Outflow

Posted by Helen on: 06.20.2007 /

After the two discussions about servant evangelism a week ago (Strangers giving kids candy and servant evangelism or ‘being served’ evangelism?) Steve Sjogren kindly sent me some of his books. I’ve been reading Outflow: outward-focused living in a self-focused world, which he co-authored with Dave Ping.

My own approach is to outward-focused living is fairly simple (I think): be kind to people because it’s the right thing to do. Practice being kind because practicing it helps me remember to do it more being sorry I wasn’t doing it, or making internal commitments that I am going to do better at it.

The approach of Outflow is: get filled up with God’s love so it will overflow out of you to other people. The concluding paragraph of the introduction illustrates this

In the weeks to come - through the daily readings, personal experiences, and small-group activities - you’ll get to embrace God’s shockingly positive promises, remove any obstacles that might be blocking their flow in your life, and experience God’s love with far greater fullness than ever before. You’ll also learn some simple, but world changing ways to keep God’s kindness flowing into you and throw you to many, many others.

The tone in this paragraph is typical of the book. On page five of the introduction this statement is made in big bold words

Your life is meant to flow with unimaginable joy and power

This isn’t how I talk or think; I have no idea what to do with this language.

As for the implication that being filled up with God’s love - through pursuing a relationship with God in typical evangelical Christian ways - is necessary in order to be kind to people: I don’t think I’ve got any worse at being kind to people since I stopped talking to God. I might have got better at it because I have less excuses not to just get on with it.

So the premise of the book doesn’t fit my own experience.

The first hundred or so pages are about getting filled up with God’s love. I preferred the second part of the book, which was about how to show God’s love to others.

I liked the discussion of Jesus’ parable of the Sower. The authors make the point that the sower was not sparing with seed - there’s no need to be. And we don’t need to be sparing with love. They write:

Jesus doesn’t tell you not to waste your seed on people whose heards are concrete-hard pathwasy of misunderstanding.

…since there is an endless seed supply, Jesus clearly assumes you’re going to fling out lots and lots of Christ’s love into hearts that won’t grasp it before the Thief comes along and snatches it away. You’re called to be such a prodigious indiscriminate seed flinger that your love goes everywhere.

I like some of the ways the authors list to show love to other people: listening, noticing, the love test (not giving up on someone who pushes your buttons), humble acts of service.

The authors come across to me as kind and well-intentioned. However, this is not really a book for someone like me whose route to being kind to others doesn’t go through a typical evangelical Christian relationship with God.

Maybe the book works well for other people.

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