Author Spotlight: Jim Petersen

I think Jim Petersen was talking about missional before "missional" became a buzzword of the church. In Living Proof he talks about being an "insider":

We all, Christian and nonChristian alike, live in the same environment. It is to this common world that we who believe are called to serve as insiders. This constitues both a problem and an opportunity. It is a problem to the extent that living itself can consume us. Our hands can be more than full just coping with our own private chaos. But this same chaos becomes an opportunity as we learn to survive. By learning to apply biblical wisdom and to rely on spiritual resources, we can live balanced, meaningful lives in the midst of it all. When this happens, the gospel starts to look increasingly attractive to those who are watching (pp. 38-39).

In Lifestyle Discipleship, Petersen shows how a relational approach to ministry applies not only to evangelism but also discipleship. I like his opening line:

Thirty years of discipleship programs, and we are not discipled.