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Reviewed by Andrew D. Kinsey, Senior Pastor of Community United Methodist Church in Vincennes, Indiana. Needs-Based Evangelism: Becoming a Good Samaritan Church by Robert D. Pierson The parable of the Good Samaritan has longed-filled the Christian imagination. Jesus’ story of the lowly Samaritan helping the man along the side of the road and binding up his wounds goes to the core of Jesus’ kingdom ethic. The question “Who is my neighbor?” expresses the whole relational approach to Jesus’ ministry and mission. But it when comes to evangelism, we also ask, “And just who is my neighbor?” How do we as Christians in the 21st century understand the kingdom ethic of Jesus when it comes to evangelism? How do we assess the needs of others, especially those who are hurting? How do we go about proclaiming the kingdom of God, while reaching out to others? Do we all not want to be Good Samaritans? And do we also not want our churches to be Good Samaritan churches? The questions are relevant to the contemporary scene. Robert D. Pierson, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church, in Tulsa Oklahoma, and chair of the Large Church Initiative in the United Methodist Church, has written a practical book on how churches can carry out Jesus’ Good Samaritan approach to evangelism by assessing the needs of the local community (Chapter 5). In a post-Christian era, as Pierson points out, churches need to understand that the mission field is right outside the door, and that churches, in order to proclaim the amazing grace of God, need to find ways to bind up the wounds of those who are suffering. In Pierson’s estimation, it doesn’t take long to realize that the hurt and pain are there. The question churches need to ask is, “Do we as Christ’s representatives really want to be Good Samaritan Churches and respond to the pain?” This is a “do or die” question, according to Pierson. Pierson organizes his book into seventeen chapters, dealing with a wide-range of topics, from how to assess the needs of the community to how to market the church to outsiders. Also important are ways the church is called to witness, worship, and grow in a healthy ways. In short, the key thrust for the local church is to practice what Jesus taught and did (Chapter 4). Pierson’s main point is that if the church is to grow it must adopt a needs-based methodology for mobilizing people into mission (p. 8); that is, it must assess the needs of the community, while proclaiming the message of the gospel. The two go hand-in-hand. Therefore, throughout the book, Pierson wants to show how a needs-based approach to evangelism is central to the turnaround of the church, in this case, the Mainline Protestant church. A few comments are in order while reflecting on Pierson’s work. First, this book can serve as a helpful catalyst for mission and evangelism. Laity and clergy can focus on the biblical themes on evangelism, while discerning and dealing with the lay of the land in their local community. It has several practical suggestions in the areas of marketing and event-based evangelism. Second, the book can help churches realize that the renewal process takes time and that it must be focused on the needs of others. If the gospel is to become embodied in and through the life of the church, it must find ways to reach out in concrete ways. Assessing the needs of others, then, is crucial. And third, the book can expand the definition of evangelism beyond simply a proclamation model. Evangelism in the church can become a dirty word. Pierson shows how it can be redeemed for the good. But the book also raises questions: What happens when the church may not be able to meet the needs of others? In a consumerist culture, what dangers are there in promoting a church that can “meet your needs”? What happens when the church may “fail” in this area? These questions are not meant to dissuade the church from assessing what the needs are or in trying to meet the needs of the community. Rather, they are asked in order to raise questions about the nature of the church itself and the gospel it proclaims. Such questions are meant to clarify the nature of the work into which Christ has called the church in a hurting and suffering world. This book, then, can serve the local pastor and church well. It can serve as a nice complement to other forms of evangelism (e.g., servant evangelism, seeker forms of evangelism, and small group ministries). This is the strength of the book. A weakness, however, is that it could have used a working bibliography at the end, along with discussion questions. This could have helped as a teaching tool. To be sure, Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan has filled the Christian imagination for centuries. It is a story with a depth of meaning; it also offers tremendous insight. Therefore, at the beginning of a new century, it remains a story that offers much needed guidance in shaping our imaginations with purpose as we seek to enact the good news of God’s kingdom.
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