In Radical Outreach: The Recovery of Apostolic Ministry and Evangelism, George Hunter advises the church of North America to reclaim its right to practically and actively reach out to those that are in need of the Gospel and yet do not approach the church. The author asks some penetrating questions to point the way to the church. First of all, what are the differences between the methods of outreach that the New Testament church used versus the methods of teaching that are used by contemporary churches?Certainly, the churches of old were far more successful in guiding people. So, what was it that gave tremendous success to the early church versus the contemporary church? According to Hunter, the obvious reason for the success of the early church was that it actively reached out to the people rather than waiting for the people to enter its walls. And, the contemporary church that has realized its essential duty is one that forms an outreach ministry offering everything it possibly can to the people in order to help, heal, and guide them by way of the Gospel.The “apostolic challenge” that Hunter resolves to confront in his book – that is, the importance for the church to reach out to secular people – is most easily met by the church that attempts to attract persons that were previously thought to be “hopeless” or even “unreachable.
” According to the author, the church that meets the challenge does not only use evangelism and preaching in its efforts, but also conversations and good relations.It is equally important for the outreach ministry to cater to the cultural needs of the people with respect to the teaching of the Gospels, that is, while the message of truth would not change, the church would have to conform to the culture of the group that it intends to reach out to, in order to blend in and appear more useful to people. The good apostolic ministry in Hunter’s view would give lessons in English to the people if it must in the process of guiding, helping, and healing people of different cultures.Indeed, one of the greatest strengths of Radical Outreach is that it refers to cultural relevance. The word of God is not for any race, nation or culture in particular.
It is for everybody, and therefore, the contemporary church should not believe cultural barriers to be a reality while it acts on the message of God that His message must be spread far and wide. It is especially important for the North American church to realize the importance of reaching out to the people with cultural differences in mind, given the diversity that prevails in this region of the world.The church that reaches out effectively to the people with their cultural differences in mind would ensure that the people feel as though they are a part of the church’s culture and therefore able to benefit from the church as much as they can. Another fact that makes the book really useful is that it uses historical and contemporary models to explain the basic duty of the church to contemporary church leaders.Church leaders of today must be thankful to Hunter for reminding them of the truth that the earliest church did not rely on four walls for people to enter and thereby find guidance and healing. Rather, the most important church leaders – Jesus’ immediate disciples – went to all kinds of places to reach out to the people and give them the Good News that God had sent them to pronounce.
Furthermore, Hunter uses the Celtic Church model as well as the Wesleyan model to explain his point.The Willow Creek, the Saddleback, and the Community Church of Joy besides other contemporary models are similarly used by the author to describe the work of the church in the past and the present, in an effort to move the church into the future using the best practices and leaving out the impractical ones. This, indeed, is a great achievement of the author, for he appears sincerely interested enough in the improvement of the church for the contemporary church leader to give serious thought to the ideas presented in the book.Hunter reminds the church leader that it is central to the church’s work to employ volunteers in missions and also to provide care to those that need it.
What is more, the author provides detailed analysis of the role of the church in relation to addiction recovery – something that countless people of North America are struggling with day after day. There are many contemporary churches that Hunter mentions in this context. Apparently, the Christ UMC, the Saddleback, and the Fort Lauderdale churches are already helping people recover from addictions.By being a blessing to such people, the contemporary church can easily motivate them to begin seeking God through the Gospel. The information provided in Radical Outreach is of the essence to churches around the world.
Indeed, the entire world is dealing with problems that are similar to those of North America. Lastly, Hunter’s book comes out so strong in terms of its message that it does not leave room for the reader to see any weaknesses in it. Instead, the book appears as a much-needed source of information, truly indispensable in terms of its content, and a blessing besides.
