Enticing evangelism

PATHWAY TO JESUS
Crossing the thresholds of faith
By Don Everts & Doug Schaupp. IVP. 160 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-344-5

This is an excellent book for anyone seeking to think through how to reach unbelievers in our postmodern nation.

Having interviewed over 2,000 new believers, Everts and Schaupp have identified five ‘thresholds’ over which people typically cross before coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They analyse each and comment helpfully on how one might, humanly, encourage the unbeliever’s ‘pathway to Jesus’.

If you have every wondered why people look at you blankly when you speak about Jesus, or invite them to something evangelistic at church, and you’ve cried to God for help in reaching them, then this book is for you.

The first threshold an unbeliever needs to cross is that of trust. If someone doesn’t trust you, then your witnessing will get nowhere. The authors ask pertinent questions on how one might identify the level of trust, and suggest how it might be built.

Then comes the need to provoke curiosity, which is the antidote to someone’s indifference. When people start asking questions about why we are as we are, that’s a threshold crossed.

Next is the need for a person to recognise the possibility of change. Many who are lost are happy with their lot, or consider they can find their way out by themselves. Only when they begin to realise that perhaps they can’t is this threshold crossed.

A fourth is seeking after Jesus, as opposed to seeking after religion / church / spirituality / anything or nothing. This is often where we think people are when they ask questions, but the authors show how someone may just be curious, or even polite.

Finally, entering the kingdom: this is where we explain how to become a Christian.

The book handles Bible texts well, without imposition. It is easy to read on one’s own, but would serve well as the basis of discussion on evangelism for groups. It does not present itself as a ‘magic touch’, and frequently reminds of God’s sovereignty in the work of evangelism.

Carl Chambers,

church leader, Christ Church Brighton;

chair, Sussex Gospel Partnership Church Planting Group