Marks of the Messenger: Knowing, Living and Speaking the Gospel - A Review

J. Mack Stiles attempts to bring together two topics that are often separated in the minds of Christians. These ideas should be kept together.

Some authors emphasize content. They build on the truth that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. If we get the content down, God can use it for His glory.

Other authors emphasize character. Think lifestyle evangelism. They downplay content and build upon the truth that if I speak without love I am just a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. They want Christians to walk the walk, even if they downplay talking the talk.

J. Mack Stiles does the rare thing of actually interacting with both.

Greatest Strength

The greatest strength of this short book is its attempt to unite both message and messenger. Stiles attempts to emphasize the importance of actually preaching the gospel in its fullness while also emphasizing the character and conduct of the one speaking these truths.

In doing so, Stiles has brought together the full scope of teaching from the Scriptures that many authors miss because they are busy emphasizing one to the neglect of the other. For this effort, Stiles should be commended.

Greatest Weakness

Due to the attempt to navigate both the message and the messenger, while also keeping the length short and including a lot of anecdotes and illustrations, the weakness becomes evident that Stiles will not be the best exploration of content or character that you can find. Other authors who emphasize the importance of content only will delve much deeper. Likewise, those who emphasize only character will likewise find their treatments more exhaustive.

Conclusion

If you're looking for the best treatment of either the content of the gospel or the character of a mature Christian, this book will probably let you down.

If you're looking for an encouraging and edifying read that is balanced in its treatment of both content and character, then I think you will find it in Marks of the Messenger.

I would be confident recommending this book to any Christian I know who has been taking their call to proclaim the gospel seriously and who is committed to growing in Christ's likeness by the grace of God.

Comments

Smoking Hookah

Q: This week a young Christian talked with me about the practice of smoking Hookah. They attend a church [which] is reaching out to the many Indian and Muslims in the surrounding areas. Their church also have several ministries that support missions in India and Arab countries. As they spoke with me they said that many of their Christian friends are smoking the Hookah. They said that they have been told that certain types of Hookah smoking involve no tobacco but are simply flavored water, other types of Hookah smoking do include tobacco but in a ‘more pure’ form than that of cigarettes that have additives. The Christians that they know of who partake in smoking Hookah do not feel that there is anything sinful in this practice and believe that it is just a part of certain cultures as a way to relax and socialize. Apparently during certain celebrations some of these culture groups get together as a family and include smoking the Hookah together as part of the festivities. These Chris...

Prayer vs. Petition

Q: What's the difference between prayer and petition? Phil 4:6 for example. A: An excellent word study question! When attempting to study words from the text it is necessary to analyze the word being studied in the original language (in this case Greek) as attempting to look up the words in English will often produce erroneous results. For example, in English the word petition has within its range of meanings things that are certainly not within the scope of meanings for the Greek word (i.e. “a sheet that is signed to demonstrate agreement with some principle or desire for some social action to be taken” is part of the range of “petition” but not of the Greek deesis from which “petition” is translated). The word most commonly translated as “prayer” in our English Bibles is proseuche , which appears 36 times in the New Testament (NT) in one form or another (for the purposes of this study, we are only examining the usage of these words as nouns – the verbal forms will not be...

The Church Isn't A Business

I used to be a salesman. I sold a lot of different stuff. I worked retail. I did door-to-door. In all my various jobs my function was essentially the same. I was the link between company and customer. Successful companies know their customer demographics. Many sales meetings revolve around numbers. Persons are treated as statistics. The customer becomes a set of numbers, preferences, and habits. Really successful companies cater their goods and services to a target demographic. It's all about the consumer experience. I remember when I began in pastoral ministry. People assured me that my experience as a salesman would be beneficial. They said there was a lot of overlap between pastors and salespeople. That may be true in our experience. But is it true of what we read in Scripture? When I open my Bible and read about Christ's church I see a beautiful design that is very different from a business. Night and day different. When Jesus walked the earth He rebuked those who...

The "Jesus Loves You" Problem

Q: I've encountered a lot of teaching and Christians who believe that saying, "Jesus loves you!" is a valid form of evangelism. Do you disagree with this? If so, why? It seems like a loving way to reach out and to encourage those who are not believers. A: What a great question! There are certainly a lot of materials and teachings that encourage Christians to use the phrase, "Jesus loves you" as an outreach and evangelistic tool. Much of this teaching that I've encountered emphasizes following the lead of the Holy Spirit. It claims that the Holy Spirit will often lead Christians to say this to non-believers to encourage them and try and lead them to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Fourth Year Ministries does not teach or endorse this as a valid evangelism strategy. That's not because we don't want it to be valid! Truth be told, we would love for this to be a good practice for Christians. It would certainly open some more doors for us. I...

Self-Centered Theology

I have a problem. Maybe you do, too. I bet you can at least relate. I'm self-centered. By nature, I think from my perspective. Often, more often than I'd usually like to admit, I pursue my agenda. I like to do, what I like to do, when I like to do it, where I like to do it, how I like to do it, and with whomever I like to do it. I think you do, too. Sometimes we are good at hiding this self-centeredness. I believe that it is possible to have genuinely altruistic moments. Moments where we put others self-interest above our own well-being. Sometimes powerful emotions like love, hate, and disgust, can cause us to act contrary to our self-centered notions. Sometimes. As Christians, we are given the gift of God's grace through His Son, Jesus Christ. We receive this gift when we repent of our self-centered ways and trust in Christ alone. In the noise that is "Christianity" - if you take the time to really listen - you will often hear a false ...

Fourth Year Ministries

Search This Blog