Out of Their Faces and Into Their Shoes: How to Understand Spiritually Lost People and Give Them Directions to God
By John Kramp

            Lostology, the last great frontier in research, has come to the forefront in John Kramp's book Out of Their Faces and Into Their Shoes.  This book's stated purpose is to espouse the laws of lostology so that, "Christians can understand and help spiritually lost people" (1).  Kramp was formerly a pastor in Garland, Texas and Portland, Oregon, where the idea for this book came to the fore.  At the time of writing this book, Kramp was associate director of discipleship and family ministries for what is now LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee.

Summary

            Kramp begins the book with an introduction, which lays out the path that brought him to the laws of lostology, with a brief explanation of the field.  Kramp then begins his law-per-chapter framework that outlines the twenty-four laws of lostology in order, and separated into four parts.  The first part paints a picture of what conditions are present in the life of most lost people.  This section acts rhetorically to set the stage for the man-centered theological understanding of evangelism presented in this book by attempting to cause the reader to empathize with the unbeliever and their slow, steady removal from God.  The second part focuses on what Christians can learn about evangelism by looking at the unconverted, then drawing conclusions from them about what not to do when one evangelizes.  The moral of this section is to pay attention to the demeanor of the subjects that one is evangelizing so as not to be inconsiderate of them.  The third part discusses the great emotional and physical cost of evangelizing the lost.  This section is preparatory for the evangelizer to understand that evangelism is not easy, nor is it costless.  One must be willing to do without certain things, such as time, money, self-interest, in order to save that which is lost.  Finally, the fourth part summarizes practical ideas to keep in mind when walking the Christian life of evangelism.  This section prepares the seeker of the lost to be ready for both discouragement and joy as a result of the search, along with understanding that evangelizer cannot be a lone ranger, but must depend on others to help accomplish the goal of finding the lost.

Strengths

            There are several good ideas brought forth by Kramp in this book.  The first helpful thought Kramp presents is that Christians should be about the business of evangelizing.  This consideration is the foundation for the entire book.  Kramp perceives that Christians are not evangelizing, and he is responding by composing some thoughts on evangelizing that are easy for most people to understand and to which they can relate (4, 5).

            Another helpful notion that Kramp brings to the fore is that Christians should be aware of the person being evangelized when they present the gospel.  This point can be first seen in his warning that it is difficult for people to give up control, therefore be sensitive to their vulnerable state (53-4).  It is quite difficult for one to admit their eternal guilt before a holy, just God and it takes great humility to come to a point where they are able to let down their guard in front of another person, especially when that person is a total stranger.  One should do what is possible to ease the non-believer's tension toward the evangelizer, but at the same time not alleviating too much pressure from the gospel, thus causing them not to take their need for Christ seriously (55).

            That Christians should be sensitive to the feelings of non-believers when evangelizing is also shown by his dual warnings not to treat them as "stupid," nor to use overly jargonized language that they cannot understand.  Many believers fall into thinking that since those they evangelize may not have any religious knowledge, they must condescend in their language and treat the non-believers as children in Sunday school.  This supposition is not the case in many circumstances.  In adult evangelistic situations, many non-believers, though they may not have certain biblical truths under their belts, they are capable of understanding a clearly presented gospel presentation that is fit for an adult (61, 63).  The opposing truth is that the evangelizer should not use overly specific language that cannot be understood by the common, non-believing person.  Terms like sanctification and propitiation may not have a place in most gospel presentations unless the person being evangelized has a previous background with these terms (81).

            Finally, Kramp was right on when he pointed to James 1:19 as a good model to follow when evangelizing, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."  It is easy for some people to be overly excited when sharing the gospel with people and become a fast moving gospel train, but not stopping to pick up those they are commissioned to transport.  Too much information, too quickly can be quite detrimental to the non-believer's understanding of the gospel (87).  Many times, if one would only listen to the non-believer's questions, it would not be hard to get to the key of their misgivings about salvation through Christ (87-88).

Weaknesses

            While the above-mentioned strengths are very helpful when approaching evangelism, there are many more negatives that outweigh the positives.  The first of these weaknesses is Kramp's seeming non-dependence on the Holy Spirit in the task of evangelism.  While he does mention in passing that it is God who ultimately convicts (35), the prevailing thought of the book is that evangelism is firstly a man-centered undertaking, both in the presentation and accomplishment of the gospel.  This point is most clearly seen in his insistence that being lost is primarily a lack of information (19, 21).  He argues that poor rearing conditions are the cause for people being lost.  While it is true that a lack of exposition to the gospel does not allow unbelievers to be converted, their lost-ness comes not from their lack of opportunity and choice, but from their own sin.  This same understanding of knowledge predicating responsibility is found to be at the root of both hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism, and has been proven false by many theologians since the reformation, especially in the work of Andrew Fuller, J.L. Dagg, and James P. Boyce in Baptist life.

            Another weakness is Kramp's small view of sin.  This weakness is closely related to this former weakness in that if there is not much of an obstacle for a person to overcome in being saved, then surely that person can conquer that obstacle in his or her own power.  This weakness can be seen in Kramp's assertion that one must "work to avoid getting lost" (27).  Scripture seems to argue against this point in Romans 3, especially vs. 23, in saying that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  We are already lost.  Scripture argues that it is not getting lost that we should avoid, but since we all have sinned and cannot avoid being lost, it is staying lost that we are responsible to overcome. 

            A final observable weakness in Kramp's understanding of evangelism offered in this book is that he tends to stress the unbelievers readiness to hear the gospel over against their necessity to hear it.  Kramp says, "When people are lost and not ready to admit it, there is little anyone can do to force them to say, 'I'm lost'" (39).  Can anyone in his or her fallen condition ever be ready to hear the gospel, let alone consent to it?  It is the gospel that convicts and convinces of the goodness of Christ, not this kind of Puritan preparationism espoused by Kramp.  Evangelism is the preaching of the gospel found in God's Word to all men so that God may use that Word to effectually save those whom His Spirit convicts.  Evangelism must be understood in light of the aforesaid warnings, while at the same time striving to preach the gospel to all men, whether we perceive they are "ready" or not (contra - 46).

Conclusion

            Kramp has put forth a tolerable effort to encourage Christians to evangelize by inventing and publishing these twenty-four laws of lostology (4).  It is a welcome call to better empathize with those whom we must evangelize by better understanding their perspective.  He brings up necessary topics in relation to evangelism that are proper for one to contemplate when beginning the task of evangelism, summed up by the discipline shown in James 1:19 of listening more than talking.  Though these strengths are helpful, they simply cannot make up for the deficiency in his theological understanding of evangelism.  There is not basis for sharing the gospel found in Scripture if one does not also understand the means by which unbelievers will be converted, i.e., sharing the gospel followed by the work of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin.  It seems that Kramp's laws of lostology have helped him and his church to evangelize the lost effectively in their context, but in the wider evangelical scheme, this book will not be much help to those truly desiring to evangelize the lost, as shown by the theological weakness argued in this review.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.