How to conduct missionary work through literature It seems utterly superficial, but one of the most frequent methods of promulgating information about Christianity for fallen away folks or getting the word out to people who are teetering on the edge of this or that near occasion of sin is to give them a book. 

Sometimes when I read a book, I have no trouble thinking of some poor sinner in my life who could benefit from it the same way this poor sinner did.  But when I hear that as advice on, say, a call in radio show,  I think it's a little lacking and doesn't do anything to actually fix the problem at hand. 

How do you bridge the gap between giving a person a book and letting them make the most of it and giving a person a book with the expectation that it will do some good?



I'm seeking an answer akin to what one might be taught in a class on evangelization at a seminary, not just friendly advice.
I admittedly did not attend seminary; but ...

The general advice I've heard in homilies (and in at least a few videos by prominent Catholics online) was reminded to me a few weeks back at a Bible study when I mentioned to the group about the pitfalls of arguing God, religion, morality, etc. on Facebook. The advice, in brief, is that our main purpose in communicating with people is communion with them!

Hence, while it may be beneficial at times, under the whims and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, to lob a book at someone's head and walk away, this is not normal evangelization! The normal path entails knowing a person, being in communion with them, and building with them a common relationship with God.

So, unless instructed by the Holy Spirit, more important than lobbing a book at someone is having a beer with them and enjoying manly silence together. As you come to be in communion with that person, and by simply being in communion with that person, you can share your relationship with God with them. If you find a good book for them, it's ideally not a handoff; it's an awkward, metaphoric man-hug.

That is, it's worthwhile to say "I love you man" during the exchange and have a brief awkward conversation afterwards that ultimately ends in "That was awkward. Let's never do that again."



For reference: Dr. Scott Hahn talks about evangelization a good deal on Catholic radio. The general gist of his talks, and explicitly in some cases, talks about the personal, communal, and sometimes cultural connection we need to make with people when evangelizing. A few notables:


The Importance of Personal Sanctity in Evangelization
Avoiding arrogance while evangelizing.
How did Saint Paul Evangelize?