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Soul Winning Made Easy
Book by C. S. Lovett
Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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April 13, 2024
LOVETT’S ORIGINAL BOOK, THAT PROPOSED A PSYCHOLOGICAL ‘METHOD’
C.S. Lovett (d. 2012) was a retired U.S. Air Force pilot, instructor, and Chaplain (he held a Ph.D. in counseling from the Louisiana Christian University), who was the founder of Personal Christianity, a non-denominational evangelical ministry. He wrote more than 40 books. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to a 144-page paperback edition.]
He wrote in the 1978 Introduction to this 1959 book, “the ministry of Personal Christianity began… with a book---THIS book. We never dreamed that from this little syllabus would come a book that is now serving as the standard evangelism text by countless Bible schools, colleges and churches around the world… If you learn this method as I’ve laid it out for you, you won’t be disappointed… From then on, the greatest joy of your life will be presenting Christ.” (Pg. 10-11)
He observes in the first chapter, “A person can sit in an evangelical church for years and ignore every invitation to go forward and receive Christ. That’s because the invitation is directed to the audience IN GENERAL, and no one in particular. However, let one man confront another with the invitation to Christ and there is no escape. The prospect must say ‘YES’ or “NO’ or ‘NOT NOW.’ Regardless of his answer, he had made a decision…” (Pg. 15)
He outlines, “Minimum time is spent on the matter of sin so that the positive truth of RECEIVING Christ can be emphasized.” (Pg. 22) He continues, “using a soul-winning play … gives you a tremendous confidence that in turn produces boldness… You can CONTROL the conversation… Your prospect develops confidence in you, because you display confidence… Most of us have been on the receiving end of a salesman’s ‘pitch’… and have watched him fill out his contract even before we had indicated our willingness to buy. Shortly we were handed a pen and the contract and urged, ‘Just sign on that line there, please’… There was no idle discussion of the matter then, we had to decide. We either accepted or rejected, in a CLEAR DECISION.” (Pg. 24-25)
He suggests, “It is a wonderful thing to store God’s Word in your heart, but don’t let it all out during a soul-winning interview… In soul-winning, the Word is NOT to be used as club, but as BAIT. Four verses is just the right amount of bait.” (Pg. 35) Later, he adds, “When you call a person by his first name, he gets the feeling you care about him. It is more personal… when it comes time to present Jesus at his heart’s door, the invitation to Christ is more personal.” (Pg. 41)
He cautions about quoting John 1:12, “only a portion of the verse is shown… just that part which makes it clear one must RECEIVE the Lord. The rest of the verse could be confusing to a prospect.” (Pg. 64) He says, “If the prospect is a woman, a male worker should delicately TOUCH HER FOREARM with one finger. Ordinarily a man should not touch a woman, but the Holy Spirit will bless this action. Physical action … shifts the conversation from theory to reality.” (Pg. 71)
When the ‘prospect’ says ‘NO,’ he advises, “You have NOT FAILED. Your prospect HAS MADE a decision. The decision to reject Jesus and go to hell is every bit as big as the one to accept him and go to heaven. What you have done has cleared the air. No longer can your man feel comfortable in ‘no-man’s land.’ He now knows where he stands. He is a rejector and he knows it.” (Pg. 75)
He acknowledges, “You might be sharing this approach with another Christian and have him protest that it sounds like a high pressure tactic. He would be right., It DOES use pressure. And any salesman reading this book would recognize instantly that it makes good use of pressure at the close… In our case, we’re using it not to sell, but to bring them the greatest gift of all---eternal life.” (Pg. 82)
He observes, “God has given us a superb took in psychology. It plays an important part in soul-wining today. In the past, many were afraid of the term, thinking it was a science opposed to the Word of God, but now they know this is not so… The soul winner particularly enjoys a wonderful advantage through the power of psychological insight.” (Pg. 116)
This style of evangelism is largely ‘out of vogue’ these days. Few evangelical churches any longer send out ‘witnessing’ teams, or offer such classes. And this kind of approach is easily perceived a ‘manipulative.’ But Lovett was sincere in his beliefs, and he was always a very clear and straightforward writer.
C.S. Lovett (d. 2012) was a retired U.S. Air Force pilot, instructor, and Chaplain (he held a Ph.D. in counseling from the Louisiana Christian University), who was the founder of Personal Christianity, a non-denominational evangelical ministry. He wrote more than 40 books. [NOTE: page numbers below refer to a 144-page paperback edition.]
He wrote in the 1978 Introduction to this 1959 book, “the ministry of Personal Christianity began… with a book---THIS book. We never dreamed that from this little syllabus would come a book that is now serving as the standard evangelism text by countless Bible schools, colleges and churches around the world… If you learn this method as I’ve laid it out for you, you won’t be disappointed… From then on, the greatest joy of your life will be presenting Christ.” (Pg. 10-11)
He observes in the first chapter, “A person can sit in an evangelical church for years and ignore every invitation to go forward and receive Christ. That’s because the invitation is directed to the audience IN GENERAL, and no one in particular. However, let one man confront another with the invitation to Christ and there is no escape. The prospect must say ‘YES’ or “NO’ or ‘NOT NOW.’ Regardless of his answer, he had made a decision…” (Pg. 15)
He outlines, “Minimum time is spent on the matter of sin so that the positive truth of RECEIVING Christ can be emphasized.” (Pg. 22) He continues, “using a soul-winning play … gives you a tremendous confidence that in turn produces boldness… You can CONTROL the conversation… Your prospect develops confidence in you, because you display confidence… Most of us have been on the receiving end of a salesman’s ‘pitch’… and have watched him fill out his contract even before we had indicated our willingness to buy. Shortly we were handed a pen and the contract and urged, ‘Just sign on that line there, please’… There was no idle discussion of the matter then, we had to decide. We either accepted or rejected, in a CLEAR DECISION.” (Pg. 24-25)
He suggests, “It is a wonderful thing to store God’s Word in your heart, but don’t let it all out during a soul-winning interview… In soul-winning, the Word is NOT to be used as club, but as BAIT. Four verses is just the right amount of bait.” (Pg. 35) Later, he adds, “When you call a person by his first name, he gets the feeling you care about him. It is more personal… when it comes time to present Jesus at his heart’s door, the invitation to Christ is more personal.” (Pg. 41)
He cautions about quoting John 1:12, “only a portion of the verse is shown… just that part which makes it clear one must RECEIVE the Lord. The rest of the verse could be confusing to a prospect.” (Pg. 64) He says, “If the prospect is a woman, a male worker should delicately TOUCH HER FOREARM with one finger. Ordinarily a man should not touch a woman, but the Holy Spirit will bless this action. Physical action … shifts the conversation from theory to reality.” (Pg. 71)
When the ‘prospect’ says ‘NO,’ he advises, “You have NOT FAILED. Your prospect HAS MADE a decision. The decision to reject Jesus and go to hell is every bit as big as the one to accept him and go to heaven. What you have done has cleared the air. No longer can your man feel comfortable in ‘no-man’s land.’ He now knows where he stands. He is a rejector and he knows it.” (Pg. 75)
He acknowledges, “You might be sharing this approach with another Christian and have him protest that it sounds like a high pressure tactic. He would be right., It DOES use pressure. And any salesman reading this book would recognize instantly that it makes good use of pressure at the close… In our case, we’re using it not to sell, but to bring them the greatest gift of all---eternal life.” (Pg. 82)
He observes, “God has given us a superb took in psychology. It plays an important part in soul-wining today. In the past, many were afraid of the term, thinking it was a science opposed to the Word of God, but now they know this is not so… The soul winner particularly enjoys a wonderful advantage through the power of psychological insight.” (Pg. 116)
This style of evangelism is largely ‘out of vogue’ these days. Few evangelical churches any longer send out ‘witnessing’ teams, or offer such classes. And this kind of approach is easily perceived a ‘manipulative.’ But Lovett was sincere in his beliefs, and he was always a very clear and straightforward writer.
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