Win a Copy of “Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church?”

“Maybe we’re not necessary anymore.”

“It’s modern imperialism.”

“The needs are so great at home.”

Comments like these show the need for Paul Borthwick’s book, Western Christians in Global Mission What’s the Role of the North American Church.

After our years in Nicaragua, China, and South Africa, we’ve come to see the importance of the questions raised by Borthwick. So in a globalized world, with the church in places like Brazil, Nigeria, and South Korea rising into leadership in God’s global mission, what do we North Americans do now?

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

1. Faith is not a natural human response—our instinct is to run from challenges. (Click to tweet this.)
2. 94% of world lives outside the United States and Canada.
3. North Americans need to learn more about being dependent on God from churches in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. (Click to tweet this.)
4. It’s estimated that 2,000,000,000 people alive today have never had chance to respond to good news of Jesus.
5. One of the challenges of the church around the world is not just to proclaim the resurrected Jesus of the Great Commission but to proclaim the compassion of Jesus by our deeds.
6. Don’t lose the wonder of what Jesus has done for us. (Click to tweet this.)
7. Following Jesus to the ends of the earth is risky. (Click to tweet this.)
8. Are we truly convinced of the uniqueness of Christ or is he simply our favorite, based on our culture, experience, or upbringing? (Click to tweet this.)
9. In the face of global pluralism, the church must proclaim Jesus with theological integrity, critical contextualization and countercultural preaching.
10. We need to adapt to simpler lifestyles before we go, to live with diminished material expectations in an effort to increase incarnational effectiveness.
11. How will our hesitancy to make long-term commitments minimize our effectiveness?
12. Does the church in America have a prophetic role in its own society or does it simply mimic the culture and entertain its members? (Click to tweet this.)
13. Sacrifice is the foundation of God’s mission. (Click to tweet this.)
14. Your stress in Christian mission will decrease if you understand that 40% of the time, you’ll have no idea what’s going on.
15. The distinguishing mark of the Christian community is hope. –Newbigin (Click to tweet this.)

I’ve had the chance to meet Borthwick at the World Assembly of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in 2011. He’s smart, experienced, humble, and eager to do (and say) what is right. He has decades of experience, teaches at Gordon College, and travels the world, partnering with global church leaders. He is the real deal.

Borthwicks’s book is theologically rooted, arising from decades of deep relationships with Christian leaders around the world.  It’s up-to-date and honest with the world we now live in. North Americans who want to announce and demonstrate the good news of Jesus around the world should read this book.

How to win this book:

By midnight on Monday, February 25, 2013, tweet one of the quotes above from the book, tagging me (@adamjeske), or share one on Facebook, linking to this blog post and tagging our page. Three random winners will get a copy of this helpful book.

Do you think the North American church needs a book like this? Leave a comment below.