attractional & incarnational approaches

i’m almost finished with the tangible kingdom by hugh halter and matt smay and i’ve enjoyed it thus far. i may be enjoying it more because the book was recommended to me from two different people who said they were reminded of tapestry while they were reading it (thanks john & trey). the more i read of the book the more thankful i am that people think we are doing something similar. it’s a nice compliment.
 
i’m not going to write much about the book until i finish it but i thought i would go ahead and point out the differences that halter and smay and see between attractional and incarnational evangelism.
 
here’s the table they have in the book:
 
attractional approach incarnational approach
unbeliever is invited to church sojourner is invited to belong
unbeliever confesses belief sojourner confesses interest
unbeliever repeats a prayer sojourner experiences the good news
believer joins a church sojourner participates in community
cognitive discipleship experiential apprenticeship
focus: counting confessions focus: transformation
believing enables belonging belonging enables believing

i think their lists are pretty accurate. i much prefer the incarnational model, especially the idea of apprenticeship. we need let people try on faith to determine if they really believe or not.

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