Customer Reviews

Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary

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When looking only at the title of the book, it could be concluded that this book is only a diatribe against non Christians and what motivates them to stay away from God. But after reading the book, I found that this is not the emphasis of the book at all.

It seemed to me that the book was pretty much addressing two main questions - why are some people suspicious of Christianity and the church, and what can Christians and the church do to respectfully dialogue with these folks and make them feel safe in exploring the claims of Christianity. Because the book is dealing with these two questions, I found Strobel to be very balanced in assessing both sides. His treatment of the attitudes and motivations of the unchurched is done respectfully and is generally absent of condemnation. Having been a self declared atheist for many years, he brings a unique insight into this question and I believe he handles the subject matter with the same respect and gentleness that he would liked to have received from the church during his atheist days. Likewise, when dealing with the question of what the church can be doing better to reach out to these folks, he is very balanced in his assessment. In fact, it seemed to me that if Strobel was being critical of anyone in this whole equation, he reserved his strongest criticism for the church in terms of not doing a good job reaching these folks and being unwilling to move beyond traditional forms of worship to establish a more relevant and safe environment which is still Biblically based for the sincere seeker.

I think that this book is very insightful in its probing of the attitudes of the unchurched, and I would recommend this book purely on that basis. It is important that as Christians, we have some level of understanding for how some folks become either indifferent or hostile to our faith. Having this level of understanding will help us to engage these folks where they are and to hopefully give us an opening to reach a deeper level of understanding on a one on one basis, one person at a time. But I would also highly recommend this book as a pastoral resource. I think the section that discusses what the church response should be in reaching out to these folks should be required reading for every pastor in America who is looking to spread the Good News but is having difficulty finding the right formula for effectively reaching out to the secular community. This is a very good resource.

This is the story many would like to read -- how a self-avowed atheist working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune not only converted to Christianity, but became a minister. This book -- and particularly Chapter 9 -- provides the answers.

The book is written as a how-to book which allows others to lead their "Unchurched" friends (a term first coined by the Gallup polling agency) down the same path. In this fashion, the author covers all of his former objections to Christianity along with the factors that eventually changed his mind.

The author's journalistic skills are in evidence throughout the book -- the reader will find it difficult to put the book down until it is completely finished. Both Christians and non-Christians will find the book enlightening, interesting and enjoyable.

Strobel's exploration of the secular mindset makes for a fascinating read. Using polling data and his own personal experience, the author calls for the Christian church to reach out to the secular world in a language they can understand without compromising the gospel. A must read for all pastors as well as evangelistically minded layman.

The title of this book lets you know that it is a study of the mindsets of those who don't claim to follow Christ. It does an excellent job of fulfilling that objective. The author is a former skeptic who, through the influence of his wife came to faith in Christ. So, the book is a mixture of teaching and testimony. He teaches us what the unbeliever is thinking and illustrates it with his own life story. He doesn't limit himself to his own story but illustrates his points with stories from many others he has known.

Christians often speak of the ministry of Jesus as "incarnational" - where He became one of us. He became like us to save us. Strobel's book gives some good advice for how Christians can do the same. We often seek to evangelize without understanding our audience.

I would caution that this book does make sweeping generalizations. Rather than pigeon-holing every unchurched person you meet and thinking you understand them because you have read this book, you can simply take the time to listen and get to know the person as an individual, and see where God leads you. This would be "Meeting Harry Where He Lives," and is a great application of the book.

One chapter stands out as particularly helpful - the chapter on living with an unchurched spouse. Strobel understands this well because his wife came to Christ many years before he did. His insights are valuable as he shares the sense of loss and disorientation that an unchurched spouse goes through when their mate becomes a Christian. Christians may think that the unchurched spouse is merely hostile or hard-hearted, but in fact, the unchurched spouse may be feeling a great sense of loss as his or her mate's affections for him are transferred to Christ and the church.

This book is sociological, not theological. That is it's major weakness. It gives an excellent sociological analysis of the unchurched person and then it seeks to derive a ministry strategy from that sociological analysis. The problem here is that Strobel is advocating a church that is organized around the needs of the unchurched, rather than the directives of the Bible. While the pastor or religious leader needs to be sensitive to the sociological needs of the unchurched, he still must be directed by the Bible, and in this case the book falls short.

I want to be quick to point out that at no point does Strobel advocate compromising the gospel. He is merely suggesting that we change our methods or delivery systems. However, the Bible not only tells us what the message is, it gives us directions for our methods also.

Overall, a very helpful book. Just make sure you filter the sociological through the theological and let the theological take pre-eminence.

This was a very good book on evangelization from a unique viewpoint. It is with the view more on the unchurched than the form of evangelization. The author shares his experience in accepting Jesus and from that viewpoint he writes as what one who is not saved and what he feels, sees, thinks, says and expects from Christians and the Church.

The value is that if we can understand the unchurched a bit better maybe we will be more at ease with the Word presentation.

This is a practical book with many lists and their explanation. This is NOT a Thelogical work. Your Theology is left to you. He is simply giving some new and some old ways of doing evangelization but seeing the attempt through the unsaved eyes.

Chapter 10 has a list of 7 things a church should do; Chapter 9 has a list to help the spouse that is saved and married to an unsaved person; Chapter 7 shows there 3 areas or steps that a person takes on his journey to salvation. These lists alone helps you relax in knowing that even if they do not accept the Lord when you speak to them, you may see the progress they have made by moving closer to acceptance. Chapter 5 has 15 observations on the unsaved.
This book is not a detailed step by step way to lead someone to the Lord. It is more a book to help us understand our target so we can be better prepared and less apprehensive in our task.

This is one of the best at getting into the mind of the radically unchurched.

On the downside, this book (like most on the subject) takes a narrative approach to each chapter. Some chapters have useful take-away summaries. What I would have liked but did not find in the chapters were:
1. Discussion or review questions at the end of each chapter
2. Application exercise(s) at the end of each chapter

So, in my view, this book fell short on providing clear, easy to adopt "how to" ways to build effective relationship evangelism habits.

A promising new book that I may use is Evangelism Outside The Box (Rick Richardson, 2000).

Older books that have worked well for me in teaching others are: (roughly in order of preference): Power Evangelism (John Wimber, 1992), Witnessing Without Fear (Bill Bright, 1987), Out of the Salt Shaker (Rebecca Pippert).

If every pastor could read this book and see their church from the eyes of "unchurched Harry and Mary" there'd be no more of what I call "Cheesy Church." The wonderul danger in reading this book is that you'll no longer see your church from the perspective of a pastor or member, but will scrutinize the ridiculous man-made traditions in a way that will embarrass you every time a visitor walks in! Pastors--forget all those "how-to-grow-your-church" books. But THIS ONE.

This is a good book for those who want to be more relevant to today's unchurched, however it was written with the boomer generation in mind, so you have to translate the principles to the buster generation.

I thought this book presented much insight into reaching churched and unchurched people for Christ. It is a book I wish my whole church would read. It makes you think differently how to reach people and how you present ministry programs.

Awesome read!Totally changes you approach in witnessing to the unsaved and unchurched people of our world.