The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture

by Will McRaney

Book Overview

Personal evangelism is the foundation for all church growth. As the culture and landscape of America shifts, people are looking for spiritual answers to life's significant questions. However, in the increasingly crowded marketplace of spiritual ideas, people are looking to the church less and less.

Will McRaney addresses this problem at the heart of the solution. If the Kingdom of God is to expand, individual Christians will have to learn...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805426248
• ISBN13: 9780805426243
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Evangelism is Very Personal

If you have interest in your own need for salvation, then more than likely you have the interest in seeing others get saved and stay saved as well. This book will help you to accomplish goals for producing disciples for Christ. According to McRaney's common sense principles, "People are responsive and receptive to us when we consistently display interest in them" pg. 176 This book will surely help us to maintain a healthy attitude towards doing evangelism. If you desire to be effective in increasing the kingdom of God through effective witnessing, then you must read this book to obtain the knowledge you need to be successful at evangelizing the world for Christ.

sharing Christ can be done

Great tool for learning how to carefully introduce people to knowing Jesus in a personal way. This gives several strategies to becoming a better witness for Christ. Great help for all believers.

Easy to read overview of the task of personal soul winning

Synopsis The Art of Personal Evangelism is an easy-to-read overview of the task of winning family, friends, and acquaintances to saving faith in Jesus Christ. McRaney approached the task of evangelism from the standpoint of a well-informed practitioner. His desire was to point out the scarcity of quality evangelism in North American churches, provide a theology of evangelism, outline theories of communication, and overview techniques for effective witnessing. The three chapters comprising part 1 provide a summary of the theology of evangelism with respect to God's involvement, the role of the witness, and the nature of salvation. Evangelism begins within the heart of God who has a desire to see all persons come into a restored relationship with himself through their faith in the reconciling sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God is at work. He works in the life of the witness and in the life of the lost person through the superintending activity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers the witness and enlightens the understanding of the lost person. While the Holy Spirit will empower the witness, the evangelist must take responsibility for adequately preparing for the task. The witness must understand the role of evangelism in the economy of God, the essential elements of the gospel message, and the nature of various evangelistic encounters. McRaney wrote that the witness "should prayerfully and persistently pursue the presence of lost people, then proclaim and persuade at the prompting and in the power of the Holy Spirit" (73). The lucidity of part 1 gives way to the tedium of communication theory in the three chapters of part 2. McRaney summarized the nature of communication with respect to effectively presenting the gospel within the postmodern context. As many others have noted, the American culture has recently experienced a dramatic shift from modernity to postmodernism. This cultural shift necessitates a change in evangelism communication techniques. Whereas modernity defined truth as that which was provable, postmodernism defines truth experientially. Thus, the Christian witness in the postmodern context must emphasize intentional relationship building with lost people so that he or she can experience the truth of the gospel as it is lived out in the life of the witness. The witness must seek to understand the context of the prospect with respect to age, social position, and worldview. McRaney noted, "An essential element of effective communication is to understand something of the lost person's culture in order to make sense of the gospel from the lost person's perspective" (157). The final three chapters provide a summary of tips and techniques for conversing with lost persons. McRaney summarized how to deal with various objections that may arise during the evangelistic encounter and detailed how to remove the internal and external barrier to effective witnessing. In the last chapter, McRaney provided guidance for understanding the

The Personal Evangelism Primer for Today's Church

McRaney, Will H. Jr. The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003. Will McRaney is an Associate Professor of Evangelism at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served in several positions such as pastor, church planter, and professor. In addition to his work at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, McRaney also leads a church growth consulting ministry called Ministry Enhancement Group. McRaney?s book, The Art of Personal Evangelism, emphasizes the importance of personal evangelism for both the Christian and the church. While a large percentage of Christians do not practice personal evangelism, McRaney points out that ?everything begins with personal evangelism.? The purpose of his book is to review the biblical doctrines of evangelism and to provide assistance in bridging the timeless message with the postmodern culture. McRaney achieved this task by dividing the book into four sections: the first section reviews the foundational elements of personal evangelism; the second section discusses communication theory as it relates to personal evangelism; the third section provides practical application aids in personal evangelism; and the fourth section is comprised of five appendices to aid the reader in further research. The first section of the book deals with foundational elements of personal evangelism. These elements consist of the theological doctrines of evangelism, including God?s role, the Christian?s role, and the content of the gospel message. God?s role in evangelism is defined as the instigator and agent of conversion. God desires a relationship with mankind for both His pleasure and for the benefit of His people. It is because of this desire that God created a means of salvation through the cross. This salvation is accessible only through Jesus Christ and the moving of the Holy Spirit. However, God uses His people as the messengers of the gospel. It is our role as His people to effectively communicate ?the essential gospel message with the view toward seeing people supernaturally become followers and imitators of Christ.? Types and methods of evangelistic encounters vary, but the message and the goal of evangelism remains the same in all cases ? to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all the Christ has commanded. The second section of the book discusses communication theory as it relates to personal evangelism. McRaney covers three main areas of communication as it relates to evangelism. These include making the gospel make sense, communicating inside your context, and communicating outside your context. There are three primary styles of communication: self-centered, message-centered, and other-centered. We must communicate the gospel with a loving nature as God communicates. There are many facets of communicating with people inside our context. We must understand our culture in order to communicate effectively with the people wi