Though I am just in the process of becoming familiar with the book, I like what I see already. First, it starts with the audience. Perfect for the CoJourner paradigm (think, Explorer) and much preferable for our audience, as well!
Second, they emphasis the "path" to faith. How much more CoJourner-esque can you get. "Everyone is on a spiritual journey".
But the really valuable contribution is "the five thresholds" that mark similar "seasons of growth" or stages on the path to Jesus. Here is the essence:
- The move from distrust to trust.
- The move from complacent to curious.
- The move from being closed to change to being open to change.
- The move from meandering to seeking.
- The move across the threshold of the kingdom itself.
Note the progression. Understanding the path helps create true empathy and understanding.
Can you see your own path to Christ through these "thresholds"?
I identify with 2-5.
2 comments:
Keith,
I enjoyed this book too. I read it last summer and found it extremely helpful in assessing various people I'm in relationship with.
I work in the ESM world and have found these categories to have value for cross-cultural ministry as well. #1 - the trust threshold is huge. A lot of efforts to reach ethnic minority students on campus by the majority culture seem to fail to take that threshold into account. #3 and #5 seem to have significant relevance for many ethnic minority students in their faith journeys. Those points represent significant milestone moments for an ethnic minority making choices as a seeker and no longer passively going with the paradigm they have lived under.
Thanks, Brian, for providing an ESM view on this. I hadn't gotten that far in my thinking yet. Appreciate your insights!
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