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Finding Common Ground: How to Communicate With Those Outside the Christian Community...While We Still Can
by Tim Downs
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Moody Publishers (1999-08-09)
ISBN: 0802440967
EAN: 9780802440969
Paperback: 192 pages
SKU: 091908017
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: ...No noticeable Underlining or Highlighting...minor wear on cover
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
When it comes to reaching the new generation for Christ, are believers truly sowing for the future-or just reaping the benefits of past evangelistic efforts? Tim Downs suggests practical ways for today's Christians to cultivate fruitful relationships in our communities, and bring our troubled culture the healing it needs so much.
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Customer Reviews
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Profoundly Compelling and Accessible. A must read!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-09-03
Summary
In his introduction, the author presents his thesis at its most basic level. In response to the question, Will Christ return in our generation? he says, "Live as though He will, and plan as though He won't" (12). He wrote this book in response to recent trends (though the book is nearly a decade old now, the trends have continued the trajectory he describes) that find evangelicals focusing almost exclusively on the harvesting of souls, while the number of "ripe" souls has been and continues to be steadily declining. Why is this? He claims that it is because evangelicals have planned as though Christ will return in his generation and thus that we are living in the "Last Great Harvest." This has led to a virtual relinquishment of the Christian imperative to "sow," that is, to do the hard labor of cultivating the "soil" of individual unbelievers and the culture at large which makes it possible for the Gospel to take root.
Strengths
It is easy to see why Tim Downs received the Gold Medallion Award for this book. He speaks in language anyone can understand, but does so without condescending. He is compellingly practical, both in his illustrations and his applications. Most importantly, his thesis, insofar as it is an accurate representation of reality, is of grave import for the Church--and for the unbelieving world for whom Christ died and to whom Christ sent us. The book distinguishes itself from much of the proliferating church-critical material in two key ways. First, it is consistent and coherent. It focuses only those issues crucial for the case it presents and avoid superfluous rabbit trails. Simply, he says one thing, and says it well. Second, it is balanced. It avoids the doomsday tendencies of typical "prophetic" works, and offers itself not as an alternative to "harvesting", but as a necessary complement. To err to one side or the other is nevertheless to err, and that we cannot afford to do.
Weaknesses
At times, he overstates his case. The Western terrain is hardly of one, uniform type. Likewise, in Jesus' day, all types of soils were present, including the hardest, driest, shallowest and thorniest of soils. Nevertheless, his critique of the typical evangelical understanding that Jesus' announcement that "the fields are ripe for harvest" was a once-and-for-all declaration, thereby abdicating us of all responsibility to sow, is well warranted and desperately needed. While his case was argued very reasonably (and, to me, persuasively), substantiating his case more rigorously from Scripture would have strengthened the impact of the book, particularly for those most entrenched in "harvest mode."
Recommendation
The fundamental questions that must be asked are, Are his facts correct? Is his reasoning solid? Is it biblically sound? I believe, with minor caveats, that the answer to each of these is strongly affirmative. While the book may not be aptly described as rigorously exegetical in form, he really only needed to substantiate one point--his thesis. That he did without question. And if Tim Downs' analysis of the condition of Western cultural soil is correct (and groundbreaking research such as that of Ted Olson is revealing ever more decisively that it is) then the claims he makes are ignored to our great peril. Quite simply, we need this book. I enthusiastically recommend it.
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A Step-by-Step View of the Long Journey Ahead
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-03-27
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." What a profound insight for Christians to bear in mind as we seek to change a generation, a world. Many authors have offered us elaborate, inspiring ideals (the journey), but when the ideals have been explained and embellished, we are left with no idea what the first step toward reaching those ideals could be.
Downs will not leave you in this lurch. "Finding Common Ground" is a no-nonsense read full of practical application, driven by some of the best ideals Christianity has emphasized in the past ten years. It is evident that Downs
1. values the privacy, feelings, and true eternal destiny of each and every person his readers will approach after reading this book.
2. is deeply concerned for those who will be inspired to reach a decaying culture; he has not advocated "weird evangelism" using what I call TnL ("Tract and List") methods.
3. speaks from a long history of personal experience, a thoughtful perspective on the culture we inhabit, and most importantly, a high view of the biblical text.
Such works are few and far between, but greatly needed in a Church full of well-intended but sometimes awkward evangelists and outreachers.
It seems undeniable that evangelism in the coming century will not hinge as much on proclamation as it will on persuasion. How do we begin? By finding common ground.
ALong
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Excellent, accessible work!
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-05-27
5 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
Here's a book that all new Christians should read (before they develop severe insecurities because they can no longer relate!) don't get me wrong, this one is for all Christians, but I just wish it had been available to me 20 years ago. Very insightful into the condition of a believer who really cares about those he/she comes into contact with on a daily basis. Mr. Downs points out that we (as believers) often only see the non-Christian as a potential believer, never accepting them for who they are (unless of course they were to recite the four spiritual laws!). This is an extremely helpful book and I recommend it to everyone! Could be retitled "How to be normal, even when everyone thinks you're nuts". The best point Downs makes is that we see the unsaved as potential harvests, and that's damaging because we can only harvest that which has been sown. Tim challenges us to attend to sowing the Gospel, and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the harvesting (since that's His function anyway).
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Read this once a year!
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-09-20
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Go with me on a little imaginary journey. Imagine you've decided to "bite the bullet" and join a friend for some street-corner evangelism. Close your eyes. What do you imagine? Are you clutching your pamphlet-of-choice with sweating, trembling hands? Muttering an incoherent prayer to the Holy Spirit to "be with you" as you walk out your door, as your stomach tries to reject the notion that it's responsible for your digestion? Breaking out into a cold sweat as you approach your first person?
When author Tim Downs was in college, he had this experience ... and worse. He and a friend approached a young man on campus, who listened to their opening line, averted his eyes, and began walking away. They dogged him all the way to his dormitory, all three now at a dead run, trying to get through The Four Spiritual Laws while in breathless pursuit. In for a dime, in for a dollar! Needless to say, the door was slammed and the young man's impression of Christians was not improved.
In Finding Common Ground, Downs bucks standard evangelical thinking. He believes we are so certain we are living in the end times, that we are trying to "harvest" without first "sowing". When we rush evangelism, we are engaging with others in such a way that it's really more about us than about them. And in the process, we are needlessly driving others away from engagement in issues of faith.
He argues that recent growth in the numbers of people coming to faith are the result of those in previous generations who created a culture where faith was possible. They were sowers. And if we don't learn to sow, we will be like farmers gathering all the harvest without doing any planting. There will be no harvest for future generations.
In talking about what it means to be a sower, Downs gives many examples from his own life and others, which I always find so helpful. One section that I especially appreciated was the one where he described a day in the life of a sower, all the folks he made contact with who are in varying places spiritually, and how he interacted with each of them. A notion he holds very strongly is that talented, devoted individuals in the workplace who ask the question "should I be doing full-time ministry?" are too often encouraged to come out of the workplace, get some seminary training, and then return to try to leverage their contacts in their former workplace. His contention is that they are most valuable where they are, and most credible without the specialized training.
Downs also lays down some helpful fundamental principles, such as asking good questions that provoke thought rather than defensiveness, hearing the underlying world view in a person's statements so that you can respond to that rather than the statement itself, finding points of agreement as a means of lowering walls, balancing love and justice (love: only telling them the truth when I feel they're ready to hear it [Jn 16;12]; justice: the times when it's just important to tell the truth, whether we feel they're ready to accept it or not), recognizing the value of indirect communication, and more.
I found this to be one of those books with such a rich "harvest" of thoughtful ideas that I had to go back and highlight it and read it through several times. I just may make it the first book ever on my "Read Every Year" list.
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Changed the way I live my daily life!
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-02-11
5 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is the best book i have ever read on how to share your faith in a real, relavent, non threatening way with the people you work and live around that are not open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ! This is a must have for any believer who is serious about their faith.
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