Summary: What is a Gospel Neighboring Book Mash-Up? It’s obviously the Gospelicious Monster Truck Rally of book reviews. We take sacred and secular books and plunder them for Gospel Neighboring wisdom and fling said wisdom out into the interwebs for our fellow Gospel Neighbors to apply to their efforts at bringing the truth, goodness, and beauty of Jesus to their city, one neighborhood at a time. Mashed-Up in this Episode: The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West Again About the Author Born in 1938 in Louisville, Kentucky, Hunter was afflicted with the full name of George Gill Hunter III. His friends call him “Chuck”, a lifetime nickname. Hunter’s research and writing often focus on “apostolic” ministry and communication with the West’s growing numberof “secular” people who have no Christian memory. His teaching ministry has engaged a full range of denominations in the USA and churches in many other countries— including Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, England, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Moldova, and Brazil. Along with The Celtic Way of Evangelism he has written over a dozen books. Hunter continues as part-time Distinguished Professor of Evangelization in Asbury’s School of World Mission and Evangelism, which educates missionaries, pastors, scholars, evangelists, trainers, church planters, lay leaders, change agents, and national church leaders for the Christian mission. The school, named for E. Stanley Jones, was the first “to declare North America and Europe as among the world’s mission fields” and to feature this perspective within its curriculum. Big Ideas We learn from the life of St. Patrick and his mission to the Celtic peoples that 'Roman Christianity' adopted the narrative, "Before one can become Chrisitian, one must be civilized." In other words, one must adopt a cultural Christianity before one becomes an actual Christian. But Patrick thought that Celtic barbarians needed to hear the gospel and receive it even before they become Roman. Roman vs Celtic models of evangelism. The Roman way is to present the Christian message, invite them to believe in Christ and become Christian, and then have them welcomed into fellowship of the church. The Celtic Way is to first establish the community and include them in life of church, then engage them in conversation, prayer, worship, etc. Then, in time, they discover they have come to believe as you do. Plunder We need to focus on the 'middle issues' of life (vocation, relationships) as opposed to only the transcendent/spiritual issues as we relate to our neighbor. The genius of Aristotelian Rhetoric: logos, pathos, ethos. Ethos is the most important, as the question asked by the listening audience to the speaker is, "Can this person be trusted and believed?" We need the 'authentic sign' in order to be believed and show that we are with and for our neighbor. According to Peter Berger's The Sacred Canopy, a persons' worldview is maintained and shaped by the community one is socialized in, but the possibility of conversion is opened up through conversation, and then one adopts a new worldview through resocialization in a new community. Liberating Good News While it might seem scary to neighbor a "barbarian"...that neighbor might be more open to the gospel and to your neighboring than "civilized" people. The Big Challenge Is it okay for your house to get smelly or messy? Inviting "barbarians" means that your typical rules might not be obeyed or followed. Your car will get dirty. Maybe your kid picks up a bad habit or two. Is the inconvenience worthy it in your journey of gospel neighboring?
