Glen Scrivener’s How to See Life in 321 is a unique contribution to the plethora of evangelistic books available. In this book, Christian doctrines such as trinity, sin, salvation, and union are given their initial conceptual meaning through simple stories and explanations. The book and corresponding online course are divided into four sections : “Jesus: Our Guide”, God’s Three-ness”, “The World’s Two-ness”, “Your One-ness”. Each section comprises two chapters; the first begins with an illustrative story, and the second provides a deeper look at the illustrated idea with personal application.
There is a brief and helpful frequently asked questions section at the back of the book which gives general answers for those who are asking whether Christianity is true. The FAQ answer on divine hiddenness is an important contribution given people no longer assume the existence of God as compared to by people attending a Billy Graham crusade sixty years ago (p. 152).[1]
How to See Life: A Guide in 321
Glen Scrivener
Perspective is everything. So how do you see life? This book is your chance to slow down, get your bearings, and look again at life according to Jesus.
How To See Life: A Guide in 321 stands alone as an introduction to the deepest Christian truths. It also works brilliantly with 321, a free interactive course: https://speaklife.org.uk/321course
Uniqueness
The primary goal of How to See Life is to show that Christianity is good and beautiful, rather than true. Don’t expect long apologetic arguments for the resurrection. Scrivener doesn’t assume background biblical knowledge, nor get bogged down in Christian jargon or overly technical explanations of doctrine. Integral Christian realities are explained and storied simply. The writing style is conversational rather than overly intellectual. Scripture references, predominantly from John’s Gospel, are pithy. The corresponding reading plan for John’s Gospel is also available on youversion/bible.com via a QR code in the book.
The Online Course
The accompanying online course is essentially an audio-visual version of the book’s content which can be used in church, campus, and school groups. The production is visually snappy. There are eight videos which are approximately 10-15 minutes which could be done over four or eight weeks depending on whether one wanted to shorter sessions over more weeks or longer sessions over less weeks.
Tyler Swartzentruber, a pastor friend of mine, now uses the online version of 321 as the primary evangelistic course of St Matthews in Perth. He noted that participants can easily go back over the content after each session because the online course is free and accessible to anyone. The set questions in each video “were helpful for engaging people from a variety of backgrounds. He advised coordinators to have copies of John’s Gospel on hand so that you can stop where there are Bible references and spend more time in the word, helping participants dig into the text.
If your church is looking a resource to give non-Christians who do not want to read a gospel just yet, How to See Life is probably the pick of the bunch. I would suggest you cut to the chase and open a gospel with your friends whenever possible. The Uncover gospels, for example, can be used in 121 or smaller group settings. They engage people with God’s words directly. Nonetheless, How to See Life does lay important Christian-conceptual groundwork with a litany of scriptural quotes in a relatively short reading so that readers can more readily understand truths about God which they will encounter in the gospels. For example, Scrivener’s opening gambit is novel among evangelistic resources but the right one for this format.
3: Evangelism with the Trinity!?
Rather than starting with defending the historicity of the gospel, or attempting to convincing the reader of their sinfulness, or arguing for the truthfulness of divine Scripture, Scrivener introduces readers to the triune God through Jesus. His statement, “Jesus is what God is like” summarises his approach (p. 58). The God who is love in himself exists in three divine persons. Scrivener’s explanation of this truth is understandable for the outsider. The Trinity is simply explained by the phrase “the Father loves the Son in the joy of the Spirit”, in a twist on the Augustinian description of the persons (p. 73, 83). Phrases like ‘God is a relational God’ and ‘God is love’ have been used as evangelistic introductions before, but they are vague. Scrivener’s approach is more nuanced. By opening with God as trinity, God’s love is rightly presented as self-existent rather than contingent on humanity responding to God. God is thus no desperate jilted lover but merciful to his rebellious creatures though his Son.
2: Sin and the Son
Humanity inherits the sin nature from the first Adam. But Christ, the second Adam, offers righteousness. This is the twoness which exists in our world. Scrivener’s opening gambit describes sin as disorder (p. 91). This avoids more hard-edged descriptions, such as rebellion and so is more palatable to a non-Christian audience. However, this move may be a misjudgement. Disorders are not necessarily the result of personal evil; people with disorders may be more like sufferers/survivors—or simply considered different from a norm. Additionally, while sin can be described as disorder, it is much more serious than that.
Scrivener goes on to describe the fruit of sin as suspicion, selfishness, slavery, and self-justification. He avoids the pitfalls of the term disorder by correctly describing sinners as “rebellious God-forsakers” later in the chapter (p. 97). We are sinners in a pit of sin in need of rescue. Jesus came into that pit. He wasn’t suspicious, selfish, enslaved, or self-justifying, but he “died the death we should have died” so that we can be born again into his family (p. 99–100). We “get his Father as our Father, his Spirit as our Spirit, and his brothers and sisters in the church as our brothers and sisters” (p. 101).
1: Join Team Jesus
The last section is a call to be united to Jesus, our champion, who deals with our regrets, shame, despair over sin, and fear of death. Those who turn to Jesus will “share in Jesus’ Father, his Spirit, his future, and his victory” (p. 118). Scrivener’s is an impassioned call to be one with Jesus, “led through the troubles of life and into eternity” (p. 118).
Scrivener has written How to See Life in his characteristically accessible and compelling style. Readers will be engaged with the gospel in fresh and understandable ways. Christians will learn some good illustrations and simple explanations for key Christian realities which will help them in their own gospel conversations. While my preference is for Christians to read a gospel with their non-Christians friends, Scrivener’s contribution to the evangelistic resource landscape is unique and timely as we seek to invite people who have no knowledge of Jesus “into the ultimate royal family” so that they might “experience oneness with the God of immeasurable love” (p. 123, 8).
[1] There is much to Scrivener’s answer to this question, but the crux of his answer is: God wrote himself into the story in the person of Jesus that we might know him.
