The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission by John Dickson

The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission is a well-kept one indeed: that evangelism is best done and most effective when ordinary Christians live out their faith in the context of the church and community.  I have read many books on evangelism through the years and I have noticed a couple of things they all share in common.  First of all they are usually written by successful evangelists who by gifting and temperament really know how to connect with people and ‘close the deal’.  I’ve known of few of these people and they are a tremendous encouragement to be around, but they are truly inimitable and often their suggestions for doing the work of evangelism are too.  If you are not confrontational or outgoing or a good conversationalist by nature you often find yourself feeling like you are wearing “Saul’s armor”: awkward and unnatural.  Enter John Dickson, an Australian evangelist who is quite gifted and passionate for souls, and yet quite sympathetic to the idea that most evangelistic programs are not a good fit with the average Christian.  What Dickson explains in the book is that there are many ways average Christians can be serious about evangelism without street preaching or cold calling people.  He presents many more thoughts in the book but I want to focus on three of them in this review.  First off is taking worship seriously and participating in it.  The entire impetus behind evangelism is that God is the creator and therefore all people rightly are His and should worship Him.  This being the case, setting the example for the world by being a worshipping community is a great witness.  When people who don’t yet know the Lord visit your church, they may not totally understand the service, but they will notice if the congregation is truly sincere in their faith and love of God in the worship.  Another idea that Dickson brings out is the apt or graceful answer.  What he means by this is that most of us are not going to have the time or opportunity to tell someone everything they should know about Jesus, but questions and statements about God are made all the time and we should be prepared to give a short reply that bears witness without being a complete information dump.  Finally Dickson points all of us to financial partnership with missionaries and evangelists as another means of seriously supporting evangelism.  This is not ‘hiring out’ our responsibility but rather recognizing that the best people to do this work are those who are gifted and we should get behind them with prayer and financial and emotional support that they are free to dedicate their service on a full-time basis.  This is a very encouraging book to read and as you go through it I suspect it will bring to remembrance the many circumstances, people, and things God used to draw you to Himself.  For it is a reminder to all of us that our lives are purposefully interwoven and that life’s connections are God’s most powerful tools for evangelism.