"Tongue-Tied" (Sara Wenger Shenk)

TITLE: Tongue-tied: Learning the Lost Art of Talking About Faith
AUTHOR: Sara Wenger Shenk
PUBLISHER:  Harrisonburg, VA: Herald Press, 2021, (256 pages).

Why are people "tongue-tied" about religion? Probably, it is due to the lack of Evangelism and evangelistic fervor. Maybe, there are many layers of reasons ranging from disinterest to downright persecution. Perhaps, our culture has become increasingly anti-Christian and it is no longer "safe" to just speak about religion. As author Sara Wenger Shenk notes, "faith talk rarely shows up unless we’re at church." We have lost the art of sharing faith in the public arena. We need to recover not just the skills of sharing the gospel, more importantly, we need to bring back the conviction that the Great Commission is what Jesus has called us to do. We need to recover the language of love. Addressed primarily to her peers in North America, Shenk hopes that we will not let any spiritual malaise or apathy make God into our own image. Instead, we are encouraged to intentionally cultivate a "heartfelt, biblically enriched, and morally grounded faith" that will influence others for Christ. 

Written in two parts, Part One excavates the layers of reasons why people are "tongue-tied." Central to her explanation is the meaning of faith. She connects it directly to trust that faith in God is about "speaking openly about what we trust, whom we trust, how we express that trust, and the limits of trust." From this trust, we can then move on to sharing the main message: God's love. Until we reach that point, we will remain "tongue-tied" in some way. In other words, learn to speak from the heart instead of merely from the head. She laments that we are losing fluency in our Christian witness. Noticing the downward trend of "sacred words" used in public, she highlights at least six reasons why there is great reluctance to speak about our faith. These include:

1. Disappointment or disillusionment with the inherited faith
2. Superficiality and artificiality of Christians
3. Doubts about why certain quarters still insist on dogmatic beliefs
4. Discomfort over how faith relates to the bodies we live in
5. Rising Nationalism and tribalism in many white majority communities
6. Lack of resolve to sustain relational quality among family and community.

In tackling the above, Shenk combines several motifs to help us understand the evangelistic demise. Many believers are full of themselves and are merely preoccupied with themselves. They are out of tune with the Spirit of God. Disappointed by love, they highlight the failures of the world and the lop-sided positive views of fellow believers. Worst of all, we silence the stories of others while trying to defend our own forms of conviction. One by one, Shenk dissects the six major problems of our passivity toward the sharing of the faith. She criticizes the way we avoid religious talk in a heavily secular higher education climate.; the way superficiality has taken over much of our conversations; the sad reliance on certainty in order to feel secure in our own definitions of faith; the inability to see every race and every human as being made in the image of God; and more. Thankfully, Shenk didn't stop there. Part Two is where she gives us several ways to redeem the situation. Instead of denial, rediscover the power of sacred words to see more similarity in human needs. Instead of class, ethnic, or social distinctions, learn to grow more human awareness and cultivate space for conversations among different parties. Be sensitive to people's need for the transcendent. Speak appropriate words of kindness and care. Let humility and wisdom guide our relationships. Recognize the need for both science and faith. Instead of segregating faith and secular matters, be willing to share areas of common interests while respecting differences. Respect does not necessarily mean rejection. The author ends with a chapter on how the Early Church was able to thrive despite persecution and multiple obstacles. 

My Thoughts

There are many things in this book that resonates with me. Let me mention three of them. First, it is most timely for a refreshing reminder about evangelism for a new generation. One of the earliest books I have read about evangelism was Rebecca Manley Pippert's "Out of the Saltshaker and into the World." It helped many in that generation to get out of their comfort zone in order to share the gospel. Long considered a classic, it accompanies other books like Paul Little's "How to Give Away Your Faith" and Robert E. Coleman's "The Master Plan of Evangelism." It has been two decades since then and times have changed. We now live in a secular, skeptical, and thoroughly cynical atheistic climate as far as faith matters are concerned. This made those of us trained to share the gospel more frustrated about being shut down. It also made those untrained and lesser-equipped believers more reluctant to share the gospel. With widespread intimidation from all sides, overcoming fear itself is a huge barrier. By showing readers the various challenges to the present era, Shenk gives readers the assurance that she understands what many believers are going through.

Second, Shenk verbalizes for us the predicaments and reasons for the large evangelistic silence in many churches. Just like the Church of Ephesus in Revelation that has lost her first love, there is no excuse for failing to be salt and light to the world. The Great Commission needs to be sustained regardless of the challenges we face. Thankfully, the number of equipping steps that the author provides exceeds the number of barriers we face. This serves as an initial starting torque to wake up our quiet or inactive spiritual engines. The longer one sleeps, the tougher the initial "inefficiency." I appreciate Shenk calling this stage "Learning Fluency Step by Step." Ditto that. Rather than assume anyone of us could immediately recall the way to share the gospel, Shenk guides us gently to help us rediscover the need, relive the call, and rejuvenate the enthusiasm for the Great Commission. 

Third, this book is instructional for all, even those who have been faithfully sharing the gospel. Evangelism requires the whole Church, the entire team, the combined efforts of the community. Recently, there has been a spate of famous evangelists who have passed away. People like Billy Graham, John Edmund Haggai, Luis Palau, Reinhard Bonke, and others have been instrumental in spreading the message of Christ worldwide. There are very few evangelists today who could live up to their stature. This calls the Church at large to re-examine what strategy and shape evangelism should be for the present and the near future. Knowing our barriers to sharing is already a great first step. The next thing is to boldly move ahead with knowledge and wisdom. The Holy Spirit gives much of the latter. This book provides the former. 

Hopefully, those who read this book will not only be less "tongue-tied." They would be unleashed by the Spirit to preach the Word in and out of season.

Sara Wenger Shenk is a theologian, preacher, and the author of six books. She served as president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) for almost ten years, where her blog, Practicing Reconciliation, was lauded as a steady and deeply theological resource in anxious and polarized times. Shenk earned degrees from Eastern Mennonite University, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. For nine years, she and her husband, Gerald Shenk, served as students and teachers in the former Yugoslavia, and she has served on the faculty and administration of Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Herald Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.