There are different scenarios available to the soul-winner who seriously considers including Chick tracts in his witnessing.

The easiest is just to sneak one onto some place where it will be found later. Leaving one with the tip at a restaurant table or near the drink machine works this way. The message patiently waits for discovery. It takes about the same amount of time to fill a gas tank as it does to read a tract, if the driver discovers a tract rolled up under the trigger of the gas hose nozzle.

The next level is direct contact. Exchanging a tract for the receipt with a cashier at Starbucks or the Dollar Store requires a little more preparation. But we often patronize the same store over and over and always being ready with a different tract drives the good news deeper into the person’s awareness.

Many Chick customers achieve the next level: buying case lots of tracts and handing them out in the middle of a river of pedestrians near a mall, school, or sporting event. One brave soul stood at a stop light and offered one to each waiting driver. It can’t be any more dangerous than it is for the panhandlers who use this technique.

Besides having a tract ready, it helps to use some related comment. Favorites include:

“Have you seen one of these?” If no, then: “You may have it.” If yes, then: “I have a different one. Would you like it?”

“Here is a great little story for your break time.”

“Everyone who smiles at me today gets one of these.” (This works best when their smile is in response to the one you gave them.)

One man I know who is six-foot four uses: “Everyone over (or under) six feet tall gets one of these, today.”

“Everyone wearing a Dodgers cap gets one of these.” Or any other identifiable item the person is wearing.

Sometimes the title of the tract provides a line:

“How’s your trip going?” works for The Long Trip tract.

“Are you living the good life?” for This Was Your Life.

The sky’s the limit on this kind of creativity. It should let the person know that the tract is free and a gift to them.

Today, some have the opinion that this kind of “evangelism” is reserved for pastors or “evangelists.” Of course, there are special gifts in these areas in the church. But nowhere does the Bible limit the Great Commission to those with special gifts. All believers are under Jesus’ “commission.”

Paul said that we are “ambassadors” for Christ. An ambassador is a citizen of one country, assigned to a foreign country to tell about his homeland. Our first citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. But we are “commissioned” to share the gospel (good news) here on earth until we are called home.

Every time we hand someone a tract we can declare: “(co)mission accomplished.” And often, it only takes 10 seconds or less. Paul prayed for boldness. For him, it raised a threat to his life. Will we not be judged for how we use the safety and freedom we enjoy to also be bold with the news of eternal life?