A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race - Softcover

McNeil, Brenda Salter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0830834826 ISBN 13: 9780830834822

Publisher: IVP, 2008

Synopsis

Meet Jesus and Sam. Evangelist and teacher Brenda Salter McNeil thinks evangelism that only introduces people to Jesus is incomplete. The picture is much larger than that, she claims: Christ's death and resurrection reconcile us to God and to each other across gender, race and social lines. Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman, introduced here as Brenda's friend Sam, gives you the full picture of gospel reconciliation--reconciliation to God and to each other. In her powerful, prophetic way, Brenda expounds their interaction recorded in John 4 and shares her own story of coming to Christ and learning to relate to other Christians. A Credible Witness tells you why both types of reconciliation are necessary, and moves you to be a person whose evangelism happens through a right relationship with God and others. "In today's world," Brenda writes, "we too are called to embody more than one type of reconciliation. The good news brings us to God, and it also brings life and healing to a broken, dying and divided world. Anything less is not the gospel."

About this title

About the Author:

Brenda Salter McNeil is an ordained Christian minister, teacher and evangelist. Through her ministry, Salter McNeil Associates, she is a frequent speaker at churches, colleges and conferences nationwide. She previously served on the staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and has been a keynote speaker at several Urbana Student Missions Conventions. She is also coauthor (with Rick Richardson) of The Heart of Racial Justice.

Review:

McNeil's thin but meaty book is organized around a close reading of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). Even those who consider this story one of their favorites will gain fresh insights from McNeil's analysis. (Louis Markos, Touchstone, May 2009)

Unless we engage the theology of evangelism as a part of the larger Gospel, we will certainly re-create the dichotomization of left-right Western Christianity we've suffered under over the last 100 years. Hats off to McNeil for this early move in her book. (Outreach, March/April 2009)

No congregation in our postmodern, multiethnic, global world can afford to train evangelists without equipping them to understand dynamics of power and race. A Credible Witness is a labor of love that will make a great first step for churches on the road to effective witness in our complex times. (Lisa Sharon Harper, PRISM, January 2009)

. . .calls all of us, regardless of ethnicity, to examine our following of Jesus to see if our lives include vital relationships with representatives of all other followers. (Kethy Brawley, The Covenant Companion, June 2008)

Using the narrative of John 4, McNeil explains why our evangelism can't just introduce people to Jesus and hope they hit it off. It has to be a force that can overcome barriers of gender, race and social status. These themes should be central to evangelism today, she argues, not the secure-a-better-afterlife themes of yesterday. (InterVarsity Staff Site, March 2008)

"A church that is not unified is a scandal and a contradiction of the gospel. This book is a good place for us to begin in our contemplation of the biblical mandate for us to love one another. Brenda Salter McNeil allows us to look deeply into one African American woman who exemplifies how each of us can be empowered to overcome the social forces of history that have kept us from experiencing the 'tie that binds.' Her book will guide us on a journey to becoming a countercultural people who truly live out the values of the kingdom of God." (From the foreword by Tony Campolo, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Eastern University)

"Brenda Salter McNeil paints a wonderful picture of the power that our credible witness can have to a divided world. I wholeheartedly commend this book to anyone who wants to build bridges of reconciliation like Jesus did." (Dr. David Anderson, pastor, Bridgeway Community Church and author of Gracism)

"Drawing from Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, Dr. Salter McNeil engages the text in a fresh, insightful and relevant manner that urges the reader to move beyond the limitations of individual evangelism and embrace the much-needed reality of holistic reconciliation. Weaving aspects of her personal journey with the Samaritan woman's story, Dr. Salter McNeil exposes and expounds on the often-neglected interpersonal issues of sexism, elitism, ageism, racism and schism in an affable, poignant and yet convicting manner. I highly recommend and encourage everyone to acquire, read and above all live out the challenges and enduring principles graciously presented by Reverend Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil in A Credible Witness." (Luis A. Carlo, associate dean, Alliance Theological Seminary)

"McNeil sensitively shows us that if our love for Christ doesn't extend to caring for our cities and for the poor, if there isn't a commitment to racial reconciliation and justice as well as passionate concern for personal salvation, then our witness will be ineffective. This is an important contribution to the field of evangelism. I recommend it enthusiastically!" (Rebecca Manley Pippert, author of Out of the Saltshaker)

"Brenda Salter McNeil has done some wonderful critical thinking about evangelism and how the gospel is to be presented with justice and in a holistic manner. She details how community, race and culture need to be considered in our sharing of the good news. This is a must-read for serious-minded people striving to follow Christ in a postmodern world." (Wayne "Coach" Gordon, Lawndale Community Church)

About this edition

• Publisher: IVP
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0830834826
• ISBN 13: 9780830834822
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 159