The book opens with a story about a teacher who presented the Gospel story to a group of bible college students. The presenter left out any mention of Jesus. Nobody noticed. Even when he told them something was missing and asked them to identify what was left out the students could not do it.

The purpose of the illustration was to demonstrate how we often are so wrapped up in our doctrines and facts about the Bible that we can leave Jesus out of the conversation and still think we have covered all the important teaching. The problem is we are just presenting information and not the person of Jesus.

Medearis summarizes, “I was so busy trying to convert people to Christianity that Jesus never had a chance.”

The author shares that in his experience sharing Jesus is not difficult, even in a hostile environment. Throughout the book he explains and illustrates his thesis.

At one point he conducted a simple survey to see what level of resistance he would find to presenting the gospel. He interviewed 50 people at random on the street and asked what their opinion of Jesus was. Out of fifty, how many people do you think answered positively? Fifty. All fifty were positive. That amazed him. This survey confirmed that people don’t have an issue with Jesus, but rather with Christianity.

Here are some highlights from the book:

• The Gospel should not be looked at as a list of things to do, or to believe – or even a collection of doctrines. It is a relationship with the man Jesus.
• We confuse people when we focus on the religion – Christianity – and try to “convert people.” That is not our job. God will take care of their salvation. Our role is to introduce them to our friend Jesus and let him do his work in them.
• “My job, no – my joy comes from sharing the good news of Jesus with people. I point to him, and he does all the heavy work.”
• Notice I didn’t say speak “about Jesus.” Notice Paul said, “I preach Christ,” not “I preach about Christ.” I only speak of that which I know and have experienced.
• I used to think that in order to share my faith effectively, I had to know and defend the entire Bible. That’s wrong.
• We know Jesus by acting like Him. I’m not really that good at being like Him, so I act like Him. I’m acting. Pretending. But doing it with the desire to be like Him.
• When asked, “Are you a Christian?” I am careful to answer the real question rather than the stated one. I reply, “I grew up in a Christian home. My religious heritage is Christian, yes. But I am a follower of Jesus.”
• Making disciples, as opposed to evangelism, is a journey of relationship that encompasses support, trial and error, and difficulty. It isn’t based on the explanations and doctrines nor practices of a religious system.
• It comes down to, “Who are we and what do we do?” I have never come up with anything better than to say, “We are people trying to follow Jesus.” It’s as simple (and complex) as that.
• On another occasion while in Iraq I was asked, “Why have you come here? Are you with the American army?” “No,” I said, “we followed Jesus to Basra, so we are trying to find out what He is doing here.” He took in his breath with a hiss. “Isa?” he asked, using the Muslims’ name for Jesus. “Isa is in Basra?” That lead to a long conversation about Isa and what he is up to in their community.

Reviewer note: I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to effectively share their faith. It will challenge and stretch you. You will be better equipped for the next time God connects you with someone he is calling to himself.

Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism, by Carl Medearis

Review by Phill Sandahl