NUDGE: Discussion Questions 01

For use with Leonard Sweet’s book, Nudge

For Curwensville Alliance @MenMighty

Nudge – Chapter One

  1. What’s the difference between evangelism based in fear and evangelism based in love? Is fear never an appropriate element in sharing the gospel? Why do you think Sweet seems to steer away from it in Nudge?
  2. What does Sweet mean by the phrase, “Good business strategists live on base hits”? (p. 32)
  3. Sweet indicates that some evangelism tends “to violate others’ dignity.” What might he mean by this? Have you witnessed it? (p. 33)
  4. Do you agree that people today tend to worry more about never having lived than where they will spend eternity? (p. 33)
  5. How do you react to the suggestion that, if someone is strong-armed into faith before honestly seeing their need, it may be detrimental to them? (see the Sarte quote, p. 35).sartequote
  6. Sweet says, “Nudging is made up of small things, but it is no small thing. Small inputs can have massive consequences. It is less that ‘everything matters’ than that small things matter everywhere.” (p. 39) What does he mean by that last sentence?
  7. What do you make of Sweet’s statement, “The more I discover what I am, the more miserable I get; the more I discover who God is and who God made me, the happier I become”? (p. 40)
  8. “What counts in evangelism is not cognition, but recognition.” (p. 41) What does this mean? Do you need no cognition (the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses)? Where do you need recognition?
  9. Sweet says, “Not acknowledging Christ when he appears is dereliction of discipleship.” How do you know when he is already at work in someone?
  10. How do you, personally, work to triangulate Scripture, Culture, and Spirit? How do you “walk a tonal tightrope”? (p.45)
  11. For our purposes, Semiotics is, simply stated, reading the world around you from a spiritual / divine perspective. Do you think human society is becoming better at this, or worse? Do you see the necessity of doing this, as it relates to nudging? Explain.
  12. Sweet suggests that Jesus’ ministry was more a semiotics ministry than a preaching, teaching, or healing ministry (p.59). Do you see this? What does the abundance of semiotics in Jesus’ ministry say about evangelism?
  13. What one thing can you take from this chapter that will help you become more proficient at nudging?