How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot: A Panic-Free Guide to Having Natural Conversations about Your Faith

by Andy Bannister, Lee Strobel (Foreword)

Have natural conversations with your friends and family about your faith. Discover four key questions that invite people into engaging discussions about what matters most in life.

Why is it so difficult to talk to our closest friends about what’s most important to us? Our true identity? Our hopes and dreams? Our true purpose and faith? Andy Bannister struggled with that question himself. As a twentysomething, he operated as an Undercover Christian at his job. He knew it didn’t make sense, and he spent the following decades helping countless people find easy, natural ways to talk about the fundamental questions of life with the ones they love. How to Talk about Jesus without Looking like an Idiot explores

It doesn’t need to be awkward. Everyday conversations that open the door to evangelism can be painless and natural. Let Andy help you find easy ways to talk about the true meaning of life and learn how to share the gospel with your neighbors, friends, and family.

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

272 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2023

About the author

Andy Bannister is the Director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity, speaking and teaching regularly throughout the UK, Europe, Canada, the USA, and the wider world. From universities to churches, business forums to TV and radio, Andy regularly addresses audiences of both Christians and those of all faiths and none on issues relating to faith, culture, politics and society.

Andy holds a PhD in Islamic studies and has taught extensively at universities across Canada, the USA, the UK and further afield on both Islam and philosophy. He is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at The Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology and also Adjunct Faculty at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.

Among Andy's various books and publications are:

* Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? — a popular, witty, and engaging look at this vital question

* The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist (or: The Dreadful Consequences of Really Bad Arguments) — a very funny (but also quite serious) engagement with the New Atheism

* Healthy Faith and the Coronavirus Crisis — I wrote a chapter in this multi-author volume looking at how we can engage in evangelism even in an age of lockdown

* Heroes: Five Lessons From Whose Lives We Can Learn — an exciting and fast-moving looking at the lives of five incredible giants of the Christian faith

* An Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur’an — a groundbreaking and innovative study that reveals many of the ways the Qur’an was first composed

* Burning Questions — a Canadian TV documentary exploring six big questions about God, faith, and Christianity

When not travelling, speaking, or writing, Andy is a keen hiker, mountain climber and photographer. Andy is married to Astrid and they have two children, Caitriona and Christopher.

Reviews

[Jon Håversen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Svært god bok - veldig virkelighetsnær beskrivelse av livet som kristen. Gode praktiske råd til hvordan dele troen på en autentisk og relevant måte. Jeg håper mange leser denne boken!

[Luke Tappen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic guide for Christians at any comfort level when it comes to sharing their faith. I loved the wit and lighthearted British humor, but what stood out most was the humble and caring approach to how we engage in these discussions.

It’s widely understood that asking questions is key to being a good listener and understanding others more deeply. I especially appreciated how the book breaks down the “what,” “why,” “wondering,” and “whether” types of questions. This shift transforms our self-focused fear of being questioned or not knowing the answers into an opportunity for genuine curiosity about where the other person is coming from. Not only does this ease our anxiety and take the pressure off, but it also helps us focus on responding in a way that points to Jesus, rather than to ourselves.

Listened on Hoopla, and loved hearing the British accent. Got through it a bit fast. I need to work on being more attentive to the books I listen to, so that I can more fully grasp the content and let it seep into my memory. May want to come back to parts of this in the future.

[Jenna Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Common fears -> common sharing -> common questioning

[Kimberlee Baas · Rating 4 out of 5]

He will keep you laughing- great British humor! But also super practical and helpful ways to think through sharing the gospel

[Michelle Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely will be revisiting this one over and over again. Bannister’s teaching style is approachable, practical, and sensible…not to mention goofy at times, which is a huge checkmark in the “Pros” column for me. With lots of examples and personal anecdotes, this book is chock full of helpful advice for anyone looking to have deep and meaningful conversations about their faith in Jesus.

[Olivia Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Such practical advice and great stories shared with a touch a humour. I will definitely be coming back to this to take more notes again and again!

[Kristjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a number of reasons why christians might struggle in talking about their faith; and for the most part, I think the author does a good job identifying most of them in the first three (3) chapters. Perhaps the most significant one that I have encountered, and is missing from this book, is that many christians really don’t have a lot of depth to their faith and they are comfortably fine in their own little bubble with no real desire to learn more about it (or themselves). Regardless, christians are expected to evangelize and this book does have some good general ideas on how to do that; however, it falls down in the specifics that rely too heavily on gotcha moments and logical fallacies (I am looking at you scarecrow). For example … that author makes a huge deal about relative moralism and how it just doesn’t work, ignoring any nuance introduced by social needs … in other words, either it is every man for themselves or there are objective truths that must by nature be determined through divine revelation. Next up … the belief that good and evil are solely christian concepts because you can’t define evil in a relative moralistic society … et al. If any of these arguments actually work, you need to find a better class of atheist ‘cause even I can swat those soft pitches over the back wall.

But that is not why this book actually fails to prevent you from looking like an idiot. The whole premise of this book is how to drive openings into personal interactions so that you can engage in apologetics. This type of ambush theology is exactly what makes “crunchy christians” (define by the author as christians people go out of their way to avoid). It may work for the author, who is obviously quick-witted and disarmingly humorous, but for the rest of us, it’s a mixed bag (and there is a growing body of research that indicates that apologetics is not very effective in driving conversion). In other words, you may not feel like an idiot, but that opinion is not shared by your target audience. That is not to say that you would not gain any useful tips, tricks or ideas … only that some tweaking (and practice) is needed before achieving the results you may be looking for.

Chapter 1 Undercover Christian
Chapter 2 The Sum of All Fears
Chapter 3 The First Steps to Total Fear-Less Evangelism
Chapter 4 Evangelism in Everyday Places
Chapter 5 The Power of a Good Question
Chapter 6 Learning Questions From the Master
Chapter 7 A Toolbox for Evangelism
Chapter 8 The What Question
Chapter 9 The Why Question
Chapter 10 The Wondering Question
Chapter 11 The Whether Question
Chapter 12 Five Simple Steps for Answering Tough Questions
Chapter 13 Bringing It Back to Jesus
Chapter 14 How Not To Be a Crunchy Christian
Chapter 15 Foolish Evangelism

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#HowtoTalkaboutJesuswithoutLookinglikeanIdiot #NetGalley

[Josh Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

You could look at this book as merely a guide to help improve your communication and steps that lead to better conversations. If you apply that to gospel conversations, This will be a great benefit on how to talk about your faith without feeling like it’s a gimmick or shoehorning it in awkwardly and I’ve been able to immediately put into practice the the what and why chapters. There is a lot of good in here. Some of the chapters still left me feeling like, “I’m not quick witted enough to have the conversations he’s describing,” but if you look at them as examples and not prescriptions that’s not so bad. I wasn’t a big fan of the last three chapters for how it leaned on authors that are left-leaning, but overall, I thought it was good.

[Sydney Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very encouraging! It was a little redundant and droned on a bit at times. Have a lot of practical, actionable goals and tips.
You also have to get over the fact that this man is a middle aged British dad and he has like 2 footnotes on every page with a tongue-in-cheek joke.
I read 75% of this book in one day last summer but then forgot about it/put it off until like a week ago and just now finished it

[Brock Cerny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book on evangelism. Andy’s humor is certainly what makes this book so unique from others in this category. The message within and the practical steps suggested are numerous enough to come away with at least more ideas than you went in with. A fast easy read that’s entertaining and educational at the same time.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite book on evangelism! I laughed! I cried! One great quote from this book is, “Fear reveals our idols.” The author’s reading and accent were AMAZING!!! I recommend the podcast “Hearts for the Lost,” that goes so well with this. Also, excited to check out all the books the author mentioned throughout this book - most I had never heard of.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ideal Way To Talk About Jesus
... is to not look like an idiot.

This is a great book on discipleship.

I enjoyed Andy's writing, and found it fun, funny, and powerful.

Lots of great tips and recommendations.

Check this out if you too are a bit scared to bring up your faith in conversations.

4.8/5

[Gea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a readable book! The author uses his sense of humour to deliver a very helpful message to those who are afraid to share their faith. He makes some excellent suggestions on how to get past the fear that often holds us back.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful as it gives many real life examples and has many plain and clear tips. Very fitting for today’s culture, very relatable. Easy read but full of meaty material broken down into to simple steps.

[Teri de matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the humor!

A very practical, down-to-Earth, inspiring guide to sharing your faith. I would highly recommend this book to those who have the desire but perhaps not the how-to. And, the footnotes are a must read!

[Christian Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bannister provides a a helpful, insightful, and entertaining read that illumines the difficulties that come with evangelism. He provides personal examples and useful questions to demonstrate that evangelism is not as nearly as scary as we make it out to be.

[Veronica Geyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. Not what I expected at all. A little translating was necessary from British English to American English (slang mostly), but the author was able to get the point across using humor. I'd expected something much more dry. Very impressed.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend the audiobook version.

[Rebekah Means · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous, practical advice for every Christian who needs empowerment to share Jesus, anytime, anywhere.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, accessible, and humorous guide to evangelism.

[Keith E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful tool

This is a very practical and helpful guide to develop skills and a natural way to share your faith with others effectively.

[Kristofer Strid · Rating 5 out of 5]

En mycket varmt rekommenderad bok! Med praktisk vägledning och en stor dos humor ger författaren mycket uppmuntran i vad som alltför ofta ger kristna dåligt samvete.

[Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book all about asking good questions.

[Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5✨

[Avneet Thapar Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

[Keterah Nagtegaal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the stories and encouragement. Easy to read and find nuggets.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a practical book with some practical ideas about how to share the gospel when you don't really want to this is a good book. The author is very quirky (don't skip the footnotes, some are pretty funny) but is also very down-to-earth and truthful about his own struggles.