Steve Hollinghurst and Mission-Shaped Evangelism

It’s Steve Hollinghurst’s turn to be interviewed on Nomad Podcast this month. Steve is the Researcher in Evangelism to Post-Christian Culture, at the Sheffield Centre in the UK. He describes this role as ‘finding out how Christians can communicate their faith effectively with people who don't have a church background’.

I found this interview particularly interesting as it touched on many of the things I’m wrestling with right now. The town I live in (like most) has many sub-cultures, all with their own language, worldviews and perceived needs. So learning to navigate your way around this and presenting the gospel in a way that at least makes sense is quite a challenge.

One of my favourite quotes in Steve’s book speaks into this. He says:

‘The Gospel is not a single seed that we plant in foreign soil; it is a whole packet of different seeds that together make a harmonious garden...The art of a skilful missionary is to read the unknown soil and understand the seeds in the gospel packet well enough to know which ones to plant first, to discern when they have taken root in a healthy way, and know when it is time to plant the seeds that will be harder to nurture. Ultimately the whole packet needs planting for faith to be fully realised. Therefore the gospel message is not something we deliver once in a short presentation, but something unveiled piece by piece over a long period of time’ (p. 168)

I used to think I had a responsibility to tell the ‘whole story’ when sharing my faith. This led to many rather awkward situations where I tried to offer the gospel as a solution to a problem people didn’t think they had! So I find Steve’s metaphor of the gospel being a whole packet of seeds really freeing. The key is to discern which seed to sow first. More often than not he seed that seems most appropriate to sow first in my context is one that will make the gospel appear attractive. So I’m spending a lot of my time simply telling stories about the experiences of Jesus I’ve had. The hope is that over time I will then be able to sow more of the seeds from the packet.

Tim