Giving away books – and sharing your faith too!

Like many Christians, Georgie prays on the way into work: “Lord, please give me an opportunity to speak for you today”. Unlike many of us though, along with a desire to share her faith, and praying for the right moment to say something to a colleague, she is also equipped.

In her bag she always carries a Christian book and her intention is to give it away. Over the years she has given away many volumes and has had profound conversations about Jesus as a result. She’s equipped as well as willing.

A few years ago, the death of the book was widely predicted. First the internet and then social media apps were supposed to have made the printed page a closed book. However, Britain remains a nation of book buyers and readers. According to the bookish website lovereading.co.uk, last year saw £1.82 billion in UK book sales. That’s a lot of books. And a huge opportunity for the church.

Conversely, online evangelism has arguably got harder in that time. At Solas we produce films, Instagram reels and written articles for non-Christians. However, social media companies have become smarter at corralling people into echo chambers in which they are only fed content they’re already interested in. If the apps know you like football, origami or jigsaws, they will feed you football, origami, and jigsaws! As a result, non-Christian people don’t see much Christian content unless the producer has an impressive budget and can feed the tech-companies whose motto is “pay-to-play”.

When we published Have You Ever Wondered?,* a book for non-Christians, we quickly discovered that books remain a powerful way of reaching out. We have been amazed by the range of people outside the church who were willing to read and discuss it with their Christian friends. Some have come to faith. We were contacted by a pilot who told us that he has given over 50 copies of that book to colleagues who have been happy to engage with it!

The key seems to be (along with a prayerful willingness to speak out for Jesus), finding the right book that will intrigue your friends or colleagues. Christian biographies in which the subject has a clear faith in Christ but shares something in common with your friend are often a great bridge (sport, music or suffering are examples). Fiction can also be leveraged for the gospel, where the narratives contain forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation or justice – as long as the book giveaway is followed up by a friendly conversation which begins, “So what did you think?” A local Christian bookshop or online retailer like 10ofThose or the Good Book Company will happily direct you to the right book for your sport-obsessed teenager or for a business leader; for the person who is not even sure there is a God, to the one who is on the cusp of trusting Jesus.

Do you have a friend interested in culture and values? Glen Scrivener’s The Air We Breathe is a great start. Science? The work of John Lennox is engaging, helpful and credible. A range of questions and objections? Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin is great. Other religions? Andy Bannister’s Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? is an accessible read. The point is, there is no shortage of material. What we need is Christians like us to offer them to our friends, neighbours, family members, and colleagues.

Obviously not every book offered will be accepted, and not every book accepted will be read or lead to a startling conversion. However, if we head out in the morning with the intention to share our faith, and a resource ready to offer, we are far more likely to share something of our faith in Christ that day than if we just drift into the day with vague good intentions.

*As a special offer to en’s readers, 10ofThose are offering (for a limited time) a 30% discount on Have You Ever Wondered? using the code: WONDER