Honest Evangelism: How to talk about Jesus even when it's tough

by Rico Tice

Hostility and hunger—that's the response to the message of Jesus. The first is painful, the second is wonderful, and Rico Tice is honest about both.

Short, clear, realistic and humorous, this book will challenge you to be honest in your conversations about Jesus, help you to know how to talk about him, and thrill you that God can and will use ordinary people to change eternal destinies.

Genres: Christian, Evangelism, Christian Living, Theology, Christianity, Faith, Nonfiction

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2015

About the author

Rico Tice is Senior Minister (Evangelism) at All Souls Church, Langham Place in London. Born in Chile before being educated in England, Rico spent a year working at a church in inner city Liverpool and then studied history at Bristol University (where he was captain of the rugby team). He went on to graduate from theological college at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. As a passionate evangelist, he has spent the last few years developing the Christianity Explored courses. He is a regular speaker at missions and evangelistic events around the world, and is the author of Honest Evangelism: How to talk about Jesus even when it's tough.

Reviews

[Jordan Shirkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I want to be honest: if you tell non-Christians about Jesus, it will be painful. That’s what the books (other than the Bible) don’t tend to tell you.”

The premise of Tice’s book is that Evangelism costs something - there’s pain and sacrifice and risk involved. He’s right. No approach is risk free. No amount of understanding or kindness or compassion can keep some people from negatively responding and rejecting the gospel. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be understanding, kind and compassionate - he points out those are critical aspects. This a short book with tons of practical advice and solid perspective. A great evangelism primer for any Christian.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

We studied this book in our Women's Bible study and it was a great read. I liked how realistically and honestly the author talks about evangelism and admits that it's not always easy. But he offers great practical tools to share the gospel. It offered our group a great starting point to discuss how and why we evangelise and how that looks in each of our contexts. I would highly recommend this book!

[Caleb Stelk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was GREAT!! It’s a shorter read and very simple, great for college students, whether they’re just starting to think about sharing their faith with others or are trying but feeling inadequate.

Some key takeaways I had:
- there will be opposition/pain, but unless you cross the pain line you can’t discover the hunger in someone else’s heart
- “for as long as Jesus is not my greatest love, I will keep quiet about him in order to serve my greatest love, my idol” (pg 50).
- what to remember: God is gracious, God is sovereign, God is powerful
- what to share: Jesus’ identity, mission, and call
- what to listen for: understanding, agreement, impact
- research shows it can take around 2 years from the initial point of contact to faith in Christ, so be patient!
- see lost people as sheep without a shepherd and a plentiful harvest ready to be gathered

There’s great material in this for small groups that are beginning to think about how to share their faith with others!

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book. Biblical, realistic, hopeful & encouraging, lots of concrete & specific suggestions. Speaking about Jesus & sharing the gospel = "crossing the painline".

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

In his book Honest Evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus Even When It's Tough, Rico Tice hopes to help the reader "experience some of the heavenly joy in finding the lost," (Kindle location 82). Mr. Tice states that "God is the great evangelist, the great seeker and finder of people; and he's called his followers to the same pursuit and the same emotion," (Kindle location 90).

In his first chapter, Mr. Tice talks about his schoolboy experiences of persecution when he told his classmates about Jesus. Based on his experience, he says that "[m]any people don't like the gospel," (Kindle location 119) and that if Christians talk about Jesus, they are going to get hurt (Kindle location 126). While his statements are true, it's not because of the author's experience. It's true because God's Word tells us that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that will perish (1 Cor. 1:18); and Jesus Himself says that the world will hate Christians, and that the world hated Him before it hated us (John 15:18). After relaying his experience of rejection, Mr. Tice clarifies the purpose of his book: "So the reason I've written this book, and the reason I'm talking about hostility to the gospel as well as the joy of the gospel in this opening chapter, is just to be very honest."

One of the problems with this book is how the author defines salvation. He says that God is sovereign in salvation (Kindle location 662 & 670), but then he uses language that also points to man's decision in salvation; which means that ultimately, God is not sovereign, man is. In Ephesians, God tells us that He chose His elect and predestinated them before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5). There is no offer of salvation in the Bible. The call from John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, Peter, and Paul is to repent and believe. While Mr. Tice says that he believes that God is sovereign in salvation, he writes differently.

First, he has a universalist view of Christ's death on the cross. To Mr. Tice, Christ's death was efficient for everyone, but only effective for some. He quotes Isa. 53:5 and then says, "Can you see what the one with all authority was doing for you? Can you see how he loved you? He was dying for you," (Kindle location 286). If Christ died for all and God is all-powerful, then all men should be saved. But the Bible clearly shows that some men will go to hell, (Luke 16:23); therefore, Christ did not die for all. His blood shed on the cross for the remission of the sins was not wasted. It was a measured amount for the elect's sake.

Second, Mr. Tice uses wording that depicts a synergistic view of salvation. As the author persuades Christians to witness because the reality of death and hell he says: "There are no more chances--God gives people this life to make their decision. He treats us as adults, and gives us what we've chosen--life with him, or life without him," (Kindle location 422); and then again he says, "If we give our lives to him [Jesus]," (Kindle location 849). If man can choose whether or not he's saved, then God is not sovereign. Yet the Bible is clear that there is no free will in salvation. Salvation is a monergistic work of God.

Finally, Mr. Tice tells us that hell is deserved because people reject Jesus (Kindle location 430). However, the Bible tells us that all people deserve to go to hell because of the inherent sin nature from Adam and because of actual transgressions (Rom. 3:23, 5:12). It is by grace through faith that the elect are saved; it is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8-9).

Because I don't agree with Mr. Tice's soteriology, I also did not agree with his reason for evangelization. The author guilts the Christian into talking about Jesus because hell is a terrible reality that a true Christian should want people to avoid, and the new creation is a wonderful place that Christians should urgently want people to enjoy (Kindle location 468). Yet, the Bible states that Christians share the Gospel because pastors are called to go, baptize, and teach (Matt. 28:19-20) and others are to be ready to give an answer for the reason of their hope (1 Peter 3:15). Ultimately, all things are to be done to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

Next, the author gives some suggestions on how to talk about Jesus to others. He says that Christians should not "just wait for someone to ask you about Christianity and wonder why they never do," (Kindle location 720). For women especially (who are not permitted to be pastors, 1 Tim. 2:12), and men not called into ministry, this statement directly contradicts 1 Peter 3:15 which tells believers to be ready to give an answer. An answer is given in response to a question.

According to the author, to properly evangelize a Christian needs to remember three words: Identity, Mission, and Call, or tell people who Jesus is, why He came, and what He wants. In order to engage people, a Christian needs to remember an additional three words: Understanding, Agreement, and Impact, or Do they get it? Do they agree? and What are they going to do about it? Then Mr. Tice makes this statement: "Faith is not just knowing the content of the gospel, nor even agreeing with it; it is personally placing my trust in the person at the heart of it: the Lord Jesus," (Kindle location 749). The author does not provide a reference because this is not a biblical statement. The Bible shows that saving faith is a work of the Holy Spirit on the heart of the unregenerate and by faith the Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word of God (Eph. 2:8; Acts 24:14; 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chap. 14, para. 1-2).

Finally, Mr. Tice goes on to say that (emphasis mine): "If possible, I'd want to get the Bible open and show them where I was basing my explanation," (Kindle location 757). Using man's reason is not effective. Whenever we speak of Jesus, we should be using His Word because faith only comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).

In conclusion, I was very disappointed with Honest Evangelism. Rather than focusing on the Gospel clearly defined by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15:3-4, the author chose instead to use non-biblical terminology such as "Jesus said his mission was to be the dying King and then to be the risen King," (Kindle location 821). This language is found in Greek Mythology, not in Christianity. The author mainly focuses on his experience of being rejected and ridiculed for talking about Jesus and extrapolates his fear of rejection onto others as to why people don't share the Gospel--either because they don't love others or they have idols. Mr. Tice's view of salvation is not consistent, and his advice on how to talk about Jesus is trite and full of man's logic. Therefore, I would not recommend this book for any Christian as a tool on how to share the Gospel.

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Anne Michal]

The title of the book says it all and it’s what I needed

[Britany.lmp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce livre est un pur bijoux ! Tout comme l'indique le titre l'auteur fait preuve d'une totale honnêteté en nous expliquant l'évangélisation en entièreté (avec ses joies et ses difficultés), mais ce qui m'a également séduite c'est la transparence de Rico qui est pourtant on pourrait le dire, un évangéliste expérimenté. C'est très encourageant de voir que pour lui aussi ce n'est pas facile de partager l'Évangile. Le livre est vraiment complet et donne les clés pour évangéliser à la famille, aux amis mais aussi à de parfaits inconnus et cela tout en reposant sur Dieu et en nous incourageant à prier ! Ce livre est très challengeant sans pourtant avoir un ton moralisateur, il pousse à oser, à parler, à évangéliser ! L'évangélisation en toute honnêteté est pour moi un livre qui change la vie et rend l'aventure avec Dieu encore plus passionnante !!

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent little book that recognises evangelism is hard (and that we should expect it to be so), and yet is entirely worth it. Rico reminds us that recognising Jesus' glory, remembering the guaranteed promise of new creation, and understanding the reality of death and hell should fuel us to share the gospel. He then shares helpful practical tips - the core focus in evangelism is to share Jesus' identity, mission, and call; we then trust God to be at work to bring change despite our weaknesses. Evangelism is for all Christians, and God's message is for all people! Recommended reading for sure

[Michael G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars not because it is especially riveting, but because it is the sharp/gentle kick up the bum most Christians need from time to time when it comes to evangelism.

I felt somewhat convicted as I read - my mind remembering attempts and conversations, genuine efforts, and then a falling back into being concerned with other things in my life. Not making the most of people I could talk to.

For all the good content (and the content is good), the kick up the bum factor is the strongest reason to read this, and to pass it on to a Christian friend. Well done Rico.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convinced that Brad and Amy are now in Rico’s fan club. This is the first book we read together as a staff and Rico talked this past weekend at the PCA X MTW Global Missions Conference.

Great little book on evangelism and how important it is to talk about it and this book was helpful to provide tips next steps and also how to get started. Great book for beginners in relational ministry (me) and those who have been doing this for a decade (Brad and Amy).

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t judge this book by its size. It is small but packed with a lot of good content. It is biblical, clear and practical. British author Rico Tice has written a helpful book for the average church member on why a Christian must evangelize and how to practically talk about Jesus to others. As someone who for years has evangelized on a weekly basis I felt I was able to profit from reading this. I’m sure others will too. If I ever taught a course on Evangelism I would definitely make this a required reading. This is also a good book for one-on-one discipleship for the sake of training someone to be a witness. Pastors, disciple-makers and small group leaders should consider using this as a resource.
The book can be divided into two parts with the first four chapters answering the question of why one should be witnessing and chapters five through eight focus on how to share your faith.
As D.A Carson noted in the forward, not many books on evangelism tell you that you will be attacked for your Christian faith when you do witness. The book lives up to its name by being upfront and honest in the beginning: Witnessing is not easy even for the author who goes on to tell the readers how if you evangelize “you will be hit.” Tice reminds us that we will be hit throughout the book. Christians often struggle with the pain-line in which we want to either compromise our message or not share it. Yet Tice doesn’t bring this up to guilt trip the readers to evangelize. Instead he reminds us of “the other halves of the story” in which when we evangelize there will be people who hunger for God even when we don’t see all of God’s work in someone’s heart at the moment. Considering this point that there will be people who hunger for Biblical truths balances the other half that some will hate it. Chapters two present us three Biblical motivation for why Christians must evangelize even though it is difficult and consideration of these motivations tells us that it is worth it. The author realizes that some will still not be moved by those Biblical motivations and in chapter three he goes after the manner of the heart by pointing out how when we are not obedient to God’s call to be a witness we are sinning and motivated by some kind of idol in our life that takes precedence over loving obedience to God. It can be the desire for comfort, fear of man, etc. The chapter also provides some diagnostic question to help spot these idols so that the readers can know them, confess them to God and repent of it. I was really blessed and pleasantly surprised with this third chapter and found it very practical. It is practical enough that I want to be more conscious of when I don’t witness and to be on the alert for some idols in my heart that I need to resist. This chapter is excellent as it goes to the heart of the manner and focuses on the root sin that has a stronghold on those who don’t evangelize. Unless one sees the problem first, one would never go about with biblical solutions to the problem of the sin of omission when one does not witness. I don’t want to give too much of the book away but chapter four consider other biblical truths that we ought to be reminded in order to continue motivate us to maintain our witness to the world.
The second half of the book is real practical concerning how to witness. The author looks first at what one ought to say and has a helpful three word paradigm for readers to remember: Identify. Mission. Call. We want to communicate Jesus’ identity, His Mission and His call upon our lives. But this is not mere data dump and to properly engage with people the author noted we need three more word paradigm: Understanding. Agreement. Impact. That is: “Do they get it? Do they agree with it? What are they doing about it?” (62). I think it will be helpful that even after finishing the book one can go over chapter four from time to time to help us really apply this. The book also acknowledges that there are different personalities God has made and there is no need to artificially become a mode or a specific example of an evangelist that one is not. The book even surveys the various kinds of personalities in Scripture that was witnessing to establish the point of one can be oneself when witnessing. Again I don’t want to give away the whole book but one would benefit from his list of helpful questions, tips and book recommendations.
Again this is a very good book on witnessing by Rico Tice. I say buy it, it is worth the price.
NOTE: I received this book for free from the publisher The Good Book Company through Cross Focused Reviews in exchange for my honest opinion. The thoughts and words are my own and I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review.

[Joost Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible, helpful, and a good mix of encouragement and equipping. Could be a good resource to encourage a congregation to step into evangelism. Other books will be more detailed and deep, but at 100 pages, that wasn’t his purpose. Perhaps an evangelism ‘gateway drug.’

[Philip · Rating 1 out of 5]

As with all "books" of this sort, it is brief but padded out with enough fluff to get it over the requisite 100 page threshold. (Apparently a book in only respectable if it is over 100 pages long). In spite of a potentially interesting (and certainly important) subject area this book feels rushed and lacking in important areas.

The author seeks to motivate us to evangelise without hiding the fact that evangelism is often difficult and demoralising. He draws primarily from his own experiences which include bullying at school and the death of family members. These anecdotes inevitably make the book personal and highly subjective. (He could have argued the most important points from scripture - and later on he does - which makes me wonder if he was merely trying to up his page count.) He has derived a formula of what to say when evangelising which he thinks works for him. As an example this might be helpful, but to argue that everybody's evangelism should follow the same formula is wrong and arguably dangerous. The author doesn't provide any particular reason for why this particular formula should be used above others - notable especially when he says that his experience of evangelism has been so hard-going.

A fundamental flaw in his formula is that he gives no consideration to who the non-Christian is. People reject Christianity for all kinds of reasons and have hugely varying levels of understanding of Christianity; our attempts to communicate the gospel with them should reflect that. Encouraging Christians to essentially parrot the same information to everyone in the hope that they consider reading the Bible will only reinforce the negative stereotypes people have about proselytising Christians - a negative stereotype that is often the very barrier people have to the Gospel. The tone adopted by the author suggests that evangelism is a kind of Russian roulette game where some people "get" what we say and others do not - without explaining why this is the case.

More fundamentally, this rhetoric places far too much emphasis on what we do as humans. He too often ignores the fundamental role that the Holy Spirit play in bringing people to known Christ. Instead, the author attempts to guilt-trip his readers. One chapter starts with the author effectively writing "if only I'd evangelised to my grandmother - maybe then she would have gone to heaven instead of hell". He seems to suggest that his grandmother's salvation depended on his actions. And primarily his actions. I appreciate that the author is writing for Christians who should already be familiar with the fundamentals of Christianity, but there is no excuse for this level of sloppiness - to put it mildly.

Even if one was reading this book non-critically there are still issues. As mentioned before, in getting this work over the 100-page mark, the author felt it necessary to introduce inconsequential fluff. Instead of simply arguing a point from the Bible he will also include autobiographical passages (and give these more weight). He formats some sections as introduction/points 1-3/summary, ballooning one or two pages of meaningful content out to three or four pages.

The author uses further anecdotes to namecheck evangelical celebrities in an effort to make himself seem more important. I don't care how many times the author has had lunch with John Stott or what the vending machine in Tim Keller's church is like. It certainly doesn't make me any more persuaded by his arguments. This kind of behaviour in what is supposed to be a serious published work is both childish and forces me to question the supposed humility of the author.

When I started writing this review my initial rating was 2 or 3 stars, mainly because I respected the author's honesty in his challenges with evangelism. But after considering the fundamentals of his arguments and the deficiencies in his approach I would struggle to recommend this to anyone.

[Brian Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book on evangelism that is meant to encourage the reader to move beyond the "painline" in order to share the gospel. A good portion of the book is devoted to why we don't evangelize. Tice then emphasizes the core of evangelism: telling people about Jesus. He suggests remembering three words: identity, mission, call. In other words, who is Jesus? Why did he come? What does he call us to do? He also suggests there are different roles for all Christians to play in evangelism. Not all of us are Paul or Peter, but we can tell others about what Jesus has done for us and invite them to learn more about Jesus with us.

I'm rating the book on what it is, a short encouragement for Christians to get in the game. It's not the most thorough book on evangelism. It's really just a start. But it's a good reminder to tell others about Jesus and to remove an idols in our lives that keep us from doing so.

[Eleasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise, practical, and obviously, refreshingly, honest book about talking to people about Jesus in this day & age. A must-read for the encouragement to keep on keeping on to "cross the painline".

[Dina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeg vidste ikke, hvad der ventede mig, da jeg begyndte på bogen, men jeg blev overrasket på alle måder! Den viste sig at være den nok mest inspirerede bog, jeg nogensinde har haft i hænderne! Gør dig selv en tjeneste og læs den, du må gerne låne den af mig.

[Matt Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just read for a second time and just as provoking as the first.

[Sarah Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, one of the best evangelism books I’ve read. It includes both the conviction (the why) and also the how. Will be rereading this for sure.

[Megan Meisberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for people who want to be encouraged to start evangelizing. He encourages people instead of guilt-tripping. I especially appreciated his honesty about the risk of being hated and maligned when you evangelize. This is missing from a lot of books on evangelism. His discussion of the idolatry of comfort and being respected by everyone is also helpful and relevant. There were only a few minor statements with which I disagreed.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Honest Evangelism’ looks at why Christians don’t evangelise and why Christians should.

A simple but great read! Thinking about why we really don’t evangelise is humbling and penetrating: it’s not that we don’t love Christ but it’s that we love other things more. Rico Tice provides encouragement though to faithfully witness for Jesus with helpful pieces of advice and, more importantly, by examining the worthiness of the Saviour.

[Gareth Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest Evangelism is now my go to book to give to a Christian about evangelism.

In this short book, Rico Tice winsomely shows us from the Bible: motivations to share our faith; obstacles to sharing our faith; a simple method for trying to do so; and the honest realisation that sharing our faith in a hostile culture is hard work.

This book is well worth your time and serves as a brilliant starting point for helping the family of God to share the news of our great Saviour and King.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rico does a wonderful job of putting evangelism so simply and beautifully.
‘We talk about Christ: God opens blind eyes. It is my job, and your job, to tell someone about Jesus- who is he, why he came and what it means. It is not our job to make someone respond. It’s God who opens blind eyes. You communicate the message- and then you pray that he would do the miracle.’
‘You don’t need to be a bible teacher but you do need to be a bible sharer.’
Rico also doesn’t sugar coat that to speak about Christ to unbelievers is not an easy task and there is often hostility and so there is always a painline to be crossed.
God is sovereign; he is gracious; and he is powerful.

[Leo Elbourne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my new favourite book on evangelism. Honest Evangelism is short and to the point, giving you just what you need to remember the call for all Christians to evangelise as well helpful practicalities in doing it.

There's no contrived content here, nor is there the sense of an editor's heavy hand, but instead this book feels like Tice's honest words and pleas as he seeks to encourage brothers and sisters to join him in the difficult task of holding out the Gospel.

[Kirwan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, practical, realistic introduction to evangelism, with some nice food for thought. I personally found it a little on the shallow side (and had a couple of minor theological/hermeneutical quibbles), but this would really help believers who are interested in learning more about the biblical practicalities of sharing the gospel in different contexts.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal. Christ-centered, motivating, extremely readable, humorous at times, and - it may not come as a surprise given the title - but the most striking thing about it is how brutally honest and from the heart it is.

[Michael Stilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of my friends should read this book. Tice speaks honestly about the hard but worthy work of evangelism. Evangelism is hard because we live in a fallen world that is antagonistic to the gospel. It’s hard because we don’t want to be hurt. It’s hard because we still struggle with idolatry in our hearts. But it’s worthy because Jesus is glorious, eternity is at stake, and joy awaits those who speak of Jesus to the lost.
It’s 100 pages of “spiritual cardiology”—honest talk and practical helps that will spur you on to greater faithfulness.

[NathanLauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

helpful word on why we don't evangelize -- enjoyed it.

[John Rakshith Prabhakar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the best little book on evangelism!

[Rachel Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful book. Very practical, informative, and challenging. Highly recommend