Many people have been turned off by well-meaning, but stern-looking "religious-types" who bulldoze their way past the feelings of their "targets" and into pushy, obnoxious monologues about avoiding  the torments of hell.  Becky Pippert's Out of the Saltshake and Into the World is a primer for those wishing  avoid that stereotypical image.  She proposes we engage in "lifestyle evangelism," the type of evangelism  that becomes a "natural" or "automatic" for those being given new life by the Holy Spirit.  Her goal in  
writing is to try to get the Christian message together with an appropriate style of presentation that will  attract people to the message rather than repel them.  

 Pippert, in her easy-to-read, conversational style, states that she believes so much of evangelism  today is ineffective because it relies entirely too much on technique and strategy--that it has "slipped into the  sales department."  She proposes that we look at Jesus' style of evangelism as the ultimate model to follow.   To follow that model, we must learn to be more Christlike ourselves.  She describes Christ's approach in the  first eight chapters and then finishes the book in the last four chapters discussing the practical issues of  evangelism. 

 The author describes her initial outlook on evangelism as something you shouldn't even do to a dog,  let alone a friend.  She found her self "witnessing" like a "Pavlovian dog...the bell would ring, I would get  ready, activated, juices running and then BAM! I'd spit it out."  Yet, she realized that to be truly effective, the  evangelist must really care about the people she was trying to reach.  She also found initially that she didn't  feel she was truly evangelizing unless she made a complete presentation right at that moment. 

 Pippert passes on a number valuable lessons.  One is that the people you might think would fit the "profile" for accepting Christ are not always the ones that do.  Sometimes the least likely candidates are the  ones that ultimately respond.  She also was encouraging when she mentioned that if God is truly seeking a  person, your nervousness, fear and lack of preparedness will not get in the way.  She states "...our problem  in evangelism is not that we don't have enough information--it that we don't know how to be ourselves.  We  forget we are called to be witnesses to what we have seen and know, not to what we don't know.  The key is  authenticity and obedience, not a doctorate in theology."   

 Over and over again in the book, she stresses the importance of evangelism being a natural part of  the Christian's life--that the more transparent and open we are, the more Jesus can become real to people.   She states, "...evangelism involves taking people seriously, getting across to their island of concerns and  needs, and then sharing Christ as Lord in the context of our natural living situations."  

 She stresses how Jesus was a delightful person to be around, that he made people feel welcome, that  he was compassionate, that he touched people at their deepest level.  Yet, this same Jesus could at times be  exasperating because he challenged their understandings of religion and righteousness.  He pushed people  out of their comfort zone, sometimes into conflict and crisis.  He could do this because indeed he was the  Lord, God in the flesh, creator of the universe, the one who commanded the wind to stop and divided the  loaves to feed thousands.  He didn't fit others' molds.  He challenged them to fit into the mold he created for  them as the Lord of their lives. 

 Pippert spends quite a bit of time describing the confrontations Jesus had with the Pharisees and  points out that Jesus' priorities had to do with loving people more than legalistic observance of ritual.  She  asks some important questions "Does my life reflect only religious activity or does it bear the mark of  profound love?  When our lives are characterized by the love of Christ, we can begin to interest people in the  gospel."  After describing some of their religious practices, such as handwashing and separation from  sinners, Pippert reminds us of the importance of getting involved with people rather than being separatists.   She asks, "...Do I identify enough?  Do I welcome people?  Or am I a member of the Holy Huddle, the local   God Squad?  Do I hand around people of various beliefs and mores?  Do I love the unlovely?  Or, on the  other hand, am I different enough?  Am I Christlike?"  In discussing the Pharisees' desire for obedience,   Pippert points out that mere head knowledge about God is not enough--we must obey God by putting our  knowledge about God and his ways into practical use. 

 The author gives some practical evangelistic models to use in conversations:  Model A - Investigate,  Stimulate, Relate;  Model B - Concentric Circles, where conversations are like peeling off various layers of an  onion; Model C - Relationships (like the investigate portion of Model A), Beliefs ("what do you think about  ____? " questions) and Epistemology (asking "Why", thus allowing people to reveal their authority in life). 

 Pippert strongly suggests that when we bring people to the point of accepting Christ we help them   "count the cost" and also inform of them of the necessity of the spiritual disciplines that will help them  maintain their relationship with God. She finishes her book discussing some apologetics concepts and  then makes some suggestions on how to reach out to the community in the evangelism effort. 

 Overall, Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World is a practical tool that helps give an overview of the  relational style of evangelism and gives valuable insight into how to make personal evangelism a natural  way of life for the Christian.