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Love your neighbour for God's sakeLOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR FOR GOD'S SAKE If, like me, you get slightly jaded with all the talking about evangelism without ever getting round to it, Justyn Rees's book will come as a real tonic. He has a relentless enthusiasm for talking about Jesus and that is conveyed in this book. His desire to be practical is revealed right at the beginning, when we are introduced to Fred. 'Neighbour', Rees believes, is too general a term to be a real flesh and blood person. We must come up with our own equivalent of Fred as we read, someone we know, or we are told the book will be of only limited value. Simple really, except how often do we actually do that? The succeeding chapters are real-life experiences in how the good news can be related in different ways to our Fred. Rees is concerned that we should be imaginative and seize every opportunity that comes our way to make the love of Christ real in the communities we live in. He records the time when the neighbourhood he lived in suffered a spate of robberies. He and his wife organised an evening with the local police to talk with the neighbours about security. It was a golden opportunity to begin to build friendships and to afford the possibility of sharing the gospel. In many ways, I found the most telling chapter to be the one entitled 'Laying the red carpet'. This focuses on the crucial importance of making Jesus accessible to people. What is there joinable, he asks, in the programme and structure of the average church? Where is the red carpet in your church? Some people reading this book may get a little breathless as they try to keep pace with the author. I found it refreshingly straightforward, very practical, and a powerful reminder that in today's crowded church agenda, introducing men and women to Jesus must remain the driving force of our lives. Ross Terranova© Evangelicals Now - December 1997 |