W. Davd Phillips

Len Sweet, in his classic, imagery-intensive writing style provides the church the best understanding of evangelism as discipleship I have ever read. Indeed, Nudge: Awakening Each Other to the God Who’s Already There may be the most important book on evangelism you will ever read. Without question.

I’ve read a lot of Len’s books; some I loved, some I liked, and there may be one or two I didn’t care for. His new book, however, may just be the most important book he has written to date.

Nudge is a mixture of evangelism and semiotics. What is semiotics? “Semiotics is the art of making connections, linking disparate dots, seeing the relationships between apparently trifling matters, and turning them into metonymic moments.”

The Greek word for signs is semeia (from which we get semiotics). The world is ruled by signs. And we all do semiotics, whether we know it or not. Waiting on tables is semiotics, with every interaction an exchange of visual and verbal markers. For instance, the crumpled up napkin in the plate? A sign that we are finished with our meal.

Semiotics is a Jesus word. In fact, Jesus told us to learn and do semiotics. He said in Matthew 16:1-4:

Some Pharisees and Sadducees were on him again, pressing him to prove himself to them. He told them, “You have a saying that goes, ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.’ You find it easy enough to forecast the weather—why can’t you read the signs of the times? An evil and wanton generation is always wanting signs and wonders. The only sign you’ll get is the Jonah sign.” Then he turned on his heel and walked away.

We are directed to learn to read the signs of the times and the handwriting on the wall. God’s hand is still writing on walls today and evangelists are people with red-sky-at-morning sensitivities.

The “signs of the times,” Sweet says, are “the signs of the Spirit’s activity in the world. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because it could not read the signs: ‘You did not recognize the time of your visitation.’” Nudgers are those who can connect signs and their significance.

Nudge is the “invitation to move beyond church-centric Christianity to a holistic, omnipresent theology of the signified reign of God.” If God can speak through a burning bush, through plagues of locust, through Balaam’s ass, through Babylon, through blood on doorposts, through Peter, through Judas, through Pilate’s jesting sign hung over the head of our Lord, and through the cross itself, then God can and will speak through art deco architecture, abstract expressionism, classic literature like Virgil’s Aeneid, mass media, disease, Disney, hunger, Twitter, etc. The question is never, “Is God using this?” Rather, the question is, “What is my/our invitation upon hearing?”

The prophets were semioticians. In fact, the prophets were often signs themselves as God used them to demonstrate his love (Hosea marrying Gomer), his displeasure, and his judgment. They also interpreted God’s activity through the signs (Daniel’s handwriting on the wall).

Nudge is not an attempt to build a theology of semiotics. It is to remind Christians that Christianity is a symbol system; a semiotic network of stories and images, rituals and concepts, embodiments and enactments. The key to any symbol system is the semiotic ability to read signs.

By nudging, evangelists are constantly scanning the environment (religious, cultural, economic) for evidences of divine activity. Nudge is helping other people see the activity of God in their own life, manifesting Christ in a moment of mutual knowing. Nudging is the natural consequence of being with someone in a moment and wishing them to join you in recognizing a God-moment. Sometimes that recognition results in “bringing in the sheaves.” But nudging is primarily about planting seeds.

Evangelists nudge the Jesus in people to sit up and take notice. Everyone is created in the image of God, and in nudging, we help people divine activity of God in their life.