The Gospel and Personal Evangelism (Paperback)

by Mark Dever (Author), C. J. Mahaney (Foreword)
Key Phrases: personal evangelism, Jesus Christ, New Testament, Holy Spirit (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Mark Dever's personal devotion to Scripture has led him to think deeply, read widely, preach clearly, and write simply to the great blessing of the body of Christ. Evangelism is the church's mandate, and the one reason the redeemed are still on earth. Doing it effectively requires doing it biblically. Mark teaches us how to mobilize our churches to do just that."
John MacArthur, Pastor-Teacher, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California "For most of us, personal evangelism is the reverse of easy, and so it becomes a task we evade. Mark Dever writes to shake us up about this, clearing our heads as to just what evangelizing involves and motivating our hearts to go to it realistically and responsibly. This is a word in season that will surely do a great deal of good."
J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College

"At the heart of this book is a heart for the gospel. Mark Dever encourages, instructs, and challenges us to proclaim the gospel in all its fullness, grace, truth, goodness, and wonder."
Randy Newman, author, Questioning Evangelism and Corner Conversations

"Mark Dever has done every Christian and pastor a tremendous favor. With great humility, Dever helps us to connect the dots of our hopes for seeing people saved with the truth about the gospel and evangelism itself. This little book searches our hearts, corrects our thinking, calls us to faithfulness, and encourages us with practical examples and exhortations."
Thabiti M. Anyabwile, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman; author, The Faithful Preacher

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Description

Evangelism is not only misunderstood, it is often unpracticed. Many Christians want to share the gospel with others, but because those Christians don't grasp the fundamentals of witnessing, they feel intimidated and incapable of sharing the truth of the gospel.

Yet those believers fail to recognize that God has already established who and how we are to evangelize. In The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Dr. Mark Dever seeks to answer the four basic questions about evangelism that many Christians ask: Who should we evangelize? How should we evangelize? What is evangelism? Why should we evangelize? In his answers Dever draws on New Testament truths and helps believers apply those truths in practical ways. As readers understand the fundamentals of evangelism, they will begin to develop a culture of evangelism in their lives and their local churches.

"Mark Dever's personal devotion to Scripture has led him to think deeply, read widely, preach clearly, and write simply to the great blessing of the body of Christ. Evangelism is the church's mandate, and the one reason the redeemed are still on earth. Doing it effectively requires doing it biblically. Mark teaches us how to mobilize our churches to do just that."
John MacArthur, Pastor-Teacher, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California

"For most of us, personal evangelism is the reverse of easy, and so it becomes a task we evade. Mark Dever writes to shake us up about this, clearing our heads as to just what evangelizing involves and motivating our hearts to go to it realistically and responsibly. This is a word in season that will surely do a great deal of good."
J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College

"At the heart of this book is a heart for the gospel. Mark Dever encourages, instructs, and challenges us to proclaim the gospel in all its fullness, grace, truth, goodness, and wonder."
Randy Newman, author, Questioning Evangelism and Corner Conversations

"Mark Dever has done every Christian and pastor a tremendous favor. With great humility, Dever helps us to connect the dots of our hopes for seeing people saved with the truth about the gospel and evangelism itself. This little book searches our hearts, corrects our thinking, calls us to faithfulness, and encourages us with practical examples and exhortations."
Thabiti M. Anyabwile, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman; author, The Faithful Preacher

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (September 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581348460
• ISBN-13: 978-1581348460
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,207 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on evangelism, February 25, 2008

By	theologicalresearcher "theologicalresearcher" (Canada) - See all my reviews

If you want to read a very good book on what evangelism is, why we need to evangelize, and what evangelism is not, then you must purchase this book. Dever has really hit the bullseye in this book when it comes to evangelism and all the implications associated with it. Though every chapter in the book is useful and valuable the better chapters are on the contents of the gospel (chap. 2) and what evangelism is not (chap. 5).

In the chapter on what the true gospel is, Dever makes it clear that the gospel (contrary to many modern evangelicals) is NOT 1) that we are simply okay; 2) that God is simply love; 3) that Jesus just wants to be our friend; and 4) that we should just live rightly. The true gospel, according to Dever, is that we are all sinners, that Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross to take our punishment, that he rose from the dead, and that we are all called to repent of our sins and trust Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation. This chapter must be read by ALL evangelical ministers today who are tempted to follow the seeker-friendly or prosperity train.

The chapter on what evangelism is not is also very enlightening. Dever rightly points out that evangelism is NOT 1) imposition of our beliefs on unbelievers; 2) personal testimony of our Christian life; 3) social action or public involvement; 4) and apologetics (this point is especially important to highlight since so many Christians today believe that they can persuade an unbeliever to Christ through clever argumentation). Also, Dever rightly points out that just because we do not see the fruits of our evangelism right away does not mean that our role as God's messengers have failed. In fact, the fruit of conversion may appear many decades later - the time when a sinner comes to Christ is not in our hands but it is in the hands of our wise and sovereign God. Our job is just to be faithful messengers of the gospel and let God do the actual saving.

Finally, I also found Dever's statement that just because a person "accepts" Christ does not mean he or she is a true believer quite helpful. Having led bible studies for quite some time this is an important point that all Christian leaders need to be aware of. There will always be wolves in sheep's clothing in any church (even in solid Calvinistic ones). Many who appear to be Christians at first will later show their true colours as their supposed faith wanes and they go back to their old lifestyle. Dever points this out in his book to remind us that assurance is not an automatic thing and that we need to be careful of automatically considering a person saved just because he or she claims to be a Christian.

Overall, I would highly recommend this short but important book on evangelism. Though Dever is a Calvinist, this book can be very useful for evangelical Christians of all theological persuasions. In an age where evangelism is mostly based on seeker-friendly methods and the gospel is watered-down to meet the carnal desires of the people this book shows what true biblical evangelism is all about and what the gospel gives us and demands from us.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, Concise and Faithful; Dever serves the church well, September 25, 2007

By	Erik Raymond "IrishCalvinist.com" (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of my favorite podcasts subscriptions is the Capital Hill Baptist Church sermon audio. Capital Hill is where Mark Dever pastors. One of the reasons why I like Dever so much is (in addition to his biblical fidelity) his ability to communicate grand concepts clearly and with intentional application. So when I heard that Dever was soon releasing a new book on evangelism I was eager to read.

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a short book (128 pages) but is filled with helpful, Bible saturated, honesty and exhortation. Dever is writing both as a pastor and a Christian. Therefore he is transparent about his own evangelistic struggles but also clear about the necessity for believers to faithfully herald the gospel.

"My prayer is that because of the time you spend reading this book, more people will hear the good news of Jesus Christ." (p.16)

As someone who teaches a class on evangelism I often cringe when I hear contemporary authors and preachers talk about the motivation and means of evangelism. Far too often emotional and pragmatic sentiments drown out the clear God-centered goal of evangelism as outlined in the Scriptures. Thankfully Dever does not swing and miss on this critical understanding of evangelism:

"According to the Bible, good motives for evangelism are a desire to be obedient, a love for the lost, and a love for God....Ultimately, our motive in evangelism must be a desire to see God glorified. This was the end of all of the Lord Jesus' actions (See John 17)....God is glorified in being known. To see others truly come to know him glorifies God and honors him....The call to evangelism is a cal to turn our lives outward from focusing on ourselves and our needs to focusing on God and on others made in his image who are still at enmity with him, alienated from him, and in need of salvation from sin and guilt. We bring God glory as we speak the truth about him to his creation." (pp. 96, 101)

Dever maintains a steady posture of introspection and exhortation throughout the chapters. I firmly believe that if you are a Christian and you want to grow in the area of evangelism then this book will be helpful. In each of the chapters Dever aims to makes us comfortable with obedience while stirring up discomfort with complacency and the fear of man. Here are the chapters titles, each are about 10 or so pages long:

Why Don't we Evangelize?

What is the Gospel?

Who Should Evangelize?

How Should We Evangelize?

What Isn't Evangelism?

What do we Do After We Evangelize?

Why Should We Evangelize?


In closing I want to highlight some of Dever's recommendations for increasing in our evangelistic faithfulness:

Ask for testimonies

Consider the reality of hell

Consider God's sovereignty

Meditate on the Gospel

Consider the Cross

This book is not exhaustive but it clearly was not intended to be. Dever aims to cultivate faithfulness in evangelism while also exposing some unbiblical practices that regrettably seem to characterize much of evangelicalism's evangel. In this Dever was successful. I suggest picking up the book for yourself or reading it with a friend or small group. The Gospel and Personal Evangelism is a helpful, God-centered shot in the arm for the church.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Gospel & Personal Evangelism - Mark Dever, October 8, 2007

By	Berny - See all my reviews

I'd like to share some good news about Mark Dever's newest book about...um...well...about sharing good news. Dever's news isn't like my good news, however, or anybody else's good news for that matter, but about the good news--the gospel of Jesus Christ. At 128 pages it's a small book that nonetheless packs a big punch. It took me only four hours to read it, and it would've taken even less if I hadn't re-read several of the sections and stopped to archive some of the material for future usage. But for the same reason that I stopped myself to re-read and record its ideas, I found the book to be very insightful and my experience reading it very worthwhile.

In The Gospel & Personal Evangelism, pastor/theologian Mark Dever teaches his readers what the gospel is and what it isn't. Some might think that a summary of the gospel is unnecessary in a book about evangelism, but the reality is that we can no longer assume that the general public knows what the gospel is. They don't. Sadly, even many professing Christians these days have a distorted view of the gospel. And if our evangel is messed up, how will our evangelism fare any better? Perhaps in the past an author like Dever might've been able to title his book simply Personal Evangelism, but given that much of today's teaching on "soul-winning" stresses getting the sales-pitch right rather than getting the gospel right, it has become necessary to teach The Gospel alongside Personal Evangelism and not assume that everybody already knows it.

But Dever's chapter on the gospel is brief. Aside from wonderfully explaining it in "share-able" terms, Dever saves most of the room for evangelism. To begin with, he identifies some of the biggest hurdles to evangelism that Christians face today. Some of these are real, like language barriers, others are excuses for our faithlessness and laziness. After examining some basic excuses that Christians give for not evangelizing, he goes on to give a long list of steps that should help us get over and around these roadblocks to sharing our faith. One particular excuse that we tell ourselves is that there are always other, more qualified evangelists that God uses to get the job done. But is that biblical? Hasn't the Great Commission always been understood as a commandment to all Christians? Dever devotes an entire chapter to tackle the question of who should evangelize.

One of the strongest sections in the book is found in chapter 5 entitled "What Isn't Evangelism?" Sometimes negative statements can be really helpful for Christians. I don't mean negative in the way we most often use the term, which is a lot like the word "bad." I mean negative as a statement of what something is not, such as "Apologetics is not evangelism" (this is one of the things that Dever says is not evangelism). With a tone exhibiting grace and charity, Dever shares what other things are often misconstrued as evangelism when they really aren't. They include: (1) Impositions of opinions or beliefs; (2) Personal testimonies; (3) Social action and public involvement; (4) Apologetics; and (5) The results of evangelism. Dever superbly catalogues these common misunderstandings and strives to correct our thinking. His breakdown of the last one (#5) is especially good and needed in the church today.

My one complaint is that Dever doesn't take the time to sufficiently address the most common difficulty in evangelizing in a "Christian" nation: everyone's already a Christian (at least in name). This makes it very difficult to tell others about Christ because they respond by telling you that they know Christ too! You might be wondering why Dever needs to address this at all. After all, it's very simple, you just tell everybody about the gospel, whether or not they claim to believe. But that's a deceptively simplistic response to a situation that is much more complicated than that. When we analyze the complexity of the matter we find that these cases need to be treated with great care. If we share the gospel with someone and they respond by saying that they believe, and we rejoice with them and act as if they're safe without probing further, that person might go home confirmed in their present state even though they could be unregenerate. "See, this evangelist rejoiced with me, I'm all right just as I am. If there would've been a problem with me he would've let me know." On the other hand, if we disregard someone's confession of belief and we continue to try and share the gospel with them, we might come off as arrogant and forceful. To complicate things further, we might give off the wrong impression that mere belief and confession isn't enough, there must be works. I didn't expect a whole chapter out of Dever for this issue, but given its national prominence as a response to evangelistic advances, I figured he'd say something about it. More work could be done in this area by those writing about this subject in the future.

The last three sections in the book are all outstanding. (1) His conclusion dealing with the evangelistic technique so common today called "closing the deal;" (2) his recommended reading section; and (3) his exhortation to fellow pastors all deserve special praise. When reading it's not hard to tell that Dever is a pastor himself, and indeed he pastors Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Throughout the book Dever teaches the Bible in an engaging way, and these last sections especially confirm his pastoral heart in wanting to edify Christians who want to study this issue further. The cover artwork says it all, which shows a man pointing to Christ on the cross. And that's Dever's point too (pun intended).

All in all, Dever's book is strongly biblical. Rather than viewing evangelism through a results-oriented prism, Dever sees evangelism as sharing the good news about Jesus Christ coming to earth to die as a substitute for sinners. When viewed this way, evangelism becomes less about our techniques and gimmicks and marketing strategies and more about "the power of God for salvation" in the hearts of unbelievers (Rom. 1:16). As with any biblical concept, when our theology is wrong, our practice will be wrong as well. And Dever, like every good pastor, knows that he must lay the theological foundation in place before the applicational structure can go up. Here he does both.