Excerpts from Planting New Churches in a Postmodern World- Part 2

Ed Stetzer, in his book Planting New Churches in a Postmodern World, makes the following comment regarding evangelism on page 193:

There are two conversions- one temporal and one eternal. The first conversion is the conversion to community. With few exceptions, people come to Christ after they have journeyed with other Christians- examining them and considering their claims. They can come into community at any point....

The journey is not intended to be the same for each people group, worldview, or culture... For each culture, the misperceptions and reasons for rejection are different. The only thing that remains constant is the journey.

I think Stetzer says a lot about the new generations. In the modern world we could persuade unbelievers that Christ is the only way to the Father through empirical evidence. Today it takes our witness, and not just through constantly telling unbelievers about Christ, but leading them to knowledge of Christ through the witness of our lives. Before they understand that God's love is unfailing, they must see the sincerety of it in our lives. We must assure them that God's love means to us exactly what we say it means to us.