Scott Jones, The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor. Abingdon Press, 2003.
Referenced in: Theology and Practice of Evangelism – Emergent
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Scott Jones brings a varied background as a United Methodist academic, local pastor, and denominational leader, resulting in a nice practical theology on evangelism from a Missional/Missio Dei perspective. He introduces the reader to the current theological discussions on evangelism, critically assesses some of the more popular strategies among mainline denominations, and offers well-crafted proposals.
Jones defines evangelism as “that set of loving, intentional activities governed by the goal of initiating persons into Christian discipleship in response to the reign of God.” (18) He says, “God’s evangelistic love of the world is the central message of scripture.”(33) Therefore, “to evangelize non-Christian persons without loving them fully is not to evangelize them well…and to love non-Christians persons without evangelizing them is not to love them well.”(21) Jones also stresses evangelism that is modeled after God’s love as expressed in Jesus Christ will be incarnational, holistic, and contextual. This is the rubric through which Jones addresses very challenging questions regarding evangelism such as evangelizing immigrants and Jews, distinguishing salvation and church membership, assessing the condition of those outside of Christ, integrating evangelism and social justice, and reaching rural as well as urban settings. The helpful appendices address misconceptions about evangelism, and propose twenty benchmarks for an intentional ministry of evangelism through the local church.
Jones is influenced by authors such as William J. Abraham (The Logic of Evangelism) as well as more recent authors within the missional and emergent conversations. Readers may benefit from the balance of texts listed in the Evaluating-Emergent category. The key here is balance, not replacement. The complexities of effective evangelism in the postmodern context are helped by gleaning from the thoughtful proposals of many.
From the Publisher
There are, it seems, as many definitions of the term “evangelism” as there are people doing the defining. For some, it means proclaiming the gospel to those who have not heard it. To others, it means making disciples of Jesus Christ. To others, it means working for the transformation of the world into the kingdom of God. For still others, it has principally to do with building vibrant, healthy congregations. Underlying this confusion is a fundamental inability to locate the practice of evangelism within one’s overall theological convictions.
We will never understand the part that proclamation, disciple making, kingdom building, and church growth play in evangelism until we first ask a more important question: What does evangelism have to do with who God is? What is it we know about God that makes evangelism a central part of what it means to be Christian?
In this comprehensive theology of evangelism, Scott J. Jones proposes to ground the practice of evangelism in an understanding of God’s love for the world, specifically as seen in the incarnation of God in Christ. In Jesus, God took on all of what it means to be human. Because of this, evangelism must be a ministry to the whole person. The typical distinctions between soul-winning, social action, and church growth evaporate; individual conversion and acts of mercy are part of the same ministry of bringing persons more fully into the reign of a loving God.
About the Author
Scott J. Jones is Kansas Area Bishop for the United Methodist Church. At the time of publication of this book, he was McCreless Professor of Evangelism and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Evangelism and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.
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