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The Book and its Topic
Brian McLaren’s little gem, More Ready Than You Realize, focuses on evangelism. There are few words less popular… Sadly, evangelism is the topic of endless debate and disagreement inside the church.
To those deciding not to believe in Jesus (who has the right to choose for themselves and the right to be respected as such) also dislike the word and the notion. The problem is that some Christians use their efforts to evangelize to move people God dearly loves and misses further away from God. The main reason for their failure is ignorance.
We all need to consider carefully what Brian shares here. It is important for the present day, postmodern church to get back to loving our neighbors. Back to forming authentic friendships and helping people move in the general direction of Jesus Christ.
Jesus used the parable of the Good Samaritan to illustrate to us that our neighbors are those outside our little huddles, including those outside the church. Our neighbors are those people that God dearly loves and with whom He wishes to be reconciled. And guess who his agents of reconciliation are…
You guessed it! You and me.
Brian starts, continues and finishes More Ready Than You Realize by continual references to an email conversation he had with someone searching for God, for over 2 years. April met Brain at a book signing where she was the source of some background music. Brian then helped her load her harp back in the car afterward, and what followed was a long and meaningful conversation on faith.
Instead of selling our faith to others through pushy and uncomfortable sales techniques, we should all start listening to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Only God can show you where He wants to use you, and only He can use you.
If you start showing the world that you really do care, and start forming spiritual friendships, conversation is sure to follow. In More Ready Than You Realize, Brian will show you how you need to answer the questions of a seeking friend while being very careful not to spoil the friendship.
It is an excellent little book, with a new and fresh perspective on a very old topic. We all live in the postmodern world, and therefore considering evangelism in this context with Brian McLaren is a very good idea indeed. That is if you want to bear fruit, of course.
BookDisciple.com Power Quote
“Let me offer this better vision of good evangelism and
good evangelists: Good evangelists – the kind we talk about in
this book – are people who engage others in good conversation
about important and profound topics such as faith, values, hope,
meaning, purpose, goodness, beauty, truth, life after death,
life before death, and God. They do this, not because they
like to be experts and impose their views on others, but
because they feel they are, in fact, sent by God to do so.
They live with a sense of mission that their God-given calling
in life is not just to live selfishly, or even just
to live well, but to live unselfishly and well and to
help others live unselfishly and well too. Evangelists are
people with a mission from God and a passion to love and
serve their neighbors. They want to change the world.
They are mutants in the planets spiritual evolution, if you
will – good mutants whose new genes are desperately needed
by the gene pool at large.
and influencing all of one’s friends toward better living,
through good deeds and good conversations. For a Christian like
myself, evangelism means engaging in these conversations in
the spirit and example of Jesus Christ.”
– More Ready Than You Realize, p. 16.
So, how does it read?
It is a quick and easy read. My favorite type! I am reading at quite high speeds and comfortably finished it in a couple of days amid a very busy schedule. The average book devourer should spend no longer than two weeks on it…
My copy has 170 pages excluding the (very handy!) Bible Study on Disciple-Making at the back of the book.
What did this book mean to me personally?
A while ago I earnestly prayed that God would reveal his will to me on the subject of evangelism. I was confused after being exposed to very different evangelism styles and attitudes. I didn’t know in which way to proceed...
Then came More Ready Than You Realize. It has a strong message, and it fits in comfortably in the middle of the ‘evangelism attitudes spectrum’. I am sure that the style of evangelism Brain D McLaren shares here is the most successful today, for the simple reason that it is what God initially intended.
With God’s help, I have moved, or should I say: I was moved. I now think differently (and in future will surely act differently) about evangelism. Did this book help me figure it all out? No, but it did help me follow Jesus in a new direction. My faith journey continues… I will never have it all figured out, and when I do, what will there be left to feel excited about?
Being a disciple of Jesus is such an awesome ride!
Being a book disciple and avid reader, one of the things that excited me the most about this book was the section entitled ‘My Favorite Books to Give to a Spiritually Seeking Friend’ at the very end of the book. This proves that Brian McLaren is a book disciple at heart and that giving books to friends is an excellent way of moving them closer to God.
What do others say about the book?
“Brian has helped rescue us from pushy sales techniques, seventeen verses of “Just as I Am” while we wait for those in the balcony, and of course big hair.
“This makes me want to reach for the volume knob…”
– Rob Bell, author of Velvet Elvis
“The First Port of Call for Students of Evangelism.”
– Leonard Sweet, author of Soul Tsunami
“For such a time as this, for such a world as this: More Ready Than You Realize by Brian McLaren is a landmark book that will revolutionize the way you share Christ with spiritual sojourners in your community. This is the postmodern sequel to C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. Don’t miss it!”
– Sally Morgenthaler, author of Worship Evangelism
Conclusion
More Ready Than You Realize will help you in two ways. Firstly, and most importantly it will get you thinking in a postmodern way about evangelism. It is about time as well. Guess what year it is!
Secondly, it will illustrate some of the main objections seekers have to the Christian faith. It will show you how to help someone while being sensitive enough about his or her objections not to spoil the friendship.
More Ready Than You Realize is an excellent book, and all Christians who were instructed by Jesus to love their neighbors should read it. Oh, yes, and all those who were instructed to make disciples of all nations after receiving the Holy Spirit… But only those should read it...
To the rest of you, this book is unfortunately not for you ;-)
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