Customer Reviews

How to Give Away Your Faith: With Study Questions for Individuals or Groups

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I found this book to be one of the best I have read on the topic of evangelism. Mr. Little combines personal experience(of which I expect he had plenty) with solid Christian principles. He addresses many real life situations that you will encounter as you share your faith in a down-to-earth way that can be understood by all. The author writes in a way that makes you feel like you are being "discipled" by a true friend. Paul's sense of humor is also evident and is an encouragement to those that may be intimidated by this topic. I whole heartedly recommend this book to those who have a desire to "give away their faith"!

We do not have to be able to lead others to Christ to be loved of Christ. However, as a friend always wants to share the best gifts with other friends, any excited Christian has an inner desire to share his faith with those who are floundering in life.

As a young Christian I was bashful and never quite able to tell my nonChristian friends about my faith. I never led another person to faith in Christ . . . until . . . someone gave me a copy of this book. It was so simple, honest, and natural that it changed my life. Now, years later, I have been present when several dozen persons have experienced a new birth of faith in Christ.

For years this book that helped me so much was out of print. I am glad that a new generation of Christian is learning from this master of evangelism.

How To Give Away Your Faith is an ingenious book that points the followers of Christ to where their ministry should be focused: on showing and telling others about Him. Paul E. Little's book is very helpful in showing where our attitudes should be in witnessing (see Chapter 2: The Effective Ambassador) and how to do so properly (see chapter 3: How To Witness). In addition to these essential areas, Little explains common questions that non-Christians and some Christians ask (see Why We Believe, chapter 6). Probably the most important part of this book is Chapter 5: What Is Out Message? It is crucial for Believers to know what they believe, how to express such things, and what relevant facts must be shared in witnessing.

There are simply too many intriguing scenes in this text to mention here, so I will simply state those that most affected me. It is amazing that somewhere in every chapter was a concept I had been longing to grasp, something I knew I had needed to know. And then there were such things I had heard before, yet saw in a new light (such as the "Roman Road" in Chapter 5: What Is Our Message?). In my sincerest opinion, it is essential that the entire book be read. I have learned more than I ever thought possible with this book. Paul Little covers almost every known topic needed in witnessing.

Just so you know, this book (though revised) was originally written in 1966. And so, society having changed slightly since then (and since it was revised in 1988), the dialog and certain phrases, etc. are not completely relevant (yet still understandable). Such things as neighbors having close friendships are mostly restricted to television now in our busy 21st-Century society. Also, words such as "phooey" and "outlandish" are used every now and then. Yet, this book is still widely read, used, understandable, and effective. Its importance cannot be understated. Evangelist Billy Graham was quoted describing How To Give Away Your Faith as "A tremendous help in witnessing."

Paul Little's classic work, How to Give Away Your Faith, offers a simple yet often times profound look at one of the "hardest" tasks of the Christian life: evangelism. Witnessing is hard. Most Christians try to stay away from it and those who do evangelize often prove to be more of an embarrassment to the faith than a witness. How are we to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Christ to a world in need? How do broken clay jars carry an eternal message of hope and life to the thirsty and starving? In seeking to answer such questions, Little charts a helpful course for those who seek to be Christ's ambassadors to the world.

Be Real! The world's need for Christ is real and his help is a necessity. Christ and Christianity are the only real answers to the world's need. We must be aware of this need and we must sincerely and truthfully proclaim the wonders of his name. It is our duty to live a life of genuine faith and sincerity of mission because superficial Christianity is empty and meaningless. Our focus should be ultimately placed on things eternal while seeking to remedy things material. Our goal is to have others not just assent to the facts of Christianity but to believe in the Christ of Christianity.

How then are we to witness? First, Little highlights the necessity of evangelism for our own personal spiritual growth. It is necessary to witness the power of the gospel. Then we must obey. Evangelism is a matter of obedience. Obedience to Christ brings forth proclamation of his truth. Little proceeds to list seven steps toward active evangelism. First, we must have contact with others in a social context. Secondly, we must seek to establish a common interest with the purpose of bridging communication. Then we must provoke an interest in spiritual things. Fourthly, we must recognize when we should stop and when we should continue on sharing. We also must not condemn those whom we are witnessing too for their various sins. Sixthly, we must not become sidetracked. We must stick to the main message. Lastly, we must call them to repentance. We must call them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that they might be saved.

How do we handle those "ticklish" awkward situations? Our desire is to have the unbelievers with whom we are in contact to begin to respect us even though we are different. As they begin to respect us so they will also begin to listen to us instead of viewing us as weird or insane. But awkward moments will come and the best thing we can do is to be prepared for them. We should anticipate difficult situations and have alternatives to comfortably work through them.

As ambassadors of Christ it is our duty to proclaim his message. The messenger must know and understand the message for the purpose of being a faithful and knowledgeable ambassador. Little sums up the gospel message in Jesus Christ himself - "who He is, what He has done, and how He can be known in personal experience" (56). He suggests following the pattern of problem, diagnosis, cure for setting forth the message of the gospel.

Further, ambassadors cannot just know the message but they must also believe it and live it. We don't have all the answers, but we nonetheless must be ready to give a reason for the hope within us. There are many questions, which non-believers have, but their basic problem is one of moral unbelief. They have rejected their creator and traded his truth in for a lie.
Christ is the answer to those questions, which are asked. However, he has left it as our duty to show the helpless and lost the importance and relevance of Christ in answering those questions. Christianity is true because Jesus is the truth. He is the relevant truth the world needs.

So how are Christians to witness to a corrupted world without compromising our holiness? It is our duty to reach out to the world, but we must not succumb to worldliness. We must recognize that all of our life is God's and we are to live as unto him and for his purposes. We should live all of life cognizant of being stewards of God's time and we must strive to live a life of constant witness to the truth.

The gospel is not just for a one-time salvation event; the gospel is for life. Faith in Christ, the object of our salvation, must continue throughout the Christian life. We are in a daily battle but with Christ it is a victorious battle. We battle against our secret self; against sins both external and internal. This battle must be fought with the Sword of the Spirit and it must be waged through the power of prayer. We also battle over time and priorities, which must be aligned with God's prerogative. In doing so we will have fought a victorious battle.

Witnessing is not optional for the Christian. In fact, as Little has shown, it is vital to the Christian life. It is a matter of obedience to our Creator and Redeemer. Little, offers a helpful guide toward developing better witnesses. While he offers various witnessing helps he goes beyond the task of evangelism and hits the witness himself. This is where Little is most valuable and while this work will be used for some years to come.

The book had many positive and negative aspects. In one example Little says that a Christian may allow a roommate to leave pornographic magazines around the shared area but he or she should put his or her "foot down" when the roommate invites someone of the opposite sex to sleep over (82); however both circumstances should not be tolerated. A few pages prior, Little mentions, "Do not condemn the other persons and do not compromise your own convictions" (75)-tolerating pornographic magazines to be left out in the open is a compromise and a possible source of temptation. Christians are called to be holy, and to say nothing about the porn magazines is the same as condoning it. The Bible exhorts that Christians are to "take no part in the worthless deed of evil and darkness (Eph. 5:11 NLT)." The Christian should ask that the roommate keep porn magazines in his or her own personal living space.

Little mentions that there is an "absence of an explicit biblical standard" regarding alcohol consumption. He states that French Christians often drink wine because it is part of their culture (149). There is a certain people group in the United States who was infamous for making "moon shine" and would probably consider alcohol consumption as part of their culture. Just because one is accustomed to certain practices does not mean that the act is acceptable. Christians are called to put an end to selfish desires that impede on a relationship with God (Galatians 5:24 and Romans 21:1).

Little asserts that praying over a meal before eating is not a "witness vehicle" so he suggests that Christians ought to pray with eyes wide open so as not to offend anyone (79). Jesus states, however, "For whoever is ashamed of Me...of him the son of Man also will be ashamed (Mark 8:38 NKJV)." Praying in public may not be a witnessing tool, but Christians should not be afraid of what others would think if he or she prays silently before a meal.

On a positive note, the inclusion of study questions and the suggestions for group leaders would be helpful for a church evangelism class. The questions evoke a response from the student, forcing him or her to make practical applications of the chapter's content. For instance, one of the questions in chapter five, "What is Our Message," asks, "What would you reply to a person who said, `I'm glad Christ will forgive my sins but I haven't got anything to repent of. I'm as good as the next guy'? (103)." Another from the same chapter asks a question but also poses a challenge, "Prepared with new insights from this chapter, would you like to contact someone in order to explain or clarify the gospel or to help the person continue in Christ? Consider doing so this week (103)."

Little explains that sometimes non-Christians refute or seriously doubt the reliability of the Bible. To this, Little counters by asking for specific examples, which he observes very few people ever give (121). In fact Little insists, "We don't have to be answering questions all the time. We can pose a few questions for him, too" (114). For example, Little's question for those who deny Jesus Christ as the only way to God is "Since you don't believe Jesus Christ was the Truth, which of the other three possibilities about Jesus Christ do you believe? He was either a liar, a lunatic, a legend or the Truth" (114).

The first edition of Paul Little's book was published in 1966 and was updated by his widow, Marie Little, who republished it as a second edition in 1988. It is amazing how the examples are still relevant. Little's quest to help people present the good news in a "relevant" way and to communicate the gospel effectively to those who find it strange or foreign was achieved (13). Not only does Little equip people with the purpose, method and challenge of evangelism, but also devotes several chapters on strengthening the inner spiritual qualities of Christians. Two reflective questions he posed were, "Are we convinced that our behavior is giving glory to God?" (153), and "Am I doing this and not doing that because of love for Jesus Christ and a desire to honor and glorify Him? Or is the real reason a cultural bias that won't hold if I move from one social or cultural group to another?" (158). Little believed that an "inner spiritual reality" of spending time with God in prayer, worship and fellowship is crucial for becoming an useful witness (190). Little's book prompts the reader to realize and to act according because "the greatest favor you can do for others is to introduce them to Jesus Christ" (11).

Paul E. Little's book How to Give Away Your Faith (IVP) was first published in 1966, a few years before the popular evangelist was killed in a tragic car accident. Since his untimely death, his wife Marie has overseen two revisions of Little's book (1988, 2008).

How to Give Away Your Faith is sometimes described as "the classic guide to evangelism" perhaps because of the way in which the book addresses practical issues surrounding personal evangelism. Today, I will summarize How to Give Away Your Faith and tomorrow, I will offer some areas of agreement and critique.

A Summary

Little begins his book by challenging his readers to take a good look at the world in which we live. One may wonder why a book on evangelism begins with a brief analysis of Western culture. Little gives the answer to that question by insisting that Christians should know both their Bibles and the people around them (24). We should be attentive not only to the big-picture problems in our world, but also to the issues being faced by the person next door.

Little believes there are two essential ingredients for faith: initial commitment (conversion) and love and obedience to Jesus (33-4). Obedience is a sign that we have true faith in Jesus Christ, and this obedience includes our evangelistic efforts.

In the second chapter, Little describes the effective ambassador of Jesus Christ. He dispels some of the myths surrounding evangelism, including the attempts of some to express an artificial enthusiasm or the doubts of others as to whether or not they can engage in evangelism if they have moral imperfections (42-49).

Little challenges us to use our personalities and talents in order to be "diplomats," and this diplomatic role implies that we must have non-Christian friends. "If we are serious about representing Christ, we need to think through how we can be the best friends possible to non-Christians," he writes (49).

Little offers us a number of suggestions in how to cultivate these friendships:

sharing mealtimes,
participating in new activities,
and getting to know the people in our neighborhoods (49-52).
Next, Little shows us how to go about witnessing by pointing to Jesus as our primary example. He analyzes Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, and puts forth some basic, practical principles for evangelism.

"These... are our eight principles: meet and know non-Christians personally; establish a mutual interest in conversation; arouse a person's interest by life and word; gear explanations to people's receptiveness and readiness for more; accept and even compliment rather than condemn; stay on the track; and persevere to the destination" (75).

How to Give Away Your Faith is filled with the practical insight from an experienced personal evangelist. One chapter seeks to help Christians overcome some of the social barriers that sometimes put them in awkward positions.

How should Christians respond to those who use profanity?
How can Christians give thanks before meals when sharing them with non-Christians?
According to Little, the "guideline for a right attitude in hurdling social barriers should be the ambassador's goal: to get close enough to gain a hearing for the message of reconciliation through Jesus Christ." (80) Little shows how this single-mindedness can help us overcome some of the more difficult social situations.

The central section of How to Give Away Your Faith focuses primarily upon the message that Christians are to proclaim as well as the reasons why Christians believe that message to be objectively true. Little writes:

"Ambassadors communicate a message. Many Christians are ineffective ambassadors because they're not sure of the content of their message and are unable to communicate it clearly to others" (92).

In defining the gospel, Little turns the spotlight onto Jesus.

"The gospel... is Jesus Christ himself - who he is, what he has done, and how he can be known in personal experience" (94).

From there, he sketches some of the basic facts that give a framework for our thinking. These facts include the identity of Jesus Christ, his diagnosis of human nature, the fact and meaning of his crucifixion and resurrection, and how one becomes a Christian (95-101). These basic facts can be incorporated into a variety of gospel presentations.

The rest of the book focuses on training in apologetics, the relevance of Jesus Christ for a number of societal issues, the effect of worldliness upon evangelism, and how Christians can continually cultivate a passion for personal evangelism.

Little recognizes that evangelism is connected to other vital aspects of the Christian faith, including discipleship and personal holiness. Therefore, he deals with these other subjects, since they affect evangelistic practice.

Strengths

There is much to appreciate in Little's book. Readers will sense Little's experience in personal evangelism. The strength of this manual lies in the practical nature of Little's insights. His directions are borne out of experience and passion, not merely theory and academics.

It is encouraging to see that Little makes room for tough questions regarding the Christian faith. One of the reasons some people give for their lack of evangelism is that they feel ill-equipped to answer tough questions.

Little offers some preliminary answers to hard questions about Christianity. These answers point us in the right direction and whet readers' appetites for going deeper into understanding why we believe what we believe.

Likewise, Little's emphasis on apologetics keeps him from basing reasons for belief solely in the experience of believers. He clearly believes that Christians will have a conversion experience that results in a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord.

But he does not allow this experience to overshadow the objective truths of Christianity. He wisely avoids making his case for Christianity's truthfulness by appealing to subjective religious experience, a mistake made by many today.

Also helpful is the way that Little delineates the biblical truths about Jesus and thus holds the spotlight on Jesus, not the personal testimony of the evangelist.

Weaknesses

How to Give Away Your Faith is a helpful volume in many ways. Still, there are a couple of sections that could be strengthened.

First, it was good to see Little emphasizing the importance of Christ's resurrection. (Some evangelistic strategies focus on the cross to the exclusion of the empty tomb.)

Unfortunately, his unpacking of the resurrection's meaning is somewhat reductionistic. According to Little, Christ's resurrection proves his divinity, and it means we can have a personal relationship with Jesus today (98).

Both of these statements about the resurrection are true. But the Gospels and the preaching of the apostle Paul lead us to a richer understanding of the resurrection, one that goes beyond mere apologetic proofs for the deity of Christ and leads us to the biblical teaching of God's kingdom community.

Resurrection morning is the start of God's new creation - the kingdom of God being inaugurated now, even as it has not yet come in its fullness. The disciples experience the power of Christ's resurrection, not merely so that their relationship with the living Savior can continue, but also that they may form the people of God, the new humanity, a beloved community of faith that has been "reborn" and now serves as the sign of the wondrous future that God has in store for the whole cosmos.

The reductionist understanding of the resurrection creates the next problem for Little's proposal: the local church is mentioned merely as "follow up" (104-8). Thus, the creation of the community of resurrection faith is not seen as central to the gospel presentation itself.

To his credit, Little emphasizes the need for local church participation. Yet, he clearly views the church as a little more than a place for fellowship with like-minded believers. There is little sense in this book that the creation of the ekklesia was one of the primary intentions of the atonement.

How to Give Away Your Faith shines light on both the strength and weakness of the evangelical approach to personal evangelism.

Its strength lies in its emphasis on personal salvation and individual conversion.

Its weakness lies in its relegation of the doctrine of the church to "follow up," an evangelical tendency which generates the unfortunate situation in which people make decisions for Christ but fail to see the importance (indeed necessity) of being incorporated into a local manifestation of Christ's body. The church is seen as an afterthought, something to follow up with after individual salvation has taken place instead of being seen as the central platform for God's grace to flow out to the wider world.

Conclusion

How to Give Away Your Faith is one of the better books on evangelism that I have come across. Filled with practical insights and spiritual fervor, Paul Little's book continues to resonate with audiences today.

Despite a couple of flaws indicative of the atmosphere of evangelicalism in Little's day, the book contains engaging examples and motivational insights into the nature of the Great Commission and our responsibility to fulfill it.

"Witnessing is that deep-seated conviction that the greatest favor I can do for others is to introduce them to Jesus Christ...But, many Christians are ineffective ambassadors because they're not sure of the content of their message and are unable to communicate it clearly to others." So writes Paul Little in How to Give Away your Faith, which is certainly one of the most widely-read and successful books on evangelism ever written.

Published in 1966, and re-released by Little's wife last year (Little died in 1975), this book is a sort of evangelism-for-dummies. Much of what it says seems common-sense now, but was not so 40 years ago. In fact, much of what seems obvious in it, is obvious precisely because of the popularity of this book.

Little's thrust is that Christians are to be ambassadors for Christ, and they should be out proclaiming the Gospel to the world around us. He stresses the life-style that the evangelist leads should be marked by holiness, and the attitude the evangelist has should be friendly. Grumps and worldly people make terrible evangelists, Little points out, because the goal is to actually show people that the Gospel transforms our lives.

How to Give Away your Faith is an extremely practical book--more so than just about any other book on evangelism I can think of. Little divides evangelism up into two categories: one-time encounters (cold evangelism), and on-going encounters (relational evangelism). He then gives specific ideas and observations about each category. For example, he points out that one-time encounters tend to go deeper more quickly, perhaps because of they anonymous nature of the conversation. He then gives lists of ways to facilitate these conversations.

For relational evangelism, Little gives helpful examples of how to transition relationships with friends and neighbors into conversations about the Gospel. His examples are challenging, and effective. He gives advice on how to meet neighbors, how to start conversations, and how to challenge people to make decisions for Jesus. He encourages you to consistently ask your friends what their opinion is on things, then listening to their answer. The more you ask, the more they talk, the more likely they will be to listen when you explain the Gospel.

He also spends a chapter detailing the content of the Gospel. This book does not present a method-driven approach to evangelism. Unlike most current evangelistic training, Little does not give a "memorize these points and have this conversation" approach. He gives multiple different outlines, and certainly gives the reader enough training to have a conversation that centers on the Gospel.

There are weaknesses to this book. Some of his examples are certainly dated (computers are called "thinking machines," and the threat of a nuclear holocaust is mentioned several times; he reminisces about the days when kids played "cowboys and Indians"). The book closes with chapters on worldliness, weaker brothers, grey areas, devotional life, and secret sins. The content of those chapters is good--especially the weaker brother one--but the connection to the rest of the book is unclear and they seem terribly out of place.

It is helpful to remember that this book was written 40 years ago. Little takes a strong stand in favor of Lordship salvation, and also warns against Christians who say that God speaks to them in an audible voice. But he also talks about "making the Gospel relevant" and gives advice on making listeners "more receptive" to the Gospel. It is most likely that these words ("relevant" and "receptive") had different nuances then, but they still stood out as being unhelpful.

Today when you witness (or teach others to), you most likely understand that evangelism is more than plowing through Bible verses and spiritual Laws. When you think of evangelism, you probably think of having conversations with friends and neighbors about the Gospel, and you probably view that as an essential part of Christianity. While How to Give Away your Faith may seem elementary, it is also at least partially responsible for engraining those assumptions into the fabric of today's evangelicalism.

I was disappointed that this book was not the same as pictured. It was an older version. I am taking a study on this and the book they are using was the updated version that looks like the picture.

This book gives very specific ways to share your Christian faith. It also addresses the basic questions people ask which are often designed to trip up the believer. Wonderful resource.

It has been a long time since I read this book. It is one of the better books I have read on personal evangelism. There are two sections I have used more than any other in it. One is the section that analyzes Jesus' approach to the woman at the well in John 4. Although I am not sure this book gave me any one technique or approach that makes me a better Christian witness, I have used principles from the analysis of Jesus' approach to this woman within attempts to give a Christian witness. The other very helpful section is Little's responses for the common objections people raise. That alone is worth the price of the book.