Evangelistic TractLet’s say there are basically two kinds of evangelism: effective and ineffective. Some evangelism really helps people discover God and enter into a relationship with Jesus. Some evangelism doesn’t really do anything–and sometimes even hurts people.


Effective evangelism cares about the other person. Effective evangelism listens to the other person’s story. Effective evangelism knows when to stop, or at least slow down, so as not to push the other person further away.

Ineffective evangelism, on the other hand, doesn’t really care about the other person. Ineffective evangelism doesn’t listen to the other person’s story. Ineffective evangelism doesn’t know when to stop, and usually ends up pushing the other person further away from Christ.

So here are a couple videos I found.

The first video is an example of effective evangelism. Some would say it’s not really evangelism; it’s an interview. I’m not so sure….

Jim Henderson is a pastor and author whose passion is to help Christians better listen to those who are “lost”–to help Christians better understand the mindset of non-Christians. Last year I read his book, A.K.A. Lost (retitled Evangelism Without Additives), and heard him speak at the Revolution Conference (you can read about that here, here, here, and here).

The second video is an example of ineffective evangelism. Notice how no one stays to listen. Notice that the evangelist doesn’t seem to care. Does it matter to him that no one stays to hear his message? And notice that the final text at the end of the video is focused on the how good the evangelist is, not on the needs of those who need to hear the message.

Here are those videos:

3 Minutes with 3 Lost People (Effective)

Patrick Preaches to Lost People in Manchester, England (Ineffective)

(By the way, I just saw the end of A.I.: Artificial Intelligence on TV. Man, what totally depressing movie. I think it’s a good movie, but soooo depressing…)