I Believe in Evangelism

This book by David Watson was one I've been reading as part of an ongoing literature review on discipleship in my new job with Church Army's research unit. While perhaps not as practical as other books on evangelism, Watson gives a deeply biblical and thoroughly encouraging exploration of what constitutes the subjective life of the individual Christian - i.e. continual response to the gospel. This should manifest itself in calls to love one another truly and fully, both inside church communities and from within those to outside: and bringing the gospel to people who have not been properly presented with it before is among the greatest acts of love a Christian can perform. Watson's view is a holistic one - effective evangelism emerges from rightly-motivated communities of grace-led people boldly diving into dark and marginal contexts to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit and God's word against the sinfulness prevalent in attitudes and cultures among the lost. This is not easy work. But ultimately, Watson reminds us, it is not work we do alone: it is God's work in which we share as instruments, and by stepping out in faith and with joy proclaiming the gospel's truth as we love all, particularly in difficult circumstances, the church can be expectant in God's part in this work. Tying up lofty quantified expectations of 'harvests' from cleverly-planned outreach schemes or making-the-church-cool-again events - well, these things can and often do yield fruit, but it is God's work. David Watson in this book gives a deep and potent series of chapters about the true nature of what we are doing in the work of discipleship, church life, evangelism, and all the parts of life in Word-centred Christian witness in which these all-too-frequently-compartmentalised things overlap in gloriously messy simplicity, rest on sustenance of faith and are powered by the Holy Spirit.