Books on Evangelism
Since moving from Northern Ireland to Galway in the Republic of Ireland at the end of 2023 I’ve been thinking about evangelism in a more focused way, partly because the Republic of Ireland (in stark contrast to the North) has the smallest percentage of evangelicals in the English-speaking world. As a result, books on the subject of evangelism have featured in my reading more than previously. And then a friend of mine, Rob Ventura (Pastor of Grace Community Baptist Church in North Providence, Rhode Island), recently sent me the manuscript of his new book ‘Equipped to Evangelise: a Biblical Foundation,’ to be published shortly by Christian Focus. Since I have this little mound of evangelism books sitting on my desk I thought I would recommend some of them here.
God Centred Evangelism, R.B. Kuiper (Banner of Truth: 1966)
This is one of the classic works on the Biblical principles of evangelism from a Reformed perspective. Kuiper gives a succinct but comprehensive theology of evangelism. If you want a faithful summary of what Scripture teaches about evangelism, this is a great place to start.
How to Talk about Jesus (Without Being THAT Guy), Sam Chan (Zondervan: 2020)
This is not a theology of evangelism but a very readable, very practical, very down-to-earth series of ‘tips’ on evangelism—wise advice about how to go about doing it in today’s culture. The author has valuable things to say about how to develop natural relationships with non-Christians in order to gain a hearing for the gospel. One of the most important chapters in my view is the one on listening to what the other person is saying, so as to hear and understand what they really think and not just what you think they think. Actually, I think most of us need to hear this advice about conversation in general, whether with Christians or non-Christians!
God is God and You are You: Finding Confidence for Sharing our Faith, Thomas Davis (Christian Focus: 2023)
This is a great little book written to encourage all believers, as they share their faith, to hold on to two crucial and complementary truths about God and about ourselves. The title (and indeed each of the chapter headings) may sound like obvious truisms, but as Thomas explains each of them they give profound insights into the truths that underpin evangelism.
(1) God is God: remember who God is – infinite, eternal, sovereign, compassionate – and his role in evangelism.
(2) You are you: God has made you who you are, so you don’t need to try to be someone you’re not. God is perfectly able to use you as you are to bring the good news of the gospel to lost people.
Honest Evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus Even When it’s Tough, Rico Tice (The Good Book Company: 2015)
I read this last year and my wife is half-way through it at the moment, constantly reading quotations from it. ‘Honest Evangelism’ is a very accurate title – Rico doesn’t soft-peddle how hard it can be to share the gospel, and is very honest about his own struggles to do so. But my wife said it is the book that has changed her attitude to evangelism more than any other she has read so far, inspiring her to want to do it. Rico does give good advice about how to do evangelism, but as Ruth put it, ‘If you don’t have a heart for reaching the lost, it doesn’t really matter how good your technique and ability might be.’
Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People’s Hearts the Way Jesus Did, Randy Newman (Kregel: 2004)
This is one of the most helpful books I have ever read on how to have a conversation about the gospel, particularly with a post-modern sceptic. The transformative insight Randy gives is to ask questions. Imitate the Lord Jesus, who often responded to sceptics’ questions with a question of his own. Instead of preaching a mini sermon, ‘dialogue the gospel’ as Randy puts it. It’s not that we don’t also declare and defend the gospel, but ‘Often neglected, difficult to master, but absolutely essential, this skill of giving and taking—asking questions and bouncing ideas back and forth—might be just what our postmodern audience needs.’ (p.15). Randy has given us a whole book full of examples of this in his sequel, Corner Conversations: Engaging Dialogues About God and Life (Kregel: 2006). He has also written a very helpful book for sharing the gospel with those closest to you – Bringing the Gospel Home: Sharing Your Faith with Family and Friends (IVP: 2011).
A Faith Worth Sharing: a Lifetime of Conversations about Christ, C. John Miller (P&R: 1999)
This book was written by ‘Jack’ Miller not as a book about evangelism but as a book of case studies – conversations the author had with various kinds of non-Christians over the course of a long life of faithful, intelligent and sensitive witnessing to Jesus Christ. It’s a beautiful illustration of so many of the principles these other books I’ve mentioned lay out.
Equipped to Evangelise: a Biblical Foundation, Rob Ventura (Christian Focus: forthcoming)
This book reads to me like a shorter and more accessible version of Kuiper’s God Centred Evangelism. Rob’s concern is to unpack the Scriptural teaching on evangelism – indeed each chapter heading emphasises this with the words ‘Biblical Evangelism’. In seven readable chapters he discusses the need, scope, motive, agents, message, results and power for Biblical evangelism, all in the context of our modern world with all its challenges and opportunities. Each chapter concludes with a few well chosen questions for reflection and discussion, which would make the book very useful in a church adult class or youth fellowship/intervarsity group.
Rob is deliberately not writing a ‘how-to’ guide on evangelism, but as a biblical primer answering the fundamental questions about what evangelism is. There is a real danger that too many churches have assumed their members understand and believe the biblical principles underlying evangelism and so just need some help with technique. Rob’s book certainly addresses and supplies that want. His writing is clear and well-illustrated, it informs the head and warms the heart, it pricks the conscience and urges the will; but above all it is rooted in and full of Scripture.
Of course there are many other excellent books on evangelism – this short list could easily be multiplied ten times over, but since these have all come across my radar recently I simply want to commend them to you, with the prayer that God will use resources like these to make us more faithful evangelists for his glory.
