John Teter’s 2003 book Get the Word Out: How God Shapes and Sends His Witnesses is a great little introduction to evangelism. Teter is obviously very (veryvery) passionate, but he writes with a disarming breeziness. He develops his ideas through stories and personal illustrations, so by the time you’re done with the book (an easy read at 168 pages of biggish print) you’ve met a lot of interesting people and watched them in their encounters with Christ and each other.

Get the Word Out is insightful and informative, but also probably 40% motivational, which I’m discovering is about the right proportion for books about evangelism. Most Christians don’t need amazing new ideas about evangelism; they need encouragement to try it and to keep at it. This book is not just a pep rally — it’s got strategic recommendations (small-group evangelistic Bible studies), sobering advice (”It is not a good investment for witnesses to spend countless hours building trust, serving and teaching the Word to people who have no desire to change.”), and theology aplenty (”Witness is a gift of grace from God for the disciple…”). But if you’re out of pep and need to rally, just admit that a book of strong encouragement is the thing to read.

Where Get the Word Out breaks some new ground, however, is in Teter’s decision to develop the whole project as an interaction with the gospel of John. Teter’s central ideas are all straight from the theology of witness in John, and every major point he makes is drawn back to a story from that gospel. That makes Get the Word Out a kind of sermonic commentary on the Johannine theology of witness, and puts readers into direct contact with God’s word over and over.
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