Pathway to Jesus, Crossing the thresholds to faith

Edward Pilling | February 2012 - Highfields Book of the Month
By Everts and Schaupp - (2008) Nottingham: Inter Varsity Press

The past thirty years has seen countless books, seminars and conferences offered to the Christian public to help us contextualise the gospel to a post-modern culture. This is the first book that I have read where the introduction begins, "Meet the Authors (all 2000 of them)".  That's the difference.  

Everts and Schaupp interviewed and listened to the stories of post-moderns who have come to faith in Christ.  They noticed common experiences, and certain themes were so prevalent that they became the core material of the book.  The themes are called 'the five thresholds', but the authors are careful to caution against stereotyping and recognise individual pathways to Jesus are both mysterious and organic.

The five thresholds are: from distrust to trust, from complacent to curious, from being closed to being open to change, from meandering to seeking and to crossing the threshold of the Kingdom itself. 

Distrust is a societal norm for post-moderns.  The challenge is for us to be 'messengers' who develop relationship not teaching, friendship not evangelism, listening not preaching and asking questions not giving answers can be difficult when our generational culture would take trust for granted.  The lesson from our post-modern brothers and sisters in Christ is clear: no trust – no listen.

It was helpful to read that we do not have to have all the answers to all the questions of those who are curious.  The authors do suggest questions should be encouraged, but make the point that Jesus was asked 183 questions in the gospel accounts and answered only three, but asked 307 questions in reply (who researched that?).  The point being that dialogue and self discovery are a means of accepting that there could be more than one worldview.    

Commitment to the gospel was also clear.  There is to be no distortion or compromise with the truth of the gospel.  The 'seeker' of threshold four seeks Jesus, not some spiritual curiosity.  They count the cost, and the personal implications of following Jesus should be unambiguous.

This book helps me to identify what stage a person has reached in their pathway to Jesus, in particular when someone moves from curiosity to seeking and the way to help them at each separate stage.  Threshold five also confirmed something I had observed that 'seeking' has a shelf life.  There is an urgency the nearer someone is to the Kingdom of God, and the spiritual battle can become intense. At this time if a person hesitates to cross the threshold there can be a hardening of heart and attitude.  We are encouraged to pray at each threshold, but especially at this point.

I have used this book as a set text for modules in evangelism.  It always seems to capture the attention of the readers and stimulates healthy discussion.  If you want to share the gospel, and are willing to share your life as well this is a great read.