Should evangelism methods copy the book of Acts?
Jesus and Nicodemus (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of my favorite books on evangelism is Jesus the Evangelist, by Richard Phillips. It is a collection of sermons Phillips preached at his Presbyterian church through the Gospel of John . These sermons focus on John 1 , 3, and 4, and examine the evangelism of Jesus. Perhaps the biggest danger in studying historical narratives is confusing description with prescription. Just because Jesus walked on water, for example, does not mean Mark is telling us to walk on water. This danger is the trap that plagues many books on evangelism. Many evangelistic methods take one example of evangelism from a Gospel or Acts, and build a model upon that singular event as if it was prescriptive. But Phillips threads this needle exceptionally well, by summarizing the text, asking questions of the text, and then showing how those answers can be applied to us today. For example, from Jesus’ exchange with Nicodemus, Phillips gives us theology: “The reason ...