EMQ » April–June 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 2
By Don Everts
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019
184 pages
USD $17.00
Reviewed by Paul Borthwick, Senior Consultant for Development Associates International and author of Great Commission, Great Compassion: Following Jesus and Loving the World (IVP 2015).
As a life-long Bostonian, the feature that attracted me to Don Everts’ latest book, The Reluctant Witness, was the advertisement that the book was a tool for evangelism in the post-modern context. In my region of the world, arguably one of the most un-Christian geographies of the United States, I am acutely aware of the obstacle that Everts identifies as “the Postmodern cat that’s got our tongues.” And often, I confess, it’s got mine.
But in his chapter “Delightful Conversations—Debunking Five Myths About Spiritual Conversations”, Everts released me to think afresh about what it means simply to converse with people—even and especially those who might be opposed to evangelical truth. In our approach to spiritual conversations, we don’t need to be heavy (Everts highlights laughter as a great approach to conversations), or confrontive, or Ravi-Zacharias-intellect apologists with all the right answers. We can dismiss our stereotypes that “spiritual conversations with non-Christians were primarily about prosecuting a case—and winning” (79). In short, Everts encourages us to live as the title suggests—as conversationalists.
Perhaps the strongest encouragement comes in his chapter “Everyday Conversations: Exploring Four Simple Conversational Habits.” Using illustrative stories and easy-to-read charts, he explains that “eager conversationalists” live first with a spirit of expectation (128). He invites us to live with a spirit of anticipation, looking for opportunities to engage people without being awkward or aggressive.
Second and third, he encourages us to “pursue and initiate conversations” (131) and “be open to sharing faith in a wide variety of ways” (137). As a frequent traveler, I started putting these principles into practice in my conversations with my seatmates on flights. In any friendly conversation, there comes a moment of self-identification, “So what do you do?” Before reading Everts book, I would dance around this question referring to my working as a “cross-cultural trainer” or a “leadership development consultant”—both of which are true, but neither is likely to provoke a spiritual conversation.
Thinking of creative ways to initiate conversations and share my faith, I now answer, “Well, actually I’m an evangelical minister.” After I let that phrase simmer in my co-traveler’s mind for 30–60 seconds, I ask “So now that I’ve told you that, what do you think I believe?” The responses have been humorous (“Really? I never knew you folks really existed.”), political (“So did you vote for…”), sad (“So are you carrying a gun?”) and more, but my response starts a great conversation.
As Everts points out in his fourth conversational habit, I sometimes must “gently push through awkward moments” (142). Maybe we have to discuss complex questions raised by stereotypical news soundbites or respond to questions about the behavior of Christian leaders. But most of the time, my seatmate eventually asks, “So what does evangelical actually mean?” I try to explain with the hope that I can leave them thinking or asking questions.
Using research from the Barna Group as well as Everts’ current ministry base, Lutheran Hour Ministries, The Reluctant Witness takes us in Everts’ conversational way into an invitation and challenge to rethink our approach to personal evangelism and sharing our faith. If you’re looking for a book that instructs us on how to talk about our faith in a natural way, this is it!
For Further Reading
Everts, Don, and Doug Schaupp. I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2008).
Manley Pippert, Rebecca. Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019.
