Beyond the Book with Dr. Hildreth: “A Short Guide to Evangelism and Missions”

Who is this book’s target audience, and how do you hope they will use it?

This book is for normal Christians who want to know God’s will for their lives and want to know how they can be used to fulfill God’s Great Commission where they are and around the world.

The book is a meditation on Jesus’s final words in Matthew 28 — the Great Commission. The book walks through different phrases in the Great Commission and addresses several key questions people may have.

As part of the “Short Guide Series,” why is it so important for people to have a resource like this book as they go about evangelism and missions in their daily lives?

I’m convinced that most Christians really want to live obediently. We know we should tell our friends and family about Jesus. We also know God’s mission is for the whole world. But so often we don’t know what to do, or we feel like we can’t do much for God. This book is designed to help the reader understand God’s mission and take some steps of obedience toward having a missional life.

What do you want “A Short Guide to Evangelism and Missions” to accomplish, and why is it so necessary in our current day and age?

I want people to realize that God’s mission requires each of us to participate. In today’s world, we have so many distractions and options that it is easy to neglect God’s mission. But this book calls the reader back to this key biblical teaching.

What are some obstacles you expect readers will encounter as they seek to implement what they have learned in this text?

The main obstacle will be a resistance to “do the hard thing.” Obeying God’s missionary call will require us all to adjust our current lives and embrace his will as our primary duty. My hope is that the book will also serve as a challenge to everyone to play their role in God’s mission. None of us are exempt.

Obeying God’s missionary call will require us all to adjust our current lives and embrace his will as our primary duty.

How does this book help believers consider the Great Commission as a personal command, not just a directive for pastors and missionaries?

The book opens with a story about William Carey, a British pastor who called the British Baptists to get involved in missions. His efforts were met with resistance, but eventually he overcame them and became known as “The Father of the Modern Missionary Movement.”

I tell this story because it reminds us that the main resistance Carey faced came from those who believed missions belonged to someone else. Carey reminds us that this is simply not true. We are all under an obligation to do something for the advancement of the gospel to the nations. The Great Commission belongs to the whole Church, not a select few professionals.

We are all under an obligation to do something for the advancement of the gospel to the nations. The Great Commission belongs to the whole Church, not a select few professionals.

How has writing “A Short Guide to Evangelism and Missions” shaped you spiritually? Did you learn anything new as you reflected further on God’s call to evangelism and missions?

I am deeply convinced that far too many Christians today are allowing cultural issues to distract them from God’s mission. Whether it is politics, the economy, cultural unrest, or other social problems, it is so tempting to focus on fixing this world and forget about the primary call we have received, which is to take the gospel to those who need to hear.

Since writing the book, I am more aware of the loud voices that distract us from missions and evangelism. It is much easier to keep quiet than to share the gospel. Writing this book has reminded me that we cannot be silent about the love of God in Christ.