Christian Book Notes

Johnson, Jeffrey A. Got Style? Personality-Based Evangelism. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 2009. 168 pp. $15.00. Purchase at Amazon for 10.20.

Introduction

Jeffrey Johnson is the senior pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church of Hurricane, West Virginia and leads the National Ministries National Evangelism Team, a ministry of the American Baptists.  Jeffrey does not write from behind a desk; rather, he writes from his experience “in the field” of evangelism and sharing the gospel with numerous men and women.  He has witnessed many different people types share the same gospel message in various contexts and manners.  He has also witnessed numerous Christians not sharing their faith because “they don’t have the gift or the personality” for evangelism.  From these experiences comes Got Style?

Synopsis

Johnson offers a personal assessment for the reader to take in order to 1) better understand what your personality is like and 2) better understand the contents of the book.  After you read chapters eight and nine first, you then go back through chapters two through seven to learn how to best apply your personality to evangelism.

Got Style? was adapted from his Got Style? evangelism workshop in order to help churches and Christians initiate lessons on personality-driven evangelism.  A few of the personality types addressed in the book are the analytical (philosophical), the relational (friendship), and the Incarnational (living the gospel in deed and word).

Recommendation

It is important to realize that this book is written with a particular audience in mind.  That is, it is written for the believer looking for a way to overcome walls to evangelism.  Because of this intended particular audience, there is not much in the way of gospel content.  It is assumed that the reader knows the gospel, but as a minister, I have seen how this can be an extremely dangerous assumption.  If I were to recommend this book to anyone it would be in addition to another book on evangelism like Tell the Truth by Will Metzger.

In essence, Got Style? is a resource book for Sunday School teachers, pastors, and small group leaders to introduce different ways in which you, yes you, can share the gospel with everyone.  Johnson ably demonstrates that a Christian has no excuse to not share their faith.  Got Style? is a nice resource to have on your shelf if you know and understand the gospel message of Jesus Christ.