It’s been a while since I last posted on Stuart Murray’s Post-Christendom. The last post was my resume from the book of what empire church is like. If you want a reminder of where Murray has taken us so far it may be worth spending some time reading that post which deals with the legacy given to us by Christendom.

In chapter 8 Murray begins to suggest some ways forward in this the beginning of the post-Christendom era and focuses on mission. He divides the chapter into two, dealing with the church’s connection with the state in the second half and in the first – which will be the focus of this post – he deals with mission and evangelism. Within Christendom, mission – if it was done at all – was the preserve of professional mission organisations while the church had become maintenance orientated. The lack of mission can be partly accounted to the general view that under this system nations were ‘Christian’. Hence we still hear of people talking in terms of the UK being a ‘Christian country’ – even though only a tiny minority follow Jesus. So if a nation is Christian, why bother with mission?

In the late Christendom period many mission organisations were set up to take the gospel to countries beyond Christian Europe, such as the Baptist Missionary Society. Though much good work was done by these societies they were also tainted by the Christendom mindset and became the handmaidens of the colonial powers. Other mission groups became active within the continent and were often characterised by spiritual awakenings or revivals. But much evangelism in this period was based on sin-management and appeals to individual conversion rather than ‘adopting the counter-cultural values of God’s kingdom’ (page 225).

In suggesting ways forward on evangelism, Murray begins by saying that as an activity it is deeply unpopular within churches – and many would surely agree with that as they have cringed at the latest idea on how to share the gospel in the community. There is a deep disillusionment within the church in general about evangelism and yet the church needs to have the sharing of the good news about the Kingdom as a focus to its life. He also senses that the desire to tell the story about Jesus and his impact on their lives is deeper than the reluctance in most believers’ hearts.

His practical suggestions on how evangelism should be undertaken are varied and can be divided into two categories: the first involves dealing with (even repenting of) the mistakes made by Christendom; and the second lists certain principles that should guide the work.

• Dealing with mistakes:

• Recognising the level of hypocrisy that accompanied Christendom, with some believers strongly proclaiming truth while at the same time living lives falling far short of the truth preached;

• Confessing the failure to ‘embody the gospel’ and for inviting people to join a ‘perfect community’ instead of joining ‘imperfect pilgrims’ (229);

• Renouncing the tendency to use imperialistic language in order to impose truth;

• Have less emphasis on preaching as a performance in an event;

• Recognise that church going is no longer a normal activity for the majority and that therefore inviting people to ‘come to church’ is no longer effective;

• Guiding principles:

• Realising the diversity of the community we live in and the need to have different strategies for different people groups;

• Relating the Christian message to the needs of our time, such as a need for community, rather than the needs of an older age, such as the desire to escape guilt;

• Assume that the language of church and its teachings are not known outside of the church – indeed, the simple story about Jesus may not even be known;

• Making more room in Christian’s lives to be with non-believers by cutting down on church programmes;

• Engaging in conversational evangelism rather than confrontational – coming alongside others to share life with them;

• ‘Anticipating longer journeys to Christ’ (230);

• ‘Unpretentious long-term witness is our best hope … Bold humility must replace arrogant insecurity’ (231).

These are principles to guide us and their practical application will look different in different communities. Are they principles that will help us overcome our reluctance to evangelise?