The Insider

John Ed Robertson

Book Review
Book by Jim Petersen and Mike Shamy

It is not often that I read a book that I can recommend as highly as this one. It recaptures the mentality of the early Christians who succeeded in saturating the Roman Empire with biblical Christianity. It is a "must-read" for anyone who is serious about advancing the Gospel and the kingdom of God in our culture.

The purpose of this extremely valuable book is to help lay people "understand their calling to participate in what God is doing today." The authors write:

"We want people to see that this calling is to be worked out within their existing relational networks where they are already positioned as insiders. God intends that every part of our daily life should line up with His purposes to His glory. We believe this is something that is within reach for all of us, not just for the gifted few."

Petersen and Shamy first lay the theological foundation for this strategy for advancing the Gospel in the kingdom of God, which is most often present "in the small voice, in the unobtrusive act." It is also rooted in a vision for spiritual generations, which can be traced all the way back to the promises given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. They point out that God's calling of Israel was not only for their good, but for the good of all the nations of the world. "He intended that the Israelites, by the way they lived, would reveal who He is and what He is like to all their neighbors."

They point out that Jesus often used agricultural analogies not only because Israel was an agrarian society, but because they show how things pertaining to the kingdom of God actually work in this world: slowly and steadily rather than spectacularly. They trace the growth of Christianity through the book of Acts and throughout the first three centuries of church history and conclude that growth was slow but geometric. They cite the work of Rodney Stark in The Rise of Christianity, who has concluded that Christianity grew by roughly 40 percent per decade through the first 350 years of the church. Although this seems very modest it is sufficient to explain how the body of Christ grew from a few hundred at the ascension of Jesus in 30 AD to 10 percent of the Roman Empire in 313 AD, when the emperor Constantine became a believer and declared it to be the religion of the empire. In fact, this 40 percent per decade growth rate adequately explains growth to half the Roman Empire in just 40 more years (313-353 AD).

Jesus taught that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world and that we are to be "good seed" sown among the weeds. He set the example by attending a dinner given by Matthew to introduce Him to his tax collector friends. Petersen and Shamy note that Paul seemed to have a two-phase strategy for spreading the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire. The assault or apostolic phase consisted of Paul or other apostles planting the Gospel and establishing a small beachhead with a handful of early responders. The apostles then moved on, and the penetration phase was carried out by the insiders who were left behind.

The authors believe that mission of the church was somewhat lost through the twelve centuries of "Christendom" from Constantine to the Reformation, because it was assumed that everyone was a Christian. The Reformation returned the Bible and the Gospel to the laity, but it has yet to return the ministry to the laity. They believe that we still have a "come to" mentality in that we still think the essence of evangelism is to get unbelievers to come to us to hear the Gospel. They note that this leaves all but a few unbelievers in a passive role as observers. In addition, it fails to utilize our most strategic resource--the insider.

The bulk of the book is eminently practical, with numerous anecdotes from the real-life experiences of the authors and their friends. Specifically, it has four chapters on overcoming the most common obstacles encountered by insiders and seven chapters on the life patterns of an insider.

OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES TO FRUITFULNESS

  1. Fear: Fear is basic to Satan's arsenal, because it paralyzes and imprisons us. For example, the parents of the blind man that Jesus healed in John 9 were gripped with the fear that the religious leaders would expel them from the synagogue. In addition, fear is contagious, and it can make our lives a wasteland.

    Nevertheless, a bit of healthy fear is a good thing, because it can help us be more sensitive to the unbelievers in our lives. The authors emphasize the importance of balancing boldness with rapport, and caution against the two extremes of insensitive boldness and fearful rapport. If we focus on either one to the exclusion of the other, our effectiveness as an insider will be greatly limited. In addition, they give three helpful ideas for making our fears work for us rather than debilitating us:

    • Be transparent about our fears. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
    • Ask God for the words we need. (Ephesians 6:19-20)
    • Accept our fears as an opportunity to be sensitive to and dependent upon the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

  2. Isolation: Legalism is a major issue in the Bible, and much of the New Testament is devoted to it. Jesus encountered it often in His interactions with the Pharisees. Acts 15 and the book of Galatians, as well as several other chapters in other epistles are devoted to it. Referring to his 22 years of missionary experience in Brazil, Petersen writes:

    "These three ideals--the purity of the Gospel, its mobility in society and the maturing of those who believe in Christ (the very essence of everything we were seeking to accomplish)--were all put into jeopardy by this very subtle issue of legalism."

    Some things, such as those listed in Galatians 5:19-21, are always wrong. Other things, like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, are always right, and still others are disputable, according to texts like Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8-10. Petersen suggest two "laws" to guide us in the gray area of disputable matters:

    • The Law of Love Romans 13:8-10
    • The Law of Self-Control 1 Corinthians 6:12

    Application of the law of love, for example, led Paul to conclude in 1 Corinthians 8:13: "Therefore if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble."

    Inevitably, however, we are faced with situations where we will offend somebody no matter what we do, so we have to choose whose sensitivities have priority. Basically, there are four kinds of people that need to be considered:

    • Mature believers--these are the least of our worries
    • Unbelievers--these have priority for the insider
    • New believers
    • Weak believers

    With respect to weak believers, the authors suggest that there are two kinds of "weak" believer. There are those who could be caused to do something that would be harmful to their life of faith, such as recovering substance abusers. They may well need to separate themselves from any temptation to fall back into old patterns. Many chronically weak people don't have that problem, however. Concerning them, the authors write:

    "We need to understand that the chronically weak are not fragile in the way the new believer is. These people have been around for a while and have settled into a legalistic lifestyle they are not about to abandon. You won't likely cause them to stumble. But they will judge you when you deviate from their notion of right and wrong. We can't allow the fear of being judged to control what we do. If we did, we would never be able to obey Christ. When we are judged, we must turn that over to God, who is the judge and will judge us. Judging another is, in itself, sin."

  3. Busyness: The driving values of science, technology, and economics are relentless and have caused us to believe two big lies:

    • Progress is knowing more (science), doing more (technology), and having more (economics).
    • Liberty consists in doing what one desires.

    The average couple works, between them, 90 hours a week. As a result, we tend to "out-source" anything we can. Living as an insider requires that we take back some things that we never should have given away, including meeting the emotional and spiritual needs of our families and connecting with unbelievers.

  4. Personal Inadequacies: It is easy to ask why and how God would ever use us with other people when our own lives fall so short. In reality, however, our inadequacies can be a blessing in disguise. Our shortcomings force us to depend on God and not on ourselves, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. When Paul's credibility was attacked by some people in Corinth, he talked about his weaknesses rather than his strengths in 2 Corinthians. In fact, living as an insider among unbelievers can be the best possible environment for spiritual progress. "When we are, we will find that even our weaknesses can be used by God for our benefit and for others."

LIFE PATTERNS OF A FRUITFUL INSIDER

  1. Taking Little Initiatives: God loves people whether they love Him back or not, and we need to do the same thing. We need to have friendships without any agenda. Everyone can greet another person. You don't need to be an extrovert to do that.
  2. Praying and Responding: "The most important use of any person's name is when we repeat it in God's presence." It is important to remember that evangelism is a "team sport," not only with other people, but with God as well. We can't convict anyone of sin, nor can we show anyone what true righteousness looks like. We can't make another person realize that he or she is building his or her life on something that is already doomed. We need to recognize the role of the Bible to enlighten and the Holy Spirit to convict. When we take on those tasks ourselves, we often try to move too far too fast and end up losing rapport.
  3. Serving Others: To fulfill the Great Commission, we need to obey the Great Commandments to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The parable of the Good Samaritan tells us that we fulfill the law of love by serving the needs of the people with whom we cross paths. One important application of this principle for the insider is hospitality. The authors write: "We certainly will not be fruitful as an insider if we are unwilling to offer hospitality. . . . I find it difficult to invite an unbeliever to read the Bible with me before we have eaten together."
  4. Conversing the Faith: The authors draw an important distinction between apostolic-type evangelists who proclaim their faith and insiders who converse their faith. Many insiders have been trained in an approach to evangelism that is more appropriate to approaching strangers and does not serve them well in their daily lives. They note that for those believers who were insiders to their society, Paul's first concern was their manner of life, their actions. They continue:
    "We are to provoke the search to know God among our friends. We don't have to be Bible scholars or trained teachers to do this. We do it best through the ways we live our lives and the manner in which we converse about our faith. . . . A one-liner crediting the Scriptures as the source of an idea we are discussing often communicates more to my non-Christian friends than do my best propositions about God."
  5. Partnering: A Bible reading group may seem like a simple form, but it is still more than one person can do alone. We need to partner, not only because we can't do everything well ourselves, but also because we were designed by God to do things that way.

    There is one very subtle nuance in partnering, however. It is easy to limit ourselves to thinking only of other believers when we think of partnering, but there is no reason our unbelieving friends cannot be part of the partnership as well. In fact, it is much better if they are, because it gives them ownership from the start. If we think of this as a two-step process where we organize a small group of Christians and then we invite the unbelievers to join us, we may well be disappointed:

    "The odds are not in favor of success for any small group that already has a history together to transition from being a fellowship of believers to being a place where non-Christians will feel comfortable. . . . Insiders multiply, not by adding numbers to their groups, but by dividing up to fit the needs of the people who are responding. New people need to feel that they are participating in the formation of something new, that there are others like them who are also just getting started."
  6. Letting the Scriptures Speak: Petersen and Shamy suggest that our role in reading the Bible with unbelievers is simply that of a librarian who can help them find their way around and a fellow-traveler on this journey of discovery. They write:
    "If the Scriptures reveal the truth about Jesus Christ, and if the Holy Spirit gives understanding--if these two work together to confront people with the ugliness of their rebellion and of their need, then my area of responsibility is greatly diminished."

    It is critical that such a group be a "safe place" for the unbelievers where it is safe to ask questions, safe to say what one really thinks. The facilitator has to be willing to let some of his observations go unsaid. This chapter concludes with some practical suggestions, such as starting and ending on time, keeping the discussion moving, and keep moving through the text, etc.

  7. Midwifing the New Birth: It has been the authors' experience that "Most often, when a person is engaged in an exploration of the Scriptures, the birth will occur without our help. The new life will just be there one day, obvious to all." Other times, people will need help in crossing the line to faith. In any event, the parable of the sower makes it clear that my job is to sow seed and to keep on sowing it.

One of the advantages of a Bible reading group is that when a spiritual birth does take place, people are already in an environment where they can grow. In addition, we want to teach them to be insiders themselves in their networks of relationships.

One provocative idea is that it only takes "two hours a week and the rest of your life" to live as an insider--if we are teamed up with others who are investing the same kind of effort. In other words, this doesn't cost much and yet it costs us everything in that it involves dying to ourselves, just as Jesus advocated in John 12:24-26.

The final chapter is addressed to church leaders to "Help these people"! Insiders need legitimacy and affirmation, as well as resourcing and coaching, but they are often under-appreciated in our churches because their ministry is somewhat invisible compared to people who are taking on leadership roles inside the church. The authors offer three suggestions to pastors and church leaders for helping insiders:

  • Begin to live as an insider yourself.
  • Give legitimacy to the idea of insidership through teaching and story-telling.
  • Make space for the insiders.

Not only does this book need to be read by anyone who cares about advancing the Gospel and the Kingdom, it needs to be internalized. Being an insider is not just a clever idea, it is a way of life. Once we experience the joy of living as an insider, of having genuine friendships with unbelievers who are drawing closer to the cross, life without it will seem flat and tasteless. This book captures this truth and will whet our appetites for it. I recommend it most highly.

Petersen, and Shamy; The Insider; Navpress, Colorado Springs; 2003; ISBN 1-57683-338-0