A Secret Weapon In Handing Out Gospel Tracts - The Long Hold

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A Secret Weapon In Handing Out Gospel Tracts - The Long Hold

When I first started handing out tracts, something like this money tract, I would ask people if they wanted one as they walked by.

You see, I used to walk in a park that had a half-mile paved loop. It’s funny, it’s kind of like a skating rink or Nascar, where everyone goes in the same direction.

I chose to walk against traffic so I was walking face-to-face with people I had assumed were lost, without hope, deceived by Satan.

EVANGELISM TIP:

WALK AGAINST TRAFFIC IN CROWDS OR PARKS SO YOU ARE FACE-TO-FACE WITH PEOPLE SO YOU CAN GIVE THEM A GIFT AS THEY WALK BY

In my experience in street or park evangelizing, you typically don’t have a lot of time to talk to someone.

I would walk on the right side of the path while most people would walk on the other side of the path, much like driving.

As people would walk, jog, or skate by and were about 6 feet away, I would hold out a tract and say:

‘DID YOU GET ONE OF THESE? THEY’RE FREE.’

I said it loud enough for them to hear me and held the tract out early enough for them to grab it as they walked, jogged, or skated by me.

Some people would take them, not say a word and keep walking.

Some would take one and say thank you.

Some would ignore me.

Some would flat out say no.

I’ve had a few people wave me off. (Don’t get mad at these people or throw your shoe at them, just don’t. One day they may take one from you.)

I USED TO BE A LITTLE HURT WHEN PEOPLE SAID NO, BUT THAT CHANGED OVER TIME WHEN I REALIZED…

These people may be deceived, not knowing Christ and I am trying to give them the message of Christ, the forgiveness of their sin, hope, and eternal life, and they just rejected it.

NOW, I JUST THINK ABOUT LAZARUS WHEN THESE PEOPLE TELL ME NO

Luke 16:26-28 | 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—

28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

I think of the CHASM and the TORMENT between the saved and the lost and I focus on that instead of myself.

While evangelizing with a couple of friends, we came up with a way to increase how many people will take a tract from you.

IT’S CALLED THE LONG HOLD…

Here’s how it works:

You hold the tract out there and you keep holding it out there, holding… holding… holding... until they walk past you, even if they’ve said no.

I can’t tell you how many more tracts have been taken because I’ve held it out longer than is comfortable for them to see me holding it out there, even if they’ve said no. You can ignore the no and keep holding it.

I HAVE A BROTHER WHO EVANGELIZES WITH ME WHO SAID IN BUSINESS WHEN THEY SAY NO, THE PARTY’S JUST GETTING STARTED…

BONUS TIP:

EVEN IF THEY SAID NO THE FIRST TIME...

We would ask again when we saw them...

"Are You Sure you don't want one?"
"I don't want you to miss out on this"
"This has your name on it!"

We've had people take it the second time we offered it with this tactic.

To sum it up:

Don’t think about your discomfort, or being rejected, think about their future torment if they are lost.
Think about the chasm and love them enough to be uncomfortable to share the Gospel.
Expect resistance. Respond with grace as Jesus did.
Spurgeon said something like ‘You are trying to snatch people from the jaws of hell, expect there to be resistance.’
If holding a tract out there for a long time could be a seed to salvation for someone, think about trying the long hold, today!