What I'm Reading: Fool's Talk - Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion

Fool's Talk:  Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion, by Os Guinness.

I will never promote a book above scripture or encourage you to read something in place of scripture, but there are many instructive books that help us to understand and apply it.  Read in the light of God's Word, some books can be very helpful.   This is one such book.

... and wow, what writing!   Even on my first reading, I bounced back and forth several times through what I'd read, re-reading and highlighting passages of impact.   The problem is, I don't want to highlight the entire book!

Guinness' entire thesis is based on the premise that we have lost our ability to persuade people of their need of a saviour, and he spends some time proving this thesis, then outlines a comprehensive method for overcoming it.

Across 12 eloquently written chapters, Guinness builds a case.   He even addresses the problem of education, knowledge and eloquence and how these attributes get in the way.

"Just as to a man with a hammer, everything is a nail, so in the age of science and technology, everything is a scientific and technical matter to be solved by scientific and technical means." (p.31)

Guinnes denies that he is a scholar or academic, yet he is a highly educated man with a Ph.D:

"Many of us today, and I include myself, are not naturally adept at creative persuasion.  But the reason is not that we are not educated enough, but that we have too much education of the wrong sort."  (p.177)

Interspersed with a very healthy humour, the book contains many challenges that strike at the heart:

In talking about persuasion through story-telling and paradigm shift, he says,

"The method acts like a spring-loaded trap that promises cheese but delivers a coup de grace to the unsuspecting mouse" (p.42) and,

"The cross, Martin Luther wrote, was the devil's mousetrap.  The devil smelt cheese, and wham, felt steel."  (p.72)

In his section "Cross-centred and Cross-shaped", Guinness says that proclamation and persuasion must never be separated, but that Christian advocacy must ...

"... be shaped ... by five central truths of the faith - creation, the fall, the incarnation, the cross and the Spirit of God",  (p.27),

and he goes on to expound each of these pillars in the context of proclaiming the gospel through persuasion.  I found this section very helpful and practical, for example, he says,

"True to the incarnation, Christian persuasion always has to be primarily person-to-person and face-to-face, not argument to argument, formula to formula ..." (p.27)

This concept reminded me of Screwtape's description of a man in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape letters,

"Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, his intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy.  You can hardly hope, at once, to exclude from all the circles everything that smells of the Enemy:  but you must keep on shoving all the virtues outward till they are finally located in the circle of fantasy; and all the desirable qualities inward into the Will." (Ch. 6)

Guinness gives warning (The Defence Never Rests) and Exhortation (The Way of the Open Hand) and beautifully explains bible passages to encourage our Christian Advocacy work.  The most striking of these is the account of Jesus telling the parable of the vineyard (Lk. 20:9-19 and Guinness pp.179-181)

In wrapping up, Guinness gives a very good and practical overview of the psychology of the mind, and how an understanding of peoples' thought processes can bring an individual to faith.

I have two criticisms of this book.  The first is relatively minor in comparison with the second;  there is the loose quote which Guinness uses of Frankfurt on page 192, which I would argue does not add value to the thesis, and on page 242, Guinness apparently refers to the God of the Christian faith and the god of Islam as one-in-the-same.   His intended meaning is not clear in this section though.   This needs to be carefully measured against scripture.   An explanation that I found helpful is here:  https://carm.org/god-christianity-islam



This has to be one of the best books I have read in terms of thesis, purpose, flow and structure.   It's a very academic book, yet it's not!   This is a 5-star book.  There's so much more I could write, but the post is long enough - you'll just have to read the book if you want more of it.  

(For those cynical readers who wonder whether I was given a free book:  No!  I purchased this book.  I'd tell you if I was given the book to review!  I have used an e-book version on Kindle.)

Rose Coloured Glasses and Facebook Testimonies

 

Rose-coloured glasses and facebook testimonies:  I have used this title because there seems to be a trend amongst evangelicals to paint their life stories through rose-coloured glasses, and to impress on others how great their lives are.   The reality is that without God's intervention, our lives are not that great, so why do we pretend?

Rahab's testimony: 

I am a business-woman in a small middle-eastern city in Moab, A'bel-shit'tim.   I have high-ranking clientele who don't know that I also work as a secret agent for the Israelite Army.   I have been very brave: whilst my house was under surveillance, I smuggled Israeli Officers out of the city.   When my city was raided by the Israelites, they rescued me and my family because of what I have done for them.  I became a grandmother of the Kings of Israel, and eventually the Messiah.  (See Joshua 2&6, Mt. 1:5, Heb. 11:13, Jas. 2:25)

David's testimony: 

I am the King of Israel and Judea.   I have everything I want and need.  I have a beautiful wife, Bathsheba, and a wonderfully healthy son, Solomon.   I have a great right-hand man and advisor, Nathan.  (See 2 Samuel 11&12)

Paul's testimony: 

I have had the best upbringing and education in all of Israel and received rapid promotion.   I am a great detective, identifying and prosecuting those who would try to introduce new thinking.   I have done much travelling, and I'm very resilient.   I once fell blind, but found a wise specialist who was able to heal me.   Although I've been in shipwrecks that were not my fault, I used my leadership skills and miraculous powers to save people, including myself.   (See Acts 9,22&26-28, 2 Cor.11:16-28)

Do these short testimonies ring true in your heart?   There is no falsity in them; but there is a misleading of truth that makes you feel uncomfortable.   The testimonies only share the "good bits", and there is even a little "twisting of the truth" to make the witness look better.   Is there value in witnessing if we only share the "good bits" of our lives?   Facebook is a classic example of this falsity in our cultures.   People feel depressed because they see how great everyone else's lives are portrayed on facebook whilst their own lives are messed up, mundane and ordinary.  Their kids are sick, they are on a tight budget, working hours are long and hard, and they need a holiday.  But it seems like all their friends have a great life; kids are never sick, they win all their sports events and they are always on holidays.

What is your purpose in sharing life stories?   The writer of Ecclesiates gives us a warning: 

"For there are many words which increase futility.  What then is the advantage to a man?" Ecc. 6:11 (NASB) or as rendered in the NIV:  "The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?" 

Are you using your words wisely?

Ray Comfort, in his excellent book "God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life", says

"If non-Christians respond to the gospel message only to improve their lives, they will be disillusioned when persecution comes, and they may fall away from the faith.   This is because many respond experimentally, simply to see if the "wonderful life" is as good as Christians say it is" (p.28)

"Jesus didn't shield the newly converted Saul of Tarsus from what was in store for him as a Christian.  Instead, Jesus said that He would "show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:16).  Stephen was cruelly stoned to death for his faith.  James, who told his brethren to "count it all joy when you fall into various trials" (James 1:2), was murdered with a sword.  John the Baptist also felt the sharp steel of persecution.  Down through the ages, Christians have been hated, persecuted, thrown to lions and - like John Hus - even burned at the stake for the sake of the gospel. (p.29)

John recognised that it was not about himself, but all about Jesus: 

"He must become greater;  I must become less",  Jn. 3:30 (NIV)

 and Paul said,

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weaknesses", 2 Cor. 11:30 (NIV)

Rahab's true testimony: 

I was a prostitute in a small middle-eastern city in Moab, A'bel-shit'tim.   I have sinned a lot in my life.   Many men come to my house for illicit purposes, but on one occasion, the God of the Israelites sent two honest men to my house for safekeeping.   I harboured them and helped them to escape, but God had His hand on me all the time.  I was scared of being found out.   I lied to the officials when they asked me about the men.   Some time later, the Israelite Army raided my city, but again, God was gracious toward me and my family and we were rescued and I was grafted into the line of the Messiah.  God gave me a wonderful husband, even though I did not deserve one.  (See Joshua 2&6, Mt. 1:5, Heb. 11:13, Jas. 2:25)

David's true testimony: 

I am the King of Israel and Judea, but I wasn't always King of both nations.  I was annointed, but I became afraid of Saul and ran away.   I am a great warrior, but a few years ago I became complacent and stayed home when I should have been leading my troops at war.   I looked for fulfilment in fleshly things, and saw a beautiful woman who was not my wife.  In fact, she was the wife of one of my Officers.   I took her and had a sinful relationship with her, then tried to cover up by having her husband murdered.   God confronted me through the prophet Nathan and my sin was exposed.   I was convicted of my guilt and sought redemption.  I begged with God not to cast me out of His presence or take His Spirit from me.  God has graciously redeemed me and blessed me again, but I didn't deserve it.   God still punished me and took my beautiful baby boy, but now he has blessed me with a wonderfully healthy son, Solomon who will be my successor.   I praise God for a great right-hand man, prophet and advisor, Nathan who confronted my sin.  (See 2 Samuel 11&12 and Ps. 51)

Paul's true testimony: 

I have had the best upbringing and education in all of Israel and received rapid promotion, but I was a pharisee and legalist.   I took offence at the gospel of Jesus Christ and persecuting His followers consumed me.   I murdered many of them.   I was present and consented to Stephen's stoning.   Jesus confronted me on the road and struck me blind, but in His grace, he sent me to a believer who placed his hands on me and healed me.   I met the One I was persecuting and now I travel for him.  My travel has been hard.   Men want to kill me and they pursue me.   I have been in many bad situations - too many to even list in this blogspot!   I can only give glory to God, and will only boast of my weaknesses and what God has done for me.   (See Acts 9,22&26-28, 2 Cor.11:16-28)

Do our testimonies lead people to understand their own desperate need for salvation, and the grace of God, or do we selfishly paint a great picture of ourselves to the eternal loss of souls?   Are we pretending or are we honest?   Pretending was fatal for Romeo and Juliet:  "Thus with a kiss I die", and it almost cost Edmund his life in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when he was tempted by the "good things".

I should have called this blogspot "It's all about Jesus"

Do you surf the NET?

Do you surf the NET?   I don't mean the interNET;  I mean the NET Bible.   This blog is (in part) intended to point believers to helpful and useful resources, and the NET Bible is one such resource that might prove almost invaluable to you or someone you know.

The NET Bible (New English Translation) is a relatively new translation by biblical language scholars and first released in 1996.  Continual refinements and recent improvements have made this translation very easy to access and study, especially if you do computer-based bible research.   It is completely free to use online or to download, or if you prefer a hardcopy this can be purchased.   Although there are some big names involved in the development of the translation, let's focus on the Author of the scriptures rather than the men who are the scholars and instrument of God:  2 Tim 3:16, "Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (NET)

Lumina is the measure of light being radiated in all directions from a solitary source.   It is appropriate that the NET Bible calls it's interface page "Lumina".   The NET Bible can be directly accessed at the Lumina interface here:  https://lumina.bible.org

The Lumina interface provides for comprehensive searches, selection of any scripture, daily bible readings, scholarly notes and provision to make and record your own.   The daily bible readings are structured for reading the entire bible in a year (or 90 days if you prefer!)   You can customise your homescreen to exclude non-scriptural headings, chapter and verse numbers.  In a parallel column, you can select commentary notes, Dr. Thomas Constable's notes, maps, original language text and parallel bibles.

I could set out to do a critical review of the NET Bible, but it has already been done by many others.  Here is a fairly balanced review by a critic named Michael Marlowe if you want to dig deeper into the translation.  In places, Marlowe seems to attempt to discredit the translation, especially in his comments about the source of the translators, but in doing so he actually paints it in a pretty good light.   http://www.bible-researcher.com/net.html  (The NET Bible has 22 editors and translators;  17 are or have been professors at Dallas Theological Seminary, and another 5 were students there).

My blogspot today does not seek to endorse the NET Bible translation, or Marlowe's review; simply to highlight the NET to you as an option for study.   I have found that the NET Bible is a very credible translation.

The downloads page is here:  https://bible.org/article/net-bible-download.  You can also download the NET Bible phone App (Lumina) and the Olive Tree Bible App in the App Store or here:  https://www.olivetree.com/store/home.php?cat=262&language=1&sort=title_popular&free=on.

Lessons from a Church Planter

The latest HPMHC Newsletter from Dr. Bob Vajko, TEAM International Church Planting Consultant, is so pertinent and on-point with what we are doing in our community that I am reposting it here.

HPMHC is the abbreviation for "Help in Planting and Multiplying Healthy Churches", a monthly newsletter.   I have made very minor structural adjustments to the newsletter so that it fits this blogpost.   The original newsletter article was published on 2/8/16 entitled "If We Were to Plant Another Church!"   You will find Dr. Bob Vajko's contact details at the bottom of the article.  The article follows, quoting Dr. Bob Vajko:

At one point in our ministry in France, I interviewed a number of church planters asking them the following question: “If you were to start all over and plant another church, what would you do differently?”  It was fascinating to hear the varied replies and to share them with others.  Now in this article I want to ask myself the same question.  Along with my wife Noreen we had the joy of starting daughter churches out of a church planted by another missionary, planting a new church in France in the new city of St. Quentin, along with two daughter churches and then planting a new church in Australia while teaching at the Adelaide College of Ministries in South Australia.  Then for the last twelve years I have been serving as a church plant consultant teaching in various parts of the world where I have then learned some other valuable help.

So ...  I want to ask myself the question, “What would I do differently if I were to plant another church?”  As we look back we see that there were some key things that we did rightly such as planting the church in prayer and leaning hard upon Christ’s promise, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18).  We also made planting daughter churches a vital part of a new church.  I have a study that I have used with church planters entitled, “Twelve Mistakes Church Planters Make” (available by electronic copy, just e-mail me at bobvajko@gmail.com and request a copy). Nevertheless, were we to plant another church, here are some aspects of church planting that we would either do differently or emphasize more.

Here is some of what I see as of importance now:

1.     First, I would lay an even greater emphasis on faith and prayer than we had done in previous church planting experiences.

a.     We learned about the importance of prayer in the church plant that started in the New City of St. Quentin, France, and put great emphasis upon prayer and had prayer partners with whom we communicated each step of the church planting cycle.

b.    But we have learned even more the importance of other aspects of prayer in church planting from what has happened in what are called “church planting movements” where seven aspects of prayer are enumerated.

                                  i.    Prayer for the missionaries.
                                 ii.    Prayer for the lost people group.
                                iii.    Prayer modeled by the missionaries and church planters.
                                iv.    Prayer for the new believers.
                                 v.    Prayer by the new believers.
                                vi.    Prayer between partners.
                               vii.    Prayer for more workers. (Garrison 2004, 173-177).

We did emphasize nos. i, iii, Iv, and v, but would lay greater weight on every one of these aspects of prayer.

2.     Second, I would spend more time in discipleship right from the beginning and make this a key part of the church plant at all times. This would include the following elements:

a.     Clearly defining what a disciple is and does. Here is a helpful description from Bill Hull (1984,11-12):

                                  i.    One who “remains in Christ, consistently walking with him.”
                                 ii.    “The second major characteristic of a disciple is obedience.”
                                iii.    “The third basic characteristic of a disciple is that he bears spiritual fruit.”
                                iv.    “The fourth primary badge of a true disciple is that he glorifies God.”

b.    Having a basic approach to the phases of discipleship without developing a program that is not flexible. These would include the following stages: (Hull & Gilliam 1995, 27-29).

                                  i.    “Come and See.”
                                 ii.    “Follow Me”
                                iii.    “Be with Me”
                                iv.    “Remain in Me”

This does not mean that we would necessarily follow a linear approach but we would seek to have people move in discipleship as God works in their lives. What this also means is there is no such thing as a person having arrived at what we call “discipleship.”  There is always growing and moving ahead and the local church provides that possibility of movement.  Leon Morris states, “discipleship is not static, but a growing and developing way of life.  Always the true disciple is becoming more fully a disciple” (Morris 1971, 673).

c.     Developing discipleship so that it becomes a clear step to the needed leadership in the newly-planted church.

d.    It would also be important to have personal discipleship in a mentoring situation with key people that would help them develop as disciples.  Robertson McQuilkin talks about “Personal is ‘in’” in discipleship and further clarifies:  "Whatever the approach, clearly the concept of having someone gifted and called to the role of personally instructing believers and holding them accountable could indeed be a major source of spiritual development, of becoming ever more like Jesus, of having the lost image restored, of living our life in the presence and power of the Spirit.  In short, of becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ" (McQuilkin 2007, 54).

3.     Third, I would seek to develop leaders before the church started and continue training leaders as the church plant developed.

a.     This would mean a proactive approach to developing leaders rather than a passive waiting to see leaders arise.

b.    This would also involve developing leaders for planting new churches out of a mother church in order to see multiplication take place.

4.     Fourth, I would emphasize not only Sunday worship but what was happening in the lives of believers during the week.

a.     In some cases, instead of a vision of making disciples, the emphasis is upon starting up another church service.   Diet Schindler, an experienced church planter in Germany states that churches do not thrive because of a wrong vision of “Planting worship services instead of churches. In many instances church planters are not planting a new church; they are planting a new worship service. Worship becomes the dominant driving force; sucking in most of the time, energy, and finances of the core group.  I believe this is a grave error that we need to overcome.“  As Schindler sees it, you will end up with a group of people attending a service rather than true disciples having a vision of making disciples in accord with Christ’s command in the Great Commission. He further explains this simply as a church plant having, “No intentional way of making disciples that make disciples” (Schindler quoted in Vajko 2012).

b.    J. D. Greear explains, “Churches that want to penetrate their world with the gospel think less about Sunday morning bang and more about equipping their members to blast a hole in the mountain of lostness” (2015, 29). Then again he states, “We see our weekend gathering of the church like a huddle, where instructions are given for how the players can run the ‘mission’ play throughout the week” (85).

c.     Effective small groups that function well in the following areas would be emphasized:

                                  i.    Praying together.
                                 ii.    Discipling together
                                iii.    Applying the Word of God together.
                                iv.    Serving together.
                                 v.    Evangelizing together.

5.     Fifth, I would seek to develop a strategy for multiplication that would continue to more than four generations. This means also that I would do everything I could to train church planters from within the church plant to plant other churches without developing sterile churches that do not reproduce.

6.     Sixth, I would emphasize the balance between quality and quantity in church planting.

a.     We would seek to see definite quantity growth without playing the numbers game.
b.    We would determine what are the basic qualities of a healthy church.
c.     We would seek to also put in place what might be called “organic” or “structural growth.”
d.    Above all, we would seek to develop the following ten qualities of a healthy church:

                                  i.        The Priority of the Word of God in General and of the Gospel in Particular.
                                 ii.        True Discipleship.
                                iii.        Leadership Development.
                                iv.        Spiritual Gifting Valued.
                                 v.        Biblically Balanced Personal and Corporate Worship.
                                vi.        Effective Small Groups.
                               vii.        Effective Evangelism.
                              viii.        Loving Care for One Another.
                                ix.        Reproduction by Church Planting.
                                 x.        World Missions Vision.  (Vajko 2011)

7.     Seventh, I would implement a plan for teaching the Word of God in a systematic way.

a.     This would involve what Paul said about the church plant in Ephesus, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house” (Acts 20:20).

b.    This plan for teaching all the Word is seen in what Paul stated in 1 Tim. 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God might be competent, equipped for every good work.”

c.     It has become more and more evident that people need a true biblical theology –to see the Bible as a whole and not just some sections of Scripture.

8.     Eighth, I would emphasize even more that a true church must have a vision for the Great Commission to make disciples in all the world according to Matt. 28:18-20.

a.     This would mean a vision for making sure that the church understand that the making of disciples in every nation is the responsibility of every believer. J. E. Greear explains, “In every sermon I preach, I ask myself, ‘Have I connected this text to God’s global mission?” (Geear 1975, 157).  This keeps world missions in the center of the local church.

b.    This would mean doing everything possible to mobilize the church to send out key people in mission to all nations.

c.     This would also mean having a major part of the giving going to support missionaries throughout the world.

Reference List

All Scripture quoted is from the English Standard Version, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Garrison, David. 2004. Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources.
Greear, J. D. 2015. Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Hull, Bill. 1984. Jesus Christ Disciple Maker. Old Tappan, NJ: Revell.
________. 1990. The Disciple Making Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell.
Hull, Bill and Bob Gilliam. 1995 “Biblical Foundations of Disciplemaking.” Syllabus of Course at Trinity International University, July 1995.
McQuilkin, Robertson. 2007. The Five Smooth Stones: Essential Principles for Biblical Ministry. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing.
Morris, Leon. 1971. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
Schindler, Dietrich.  Personal e-mail in response to a question about church planting.
Vajko, Robert. 2011. “Church Planting Seminar on Church Health– Budapest, Hungary, March 20, 2009, revised May 2011.”
________. 2012. “Church Plants that Survive and Thrive.”  Study for training Church Planters.

This newsletter is edited by Dr. Bob Vajko, International Church Planting Consultant, and is sent out by TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission). Remember our goal is that “no church planter might stand alone” and “we have a dream—a world where there are no lonely church planters.” If you would like to reply to this issue or any part of this HPMHC newsletter, simply send an e-mail to either me at bobvajko@gmail.com or my wife at nvajko@gmail.com.  Thank  you.

PUBLISHING AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION . HELP IN PLANTING AND MULTIPLYING HEALTHY CHURCHES (HPMHC) is put together in collaboration with TEAM by Bob and Noreen Vajko, TEAM International Church Planting Consultants. There are now more than 450 people receiving this newsletter in 36 ministry areas of the world.  Also, if you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, simply have them e-mail us and request a free subscription. You are free to use, photocopy, and send any part of this newsletter to others who might be helped.  Just cite the source as you use this material and then encourage them to sign up to receive this free newsletter.  Send requests for new subscriptions, changes of address and cancellations to the Vajkos.

Tactical Options

Not everyone is gifted and called as an evangelist, but every believer is certainly called to evangelise (Matt. 28:19-20, Acts 1:8).

Predominately a police and military term, “tactical options” is a good term for all Christians to consider, but what does it mean?   Simply put, tactical options are the options you have available for your response to a situation.

In the context of this post, “what’s in your evangelism toolbox?”  Of course there’s the bible.  The bible is the basis for all evangelism, but how do you present the truth that is found in the bible when speaking to the lost?  As you share the good news of Jesus with others, you will find a whole range of personalities, characters, beliefs and arguments.  So how do you deal with this range of situations?   Answer:  You should know exactly what tactical options are in your figurative toolbox, saddlebag, waist-belt or backpack and select appropriately.

It’s probably not appropriate in every situation to stand on your soapbox and preach “fire and brimstone” sermons on the street corner, or to do cold-introduction street evangelism (but I do know a committed believer who was saved by this method!).   Frank Jenner was an incredibly effective street evangelist in and around George Street, Sydney – if you haven’t read his story, I’d recommend that you look him up…

I have a friend who teaches with story boards and know another whose artwork tells the gospel story.   However, more often in our culture, we reach the lost through relationships with family, friends and associates.

Although your testimony is great, personal and relevant, it’s not always the same conversation that leads to a gospel bridge.   Do you have enough relational credit with your friends, relatives and associates to share your testimony?  Steve Smith in T4T (see previous post) says that his teams aim to identify as Jesus-followers within the first 5 minutes of a conversation with a lost person.   They refer to this as the “five-minute rule”.

It is helpful to think through scenarios in advance, practice developing conversational bridges, and your testimony.   Know common responses to the gospel and anticipate these.  

There’s another method that I have found particularly helpful in some situations, and I have it in my toolbox:  It’s the “Good Person” test and cartoon, originally developed by Way of the Master and is available as a free download here:  http://www.freecartoontract.com/

I find the good person test is handy for people who claim that, “God is good, so He won’t send me to hell”, or “I’ve been a good person so I’m sure I’ll go to heaven”, both of which are wildly unbiblical statements, forgetting the truth of Romans 3:23 and 6:23.   It’s also a good conversation for people who have some knowledge of the bible.

 

 

The Good Person Test appeals to the unbeliever to do a test based on the Ten Commandments to see if they are truly good.   The cartoon leaflet is helpful to show the person the progress of the test and uses the colorful cartoon figure of Mr. Nice Guy.   The point of the test is to get the person to recognise their lostness and need for salvation, which you can do in less than a minute.

The Good Person Test is lighthearted and will usually get a couple of laughs, especially as the testee labels him/herself a lying thief and realises their dire mistake.   It quickly gets serious when you come to the truth about judgment.

I believe that the appropriate method of evangelism is flexible, dynamic and Spirit-led.   Pray and go where the Spirit leads.