Gospel Tract Soulwinning
If we obey God’s Great Commission we will be concerned about and looking for opportunities to give the gospel message to the lost all around us—at our front doors, at stores, banks, gas stations, or wherever our daily routine takes us. While there are other good methods of personal evangelism and soul winning, there is no doubt that the daily distribution of gospel tracts is an effective method of soul winning, quicker and easier than any other when people are pressed for time.
First, it is the quickest method of personal soul winning because it takes only seconds to do. That is important, because although we might have the time to sit down with someone and go through the plan of salvation with him, he might not have the time. At other times the problem is reversed—the other person has the time, but we don’t. In spite of our very busy schedules, passing out gospel tracts to those around us is an outstanding solution to the problem of getting the salvation message to others. It takes only a few seconds to hand someone a tract and to ask him or her to read it, but those precious seconds could make the difference for that person between life and death—between Heaven and Hell
We should carry gospel tracts with us wherever we go, lest we walk by unsaved people unprepared to give them the gospel. Tracts greatly help us to carry out the Great Commission because they are like little preachers that always have the time to present the salvation message to people when neither of us has the time to talk. Also, gospel tracts are willing to wait as long as necessary until the people we give them to have time to read them and consider the message they present. When we give someone a tract, we should pray that the Holy Spirit will convict the person’s heart and remind him to read the tract.
Since tract distribution is such a simple method of personal evangelism, every believer can be involved in personal soul winning because every believer (even a new convert) can do it. Tracts are especially helpful because they offer Scripture verses and can be used by those who have not yet memorized the references that make the gospel clear. Further, believers who lack confidence in conversation can use gospel tracts to begin a conversation or to build their confidence. Churches will gain new converts as members become active in personal soul winning.
To begin an effective program of personal soul winning through tract distribution, churches should encourage members to be prepared by picking up tracts at church and carrying them in their pockets or purses wherever they go. We would never leave home expecting to make a purchase without taking money, checks, or credit cards with us. In the same way, if we expect to make converts, we must take the gospel with us. Having a tract that clearly presents the gospel ensures that we have the gospel in a format that we can readily present to others. If you know to take your money wallet, you should know to take your tract wallet. In fact, a vinyl checkbook cover, available from any bank, makes an excellent tract wallet. Before leaving home, fill it with a dozen tracts and purpose to distribute them before you return home. Getting into the habit of carrying a tract wallet will make it easy for men to carry tracts in suit coat or hip pocket, a convenient habit when wearing a shirt with no pocket. In the same way, having a tract wallet allows ladies to have tracts in good condition as they carry them in their purses with other items.
Think of your tracts as the gospel net you need to cast out so that you will be able to catch souls for Jesus. If you are a follower of Christ you must be a fisher of men who, wherever he goes, is prepared for a prayerful presentation of the gospel to all men. Why not have a tract wallet filled with good gospel tracts, and “don’t leave home without it”?
Jim L. Bray is the founder and director of The Power of the Word literature ministry in Shelby, North Carolina. You may obtain copies of his tract at www.thepoweroftheword.com.
(Originally published in FrontLine • March/April 2011. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)