ in all His offices. He not only closes with Him as Jesus, but as Lord Jesus. He says with Thomas, “My Lord, and my God.” He not only believes in the merit of His death but also conforms to the manner of His life. As he believes in Him, so he lives to Him. He takes Him for His wisdom as well as for His righteousness; for His sanctification as well as His redemption.

The Symptoms

Mead also examines how and why people do this – why it is that they become “almost Christians.” The main reason is that people are not thoroughly convinced of their own sin. If this was true in 1661, when Mead wrote this book, how much more true is it today in 2007! Then, at least sin was preached from most pulpits. Today, in some megachurches, the pastor will admit that “sin is not on the menu” and in mainline churches, sin is not only ignored, it is accepted with a worldly view as psychological deficiencies and diseases or even “lifestyle choices.”

A friend of mine, who many years ago converted to Roman Catholicism, once told me that the reason they chose the Catholic church was because it was the first church that “didn’t make them feel bad.” They told me this before I myself was saved, and the statement seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. I’ve since had a falling out with that friend, and been saved by Christ in the meantime, and oh, how I wish I could show them today the problem with that statement! A church that “makes you feel bad” is more likely (though not always) to be a church which is preaching the deadly danger of sin! Feeling bad about sin is not only acceptable, it is absolutely necessary for our conversion. We can’t “repent and be saved” if we don’t know what it is we’re repenting of.

If a man is not thoroughly convinced of sin and his heart truly broken, whatever his profession of godliness may be yet he will be sure to miscarry…

Till the sinner is convicted of sin, he can never be converted from sin. Christ’s coming was as a Saviour to die for sinners, and the Spirit’s coming is to convince us as sinners that we may close with Christ as a Saviour. Till sin is thoroughly revealed to us, interest in the blood of Christ cannot rightly be claimed by us. Nay, as long as in is unseen, Christ will be unsought. “They that be whole need not the physician, but they that are sick.”

Too many churches today welcome the sick, without trying to heal them. They say “Christ hung out with sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes.” But they neglect to read on, that Christ only accepted them with a command to repent, and to “go and sin no more.” We are all sick without Christ. We are all the sinner, the tax collector, the prostitute. We need Him to welcome us. And when He does, we must allow Him to show us our sin. We must welcome Him as the payment, and we must repent as He commands.

The Application

Now, then, examine yourself by these characters. Put the question to your own soul. Do you close with Christ upon gospel terms? Is grace in the heart the principle of your performances? Do you look to the manner as well as the matter of your duties? Do you do all in sincerity? Is there an answerableness within to the law without? Are you much above duty when much in duty? Is your obedience universal? Lastly, is God’s glory the end of all? If so, then you are not only almost, but altogether a Christian.

Mead encourages us to look at our own soul. He encourages us to use his book as a way to examine ourselves. He does not want us to worry unnecessarily about our own faith, and he fears that the weaker believer will question their own assurance of salvation. “I could wish that this book might fall into the hands of such only whom it chiefly concerns, who have a name to live, and yet are dead…” he laments.

But while we ought not worry much over our own salvation, we ought to examine our faith regularly. We ought to examine our spiritual health. We ought to examine our motivations, and how we are responding to Him. We ought to be examining ourselves, just as Paul told us to do in 2 Corinthians, and as Peter does:

2 Peter 1:5-11

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (ESV)

He who has been nearest to conversion, being not converted, shall have the deepest damnation when he is judged. Capernaum’s sentence shall exceed Sodom’s for severity because she exceeded Sodom in the enjoyment of mercy. – Matthew Mead

Note: A special thanks to all of the men and women who took part in the Puritan Book Club at my church this summer. They have been an inspiration to me, and their thoughts and reactions to this book have helped me in my own examination of my faith. God bless you all.

9 Marks

Every once in a while, you stumble across a really good resource on the web that you just know you’re going to return to again and again.

I’ve always known the 9 Marks web site (from Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and author of 9 Marks of a Healthy Church and The Deliberate Church) has some excellent resources, but I’ve only recently become aware of their wonderful section of book reviews. These reviews are thorough, balanced, and well-thought out. Check them out!

Also, while you’re there, you might take a look at…

• The 9 Marks of healthy churches
• A great collection of articles
• An even greater collection of interview audio, downloadable for free
• A collection of Q&A’s targeting pastors, but useful for any believer

Book Review: Confessions of a Reformission Rev, by Mark Driscoll

Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church
by Mark Driscoll.
Zondervan, 2006. 208 pages.
ISBN 0310270162.

When I sit down to read a Christian book, I generally end up either finding myself mostly agreeing with it, or mostly disagreeing with it. And generally, I know before I even start which direction I will end up in. The old saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover” may be true, but you can usually judge it by its title, author, description, blurb, and sometimes even the publisher.

With Mark Driscoll’s Confessions of a Reformission Rev, however, I had no idea where I would end up. And now that I have finished the book, I’m still not sure.

Mr. Driscoll, if you are not familiar with him, is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, which is apparently one of the most unchurched cities in America. He is young, brash, and seeks to engage “the culture,” particularly that of Seattle, birthplace of Microsoft Windows and Nirvana. Despite that, he also happens to be Reformed in his theology, and is far more comfortable in fellowship with men like John Piper than other “emerging” types like Brian McLaren, with whom he has (in?)famously locked horns on occasion.

It is that interesting combination – his attempt to engage the culture, combined with his desire to be faithful and true to the truth of God’s word – that leaves you feeling rather schizophrenic about his book. You also get the feeling the Driscoll himself would agree. The book is subtitled “Hard Lessons From an Emerging Missional Church,” and the hard lessons are obviously not yet finished. Or, as Driscoll writes at the conclusion of the main portion of the book,

I wish I knew the future and how Jesus will prune me next so that I could wince to lessen its sting before the blow lands. But Jesus has called me to trust him by faith and to endure more pruning so that more fruit can be harvested for his kingdom. And for this reason, it is my deepest wish that Jesus keep pruning me, because I love him, want to be with him, want to be like him, and enjoy being on mission with him more than anything.

I regularly read a number of Reformed Christian blogs, and some of the so-called “watchblogs,” and it seems that most people out there either love Mark Driscoll or hate him. It is fashionable to either ruthlessly attack him, or put him on a pedestal. Or put him on a pedestal and then attack him. I will do neither. I will, instead, present some of the things I have found of interest in this book, some good, some bad, before offering some concluding thoughts.

Pros and Cons

Driscoll has a very good understanding of the problems with the contemporary church.
In the introductory section of his book, he does an outstanding job of outlining the differences (and major issues) with “The Parachurch,” “Liberalism,” and “Fundamentalism.” He understands what is lacking in each “model,” as well as the basic issues with the “Emergent” movement. He also pinpoints the number one problem with the false gospel preached by so much of the contemporary church:

The contemporary church generally proclaims a gospel of fulfillment. This gospel is influence by the non-Christian psychologist Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs…
The contemporary church’s gospel of fulfillment essentially accepts Maslow’s faulty hierarchy and teaches that God exists to enable each of us to actualize our full potential. So in this therapeutic gospel, you use Jesus to achieve your ends, which can vary from health to wealth to emotional contentment, or whatever personal vision you have for your own glory…
The therapeutic gospel is a false gospel and an enemy of mission for many reasons… [I]t takes pride, which Augustine called the mother of all sins, and repackages it as self-esteem, the maidservant of all virtue.

That said, he does not provide a solution for all of those problems.
He might argue that he does, or even argue (rightfully) that he is working on it. But he starts from, frankly, a simplistic view of the solution – “Reformission combines the best aspects of each of these types of Christianity…” While he has made wonderful and demonstrable headway in Seattle, there are problems with his own approach that he does not seem to identify.

He is very committed to following what he feels is the direction of the Scripture and God’s promptings.
He talks constantly throughout the book about reading through the Bible to try to find an answer to various questions, including church polity, church mission, structure, and even to find a biblical view of the term “generation.” Early on, he says he taught through the book of Romans in order to work out the theology of the church. The result was a purely biblical theology which probably led to more problems than solutions when trying to reach “the culture,” but still, he did not compromise.

That said, there are some concerns with His approach at times.
Mark Driscoll is, of course, well known for his language. He himself admits that he does not regularly filter what he thinks from what he says. This shows in his book, as well. His very crude humor at times, his fairly intense scoffing at those he disagrees with – these things all demonstrate his wit (for the better) and his lack of tact (for the worst). Don’t get me wrong – he is a very clever and very witty man. And that wit, I believe, can be used to further the kingdom of God – Spurgeon had wit, Luther and Calvin had wit, even Paul and Christ Himself had wit. But it must be tempered with some sort of propriety.

Concluding Thoughts

Mark Driscoll has built a wonderful ministry in Seattle that God has indeed blessed, about that there can be no doubt. Some of his methods leave something to be desired, particularly in the areas of communication, and many will be offended by some of his language and choice of topics. It is my sincere prayer that he will continue to grow in his knowledge, and in his propriety (apparently he is indeed getting better), so that he may continue to effectively serve Christ and build His Kingdom. I believe that hedesires to be faithful to his Lord and Savior, and that he is working out his salvation and what Christ demands of him, as we all are trying to do.

Yes, it is fashionable to be critical of Mark Driscoll, and don’t get me wrong – there are issues, as seen above. There are other issues – I could easily take offense at his view of cessationism, for example. But I genuinely think that he is trying to get it right. My prayer would be that he would, and sooner than later, given the responsibility that he has taken upon himself to shepherd the flock of God. As James warns, let not many desire to be teachers, for this very reason.

I wrote earlier that the subtitle of the book “Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church,” and that it is obvious that those lessons are not yet fully complete. But we can learn from the hard lessons that Mr. Driscoll has learned thus far by sitting alongside him, and we can pray for the lessons yet to be learned, by reading his book with discernment and prayer.

May God continue to bless the mission of Mars Hill Church, and may God bless her pastor, growing him into the man that He would have him be. God’s will be done.