Love Goes F1rst Book Review by Joseph Seger

Many news outlets have picked up the story of the decline of the church. Many strategies have been crafted to counterbalance this dataset. What if there has always been a way to not only prevent the decline but to engage the world around us well?

How to Respond to Church Decline in a Changing Culture

In Love Goes F1rst, Andrew Forrest has honed in on a basic, yet profound supposition within the Christian faith. 1 John 4:19 has long taught us that we love because God first loved us. God has made the first move, and we can respond through His grace. Recapturing this could be a dramatic step for the local church in our time. Forrest takes this idea through the experiences of his life, Biblical exposition, and cultural observations to give us this timely wisdom.

Forrest grounds his work with philosophical underpinnings and a good grasp on the reality of the situation. The world is not the same as it was. Anxiety abounds and division has seeped into every corner of our lives. Just wanting the world to be better, or as it was, no longer works. Good intentions will not be enough (p5) for the work ahead in the church.

Why Traditional Evangelism Strategies Are No Longer Working

Love Goes F1rst is not another self-help book. It wrestles with the changing times and the Biblical texts that can guide us in this moment. The text offers a good survey of the state of the church today and how Christianity must respond in the negative world. The Western world in general no longer has a positive view of Christianity. What the church has tried in the past, accommodation, judgment, and withdrawal – does not work. There are parts to each of these which speak to our faith. We desire people to feel welcomed and comfortable. There will be judgment and our God desires justice. We are called to be set apart and not of the world. However, as overall strategies each of these lack. Rather, “the only faithful option before the church is to go.” (p67)

How to Reach People Today: Relational Evangelism

In going we have to deal with how the world really is. Not what we feel about it. Not what we want it to be – how it is. And when we do that in love, we find God meets us there. “It is when we take responsibility to affect the facts – to change what is within our power to change – that we become whom God created us to be.” (p75) Forrest calls us to tend to reality while also acknowledging the reality of the feelings people and thereby culture presents to the church. In being honest in our approach, we can get through to others in our love.

Love calls us into the moment to encounter the other as they are. This means going forth from our own comfort to those groups we desire to affect. So often we gather with people who like us or are like-minded to us. This is not the pattern of Jesus. Other people are often more scared of you than you are of them. “Whether they are aware of it or not, people are constantly waiting to see how you will approach them before they decide how they will respond to you.” (p114)

The Biblical Theology of Sacrificial Love

Forrest digs deep into the emotion and work of love. He points out that love comes first from an act of will and extends beyond the emotions. This is why God’s love can carry the day even when we are acting contrary to His will. This is why our love can continue even when those we love hurt us. “This is because my choice to love is not about the object of my love but about me, the subject of the loving act.” (p136) True love comes from God and from within. It says more about who we are rather than who we are loving. Thus, for it to be in its purest form, “True love always requires sacrifice – it is costly.”(145) Just as God gave His Son to the world, so also we are beckoned to go and give such love in our contexts.

This book is full of anecdotes, stories, studies, and connections to back up the claim that love should always go first. A bold love encounters the reality of the world we live in and leaves room for others to honestly encounter the faith. Forrest challenges us to take up this simple yet profound idea and see whether something greater than we can possibly imagine might follow. It is a great read for any church, any Christian wanting to get beyond the next strategy for evangelism to arrive at what has always been beckoning – a love that goes first.

World Methodist Evangelism will be hosting a book study on Love Goes F1rst. This will be a live event with the author on Thursday, March 26th at 9 AM United States Central Time / 10 AM United States Eastern Time. Join us on Zoom by clicking here. You can purchase the book here.