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Megatrend 7:
Mushrooming of literature on evangelism
by Justin D. Long
We must continue to put into print the knowledge we have acquired. But in a "post-modern" age, many in the next generation question old materials ('how do you really know?'), or simply ignore old truths in favor of current experience. That is the short way to repeating old mistakes. We must be careful at the same time to educate our children to read and make use of the material that is out there, and to learn about our mission heritage.
Can you repeat D. L. Moody's famous words that are quoted by a certain network of mission agencies? Do you know what the infamous Interchurch World Movement was? Do you know what some of the greatest missed opportunities for mission are? If you haven't, then you've missed out on a massive resource—articles on world evangelization. If you have, then you've benefited from something you may not even have thought about.
Part of it is demographic (there are more writers in the world, and therefore more articles). Part of it is time-sensitive: as AD 2000 draws nearer, more people are interested in missions and evangelization. And part of it is the ease with which you can write an article and be published, thanks to desktop publishing, personal newsletters, and the Internet.
However it came about, it has become a forceful trend affecting the unevangelized. In 1990 there were over 11,000 articles, books, tracts and the like being written on the topic of evangelization every year. This figure is taking a sharp upward trend as entries are being posted on the Internet.
Just doing a search on the keywords "evangelize," "evangelism" and "evangelization" through the Internet search engine Alta Vista (http://www.digital.altavista.com) turns up a wealth of material on the subject: over 10,000 items in all. Included are "how-to" articles on evangelism, tracts, the Four Spiritual Laws, and more.
Every year, another spat of books is written on how to win your neighbors to Christ. Combine this with case studies and information on current "revivals" and "campaigns" and you have an enormous amount of information available on who's evangelizing, how they're doing it, and how you can do it, too.
But what effect does all this have?
On a planet where the rich and educated are reading less and less, and the poor and underdeveloped cannot largely read at all, what good do articles on evangelization do?
For one thing, we are having to find new, creative, innovative ways to get our point and our material across to lay Christians. Presenting information on evangelization to new generations is an interesting case study. I picked up a "GenX" magazine yesterday and found the the material was some of the best I'd ever read—even though the presentation format gave me a splitting headache.
Second, by providing the information in print or on the Internet, Third-World agencies can gain access to this treasure trove of instructional material: and they will probably put it to far better use than we ever will. True, there is quite a lot of straw out there—Western forms of evangelism that will not work in Third-World countries, the Middle East or Asia. However, creative Christians can adapt ideas, and in the midst of the straw there are some priceless jewels.
Third, the very publication of the material proves that, in the minds of marketers at least, there is still an audience out there that wants to hear about evangelizing the world. And that, perhaps, is one of the most optimistic signs yet.
We cannot hope to avoid the mistakes of the past if we do not read about them—and techniques that worked a hundred years ago may, with subtle alterations and modernizations, work today. Therefore, this huge mass of literature informs, educates, inspires and motivates Christians to put into practice what they read.
Not only does this material offer immediate mobilization purposes, it is also an archive for future generations who will learn from our printed works. Even as we are presently reading and finding inspiration in the words of Moody, Stott and Spurgeon, future generations will (hopefully!) be inspired by our own works, writings and thoughts..
We must continue to put into print the knowledge we have acquired. But in a "post-modern" age, many in the next generation question old materials ('how do you really know?'), or simply ignore old truths in favor of current experience. That is the short way to repeating old mistakes. We must be careful at the same time to educate our children to read and make use of the material that is out there, and to learn about our mission heritage.