Sharing the Good News Through the Ages

EMQ » Oct – Dec 2024 » Volume 60 Issue 4

Reviewed by David Greenlee, PhD, missiologist, Operation Mobilization, Tyrone, Georgia.

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In February 2019, England’s Church Times noted online that “with the death of Canon Michael Green on 6 February comes the passing of a generation of remarkable evangelists whose mark on the Church of England is ineradicable. … [I]n the 1960s and 1970s he helped to create a culture of mission and evangelism which we now take for granted.” 

Still in manuscript form at the time of his passing, Evangelism: Learning from the Past is a parting gift from Green, crowned with a short chapter of reflections and insights of this experienced and winsome evangelist, apologist, and writer. Green reminds – almost warns – us that the book is not “a concise, systematic history of evangelism” but is selective, majoring on “the evangelical tradition and particularly its outworking in Britain.” (xiv) I would add that the book is more personal and reflective rather than academic and referenced, as compared to his landmark 1970 Evangelism in the Early Church. This approach adds to the book’s warmth and its value for a wide range of students, evangelists, and followers of Jesus in general. 

The first chapter quite naturally focuses on Jesus himself. The following sections consider topics such as the church of the first centuries, the monastic and Celtic movements, and, eventually, the 1904 Welsh revival and crusade evangelists such as D.L. Moody and Billy Graham. In each chapter, Green draws out significant contributions, offers a brief critique (at times revealing his own theological convictions), and concludes with a set of questions for personal or group consideration. 

Green’s final chapter focused my attention on evangelism in the 2020s and beyond. Comments and insights that caught my attention included: 

• “People are fed up with politicians and preachers. They will only start to inquire when they see love in action.” 

• Without ducking the academic, our apologetics should focus on “loneliness, identity, love, and values that touch people deeply.” 

• Do not “underestimate the importance of worship. You only have to watch the World Cup to see worship that is far more extravagant than the wildest charismatics. People need something bigger than themselves to get excited about, and quality worship meets that need and draws people in.” 

• “We must have the courage of our convictions and not be afraid to express them, graciously but firmly, in the face of today’s excessive political correctness.” 

• “In the end, evangelism is not rocket science. It comes down to one person who knows Christ relating to one person who does not.” (147–50) 

Earlier, I noted Green’s introductory comment about what this book is not. He also noted what the book is: his own perspective written with “the hope that it will lead the reader to reflect on the past and resolve to take the good news of Jesus into future passionate outreach” (xiv). In my case, he has succeeded. With appreciation for Michael Green’s life, I commend this concise book. I hope it will have the same impact on many others, whether read as an introductory or supplementary missions and evangelism course text or for personal and small group study and reflection. 

For Further Reading

The Michael Green Collection, 9 volumes, including Evangelism in the Early Church and Thirty Years that Changed the World: The Book of Acts for Today (Eerdmans, 2023) 

Gospel Witness: Evangelism in Word and Deed by David Gustafson (Eerdmans, 2019) 

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EMQ, Volume 60, Issue 4. Copyright © 2024 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.