Strangers Next Door Summary

Words: 864
Pages: 4

J. D Payne is a church planter, evangelist, and missionary. Payne has written Strangers next door as a necessary addition to the plethora of mission’s books on the shelf. This unique book asks the Western world if they are considering if the many unreached people groups they desire to reach are actually walking the same sidewalks they did yesterday. How can the Western churches use their missional passion to fuel cross-cultural gospel outreach in a local context? Payne says: “My purpose of writing this book is to provide you with an introduction to reaching the nations through migrations.” (Payne, 138) How do immigration and migration affect the mission of the Church? “The promise of this book is that the sovereign Lord orchestrates the movement …show more content…
If the Anglos are going to continue to play a role in missions, “We have to understand the people we are attempting to reach, not assuming that our preferred methods of evangelism will communicate the truth in a way that they will understand.” (Payne, 135) The common denominator between cultures should be the Word of God. God will reveal his Word to those who pursue him, and his truth crosses culture and language boundaries. “We must make certain to hold them to high biblical expectations, but not to the expectations of our cultural preferences” (Payne, 138). Payne seeks to make clear that God is working in all parts of the world. God is gathering peoples from all over the world for his nation as seen in the expression of local churches. Payne extends a warning: “Partnership does not mean theological or missiological compromise.” (Payne, 140) As we desire to partner with churches across the world and not impose our Western preferences onto the gospel we present, Payne has us keep in mind that no cultural bias on the scriptures are correct, however the scriptures speak for themselves across