What do you think is “Night Shift’s” most important contribution? – Part II

This past week I shared the first of my two answers to this question, that Night Shift explains how we minister when the doors shut and we cannot minister, or at least we think we can’t.  As far as I can tell, in this area the book offers a contribution unique among books currently in print.

The second answer is that Night Shift pulls together key elements of our missions as believers and as the church.  I should say “attempts to” do so; we’ll leave it up to you, the reader, how well I succeeded. 

I am a big picture kind of a person.  I like to understand how things tie together.  And so I work to present just such a big picture in this book. 

For one thing, the book shows how the mission, the cross-cultural ministry, and the work in tough times and hard places all fit together, both theologically and practically.  I really believe from what I know biblically that the Christian mission is cross-cultural and it is basically a night shift operation.  So the tie-in on these three is very important.

For another, the book addresses several other issues believers tend to get uptight about these days: Is it more important to declare or to demonstrate the good news?  Are we to prioritize evangelism or serving the poor? What priority should the church place on being engaged in political advocacy or social change?  And I tackle head on the big concern over the role of diversity in the church. 

My dual goal in all of these issues is, first, to see how they fit into the overall picture of the mission of the church and then, second, how they boil down into my specific mission as an individual believer. While veteran cross-cultural workers should find much food for thought in this book, I’ve written for the average Jane or Joe Believer in mind.