Book Review – A Faith Worth Sharing

A Faith Worth Sharing: A Lifetime of Conversations about Christ, by C. John Miller.

Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian & Reformed. 1999. 152 pp. $7.95.

This book, written by one of the more noteworthy Presbyterian evangelists of the twentieth century, was edited posthumously by Dr. Miller’s daughters, Barbara and Roseann. In an introductory note, they write: “These are the stories that Dad wanted to leave his family and friends. They are stories of faith begun and faith renewed, stories of how God changed people as they heard the gospel from Dad, stories of his failures and God’s successes. As we read this book, we see that it is about the power of the gospel to change anybody – men in a boarding house, college students, drug-addicted hitchhikers, successful businessmen, and even Dad and his own family.”

The book opens in San Francisco in 1948. Just two months prior, Jack Miller had been converted to Christ, and he was eager to share his new-found faith. Now, in the Golden Gate city, the young Christian soon realized that “communicating the Christian faith is more than a matter of reasoning… I, the intellectual college student, had to learn to go where people really were.”

Another lesson which Jack learned was that what “really convinces others of the truth of the Christian message is not our perfection or our rational arguments, but our willingness to love them where they are and to introduce them to our community of faith. God does not want us to share our faith as independent supermen or superwomen, but as brothers and sisters together in God’s family.”

But perhaps the most powerful lesson to be gleaned from this volume has to do with the pointed reminder that professing Christians may not have “a personal relationship with the God of the universe.” Dr. Miller wrote: “You cannot be a Christian without any fruit of the Spirit. But by humbling yourself and leaning on the promises of grace, you can be sure you will have the Spirit working these fruits in you. As the Spirit breaks down your self-dependence and pride, you will become part of a chain of grace. Other weak people will see your thirsting and drinking of Christ through faith in his gospel, and they will want to drink too.”

This book can be a very effective tool to give to earnest seekers. This book will challenge you, and warm your heart. If you need a spiritual lift, “A Faith Worth Sharing” is worth reading.

FRANK J. SMITH Presbyterian and Reformed News