- Keep tracts accessible to you. Carry some with you each day. Keep a supply in your car
or home. In this way you are always ready with something to give people at a moment’s
notice about Christ.
- Pray over the tracts you distribute. Each witness should be accompanied by prayer. Ask
the Lord to open the eyes and hearts of those who will read the literature. Claim the
promise that God’s Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11).
- Offer the gospel tract in a kind, humble way. I love to begin by saying: “Can I give you
something encouraging to read?” A smile and a kind tone go a long way. If you are offering
it to someone who has served you in some way, include a generous tip. Remember that
our attitude toward them may determine their attitude toward what they are reading.
Gypsy Smith said, “God wrote five gospel records – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the
believer. And most people will never read the first four!”
- Give tracts at appropriate times. Look for every opportunity you can but remember
that every circumstance is different. Often when I am in line, I may say to someone who is
helping me, “I wanted to give you something good to read when you get a break later.”
Always be polite and courteous.
- Keep it personal, not professional. We should not distribute gospel literature like the
local business does fliers about some “special.” We are not selling. It is not about the
numbers. Make each witness personal. You may say, “This is something that made a real
difference in my life.” Share a personal word of testimony with the tract. Remember that
outside of the gospel the most powerful tool you have is your own testimony.
- Don’t be discouraged by rejection. Sometime people will not accept literature. A Jewish
man recently gave a tract back to me and said he would not read it. I continued a cordial
conversation with him and before I left had made a new friend. Always keep the door
open for the gospel in the future.
- Follow up on the tract if possible. Often you will not see the person again to whom you
gave a tract. Yet one of the most effective ways to use gospel literature is to say, “Let me
give you something to read, and once you are finished with it I would like to know what
you think about it.” Tracts can open the door for further conversations about Christ.
- Never let a piece of paper substitute for personally speaking to others about their
soul. We should not hand out tracts “instead of” learning to engage others with the
gospel, but “in order to” engage others with the gospel. Learn how to walk someone
through a gospel tract and explain the way of salvation.