Alvin Reid is author or coauthor of more than 10 books and considered one of the leading evangelical thinkers on evangelism. He is also Associate Dean for Proclamation Studies and Bailey Smith Professor of Evangelism at my alma mater, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. I recently caught up with Dr. Reid to ask him questions about his most recent book, post-modernism, and the future of America's largest protestant denomination.
Q: Your book Introduction to Evangelism was a standard textbook on Evangelism for years. Now, you've released Evangelism Handbook. How has your thinking on evangelism changed since you wrote the first book?
A:
In terms of the essential message of the gospel, nothing has changed. In terms of how to communicate that gospel well in our world, a lot has changed. My philosophy of change is to add when necessary without subtracting when unnecessary. So, in the Afterword Dr. Roy Fish states his approval of my timeless methods. At the same time, Dr. Thom Rainer in the Foreword notes the timeliness of the book. So, I am attempting to correct some problems in the conventional church without tossing the baby with the bathwater.
Fundamentally, what must change is our posture, and I write about that often. We must shift from a programmatic approach centering on methods to a missional approach centering on living lives that reflect the gospel in every way, including what we say with our lips. As Paul said in I Thess. 1:5, “Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but in power, and with the Holy Spirit, with conviction, as you saw how we lived among you.” That is how the gospel spread then, and how I believe it must now. We must assume the posture of missionaries in our time. Pastors must help believers not merely come to services, serve, give, and learn information. Pastors must equip believers to be missionaries whether they are a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, or whatever their profession.
Q: You state in your book "the time has never been more urgent to reach the cities." How effective have Christians been in reaching urban communities with the Gospel? Where have we fallen short?
A:
I added an entire chapter on reaching the cities to end the book because I believe we have not done well there. As Rodney Stark notes in his book The Rise of Christianity, the gospel spread in the early centuries mostly in the cities. An unintended consequence of the institiutionalism of the church today is a love for a subculture that is safe and somewhat isolated from culture, which naturally does not lead us to the great cities. My tradition, the Southern Baptist Convention, has in particular a lot of work to do in terms of living in and reaching cities. As I note in the book, 58% of the US population lives in the 50 largest metros, but only 25% of SBC churches are there. Thankfully, the mindset is changing on that.
Q: You are something of an expert on the Great Awakenings. You've written on them extensively. What would it take, in your opinion, to have another Great Awakening in America today?
A: It will take leaders in the church today understanding that if God moves in mighty power, a lot of what we consider precious may well be dismantled. We have created a Christian experience for most that requires little sacrifice. But revival is costly. We tend to focus on a spiritual awakening in terms of people repenting and being set free from gross sin, and that is a part of it. But revival historically changed the songs, the programs, and the posture of the people of God. John Wesley wrote at one point that he was not sure a person could be converted outside a church building. Then God pushed him into the fields, a scandalous approach for an Oxford man. God used an itinerant like Whitefield and a young man given to melancholy like Brainerd.
If we see a real spiritual awakening in our time it just may start outside the church building. The question may not be whether or not God is at work, but whether or not our traditions hinder the work. We need a revolution, a biblical one, and I am hopeful that we may yet see that in our time. We, in fact, may be seeing a bit of it just now.
Q: In your book, The Convergent Church, you talk about the ways post-modernism has affected the Church. What are the unique opportunities provided for the Church and the Gospel as a result of post-modernism?
A: People today are looking for something real. Post-modernism has helped to push the church from a “do this because you are supposed to” attitude to a more gospel-centered, missional focus. People today are not disinterested in spiritual things or in Jesus. But they are not interested in what they perceived to be “organized religion.” So whether you are talking about a more “street-level” pomo or a more academic flavor (you have to read the book to see what I mean), a positive effect of post-modernism is to cause believers to get back to the reality of a life changed by the gospel. That is not a bad thing. In other words, I do not meet post-moderns who ask “can you prove it?” But I meet them who want to know if you can live it.
Q:
You've been involved with the conversation in our own denomination about how to best pursue Great Commission goals in a rapidly changing culture. I'm going to ask you to look inside your crystal ball for a moment and offer a prediction on what you see the Southern Baptist Convention looking like in 20 or more years. Thriving? Struggling? Influencing culture in any substantial way?
A:
That, my friend, is a big question. About 25 years ago, I sat down with my wife as a young pastor in seminary. The Conservative Resurgence was underway, and we did not know how the future would go for the SBC. Michelle and I decided we would stand on the inerrant Word of God no matter what it may have cost us. In the providence of God I now teach at a seminary that I would never have dreamed it would want more or I would want it back then!
Last February, I talked to Michelle again. I realized that we in the SBC are at another tipping point, this time not over the authority of Scripture but over how we will live out our biblical convictions. Will we be very narrow, expecting a very tight outward conformity in our practice, or will we allow people serious about the gospel to apply it to their context even if not the way we might do it.
As I said at the Pastors Conference in Louisville, I believe we have reached a tipping point. We are going to embrace a missional, truth-centered approach over a methodologically-driven ethos. Most effective pastors I know under age 50 have already begun to do so (and some older than me!). I am the eternal optimist on this. I still believe we have an amazing network if we can gather together around the gospel of Jesus Christ, not our preferences. I believe in the power of the gospel to change both the lost and the saved!
Order Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional
Order The Convergent Church: Missional Worshippers in an Emerging Culture
Download Dr. Reid's new e-book, Advance: Gospel-Centered Movements Change the World, for FREE
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