Unpacking a forgotten framework for evangelism

THE FORGOTTEN MANIFESTO OF JESUS
By Phil Moore
IVP. 224 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 1 789 745 184

There is so much that is good and encouraging about this book. In it, Phil Moore unpacks the instructions of Jesus to the 72 in Luke 10 as the framework for evangelism everywhere.

He intersperses his chapters explaining and applying what he calls “the forgotten manifesto of Jesus” with vignettes of people in predominantly Muslim countries who have seen believers and churches multiply by applying it in their contexts.

Often the more traditional approaches to evangelism and church planting have been ineffective, but it’s a different story when the approach Jesus taught is adopted. The stories Moore recounts certainly bear witness to gospel advance in places like Iran and India.

For myself I found the book a catalyst to thinking about my evangelism. Moore comes from the more charismatic end of the evangelical spectrum and has much to say that people like me on the more conservative end need to hear, despite what our heritage (William Carey, etc.), and even more our Bibles, tells us about expecting great things from God and therefore attempting great things for Him. There is also much practical wisdom here about evangelism.

However, I have a bit of a problem with the book. Moore makes much of the person or son of peace mentioned in Luke 10:6. He understands him or her as “someone who is open about their struggles, hungry for things to change, and quick to share whatever they learn with others” (p. 87). In other words, he or she is a seeker.

But is that really what Jesus means? I think Moore and others like him read too much into the expression and then build a whole missiological approach upon it. Arguably, the person of peace is a follower of Jesus, that is, someone who becomes a believer in the way that Luke records right through the book of Acts. How people come to faith varies, as do the approaches people use in evangelism, although preaching of the gospel in some form is always present.

So, I am a bit wary of Moore’s pressing Luke 10 into a one-size-fits-all approach to evangelism. But as an encouragement to get on and do it, along with some inspiring stories and helpful counsel, the book has much to offer.