The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Research Writing 151 Wiersbe comments on this verse and says, “The only command in the entire Great Commission is ‘make disciples’” (87). Webster Dictionary defines disciple as “someone who accepts and helps to spread the teachings of a famous person (in this case, Jesus Christ).” So the process of making disciples starts by telling the teaching of Jesus so that people can become Christians. In literate culture, literacy plays a big role regarding conversion. Behind almost all the evangelistic events are counselors, youth leaders, preachers and faithful Christians, who, with worn-out Bibles in their hands, go through the Bible so that non-believers can understand what Jesus has done for them. If they do not have an opportunity to go to one of those events, they can go to the bookstore and buy the Bible or even Google “Who is Jesus?” Grant Lovejoy points out howWestern way of evangelism is very centered on literacy and says, “From the time of the Gutenberg Bible, Christianity ‘has walked on literate feet’ and has directly or indirectly required literacy of others” (7). Lovejoy then focuses on oral culture and says that “70% of all people in the world are oral communicators • those who can’t, don’t, or won’t learn through literate means” (7). Research shows that 5.7 billion people are currently oral learners, and 90% of Christian workers are using literate methods to proclaim the Gospel (Lovejoy, 12). As missiologists and missionaries work together to reach every people group with the gospel, “it has become clear that there has been a deficit in overall strategy because of a strong dependancy on literate methods for evangelism and discipleship” (Jagerson, 260). Jagerson says, “It is not sufficient to simply take literate material and read it orally. It requires a fundamental shift away from the use of propositional arguments, linear thinking, and abstract conceptualizations” (262). The message needs to be “presented in a manner that honors oral ways of processing information, the work will likely produce exponentially more successful outcomes, such as a greater capacity for new believers to grasp meaning, and respond to the message of the gospel with saving faith” (262). In oral culture, people become Christians by hearing what Jesus Christ has done for them. Lovejoy says that telling Gospel as a story is a powerful way to evangelize in an oral culture (8).