Long Story Short by David Mansfield will help you help your friend meet Jesus clearly through scripture and raw personal experience.
Dave has written several evangelistic books in his ministry. His favourite book is Everyone Loves a Good Comeback written in 2010. Mansfield always wanted to write a simple book on John 3:16 that communicated the gospel well. Long Story Short explains John 3:16 for the non-churched non-Christian with clarity and simplicity.
Helping a Friend Meet Jesus
David Mansfield
Long Story Short takes us to one of the most well known and loved promises in the Bible, in John’s Gospel, chapter 3 and verse 16.
John 3:16 not only shows us the greatest promise of the Christian faith, but is widely thought to be the best short summary of the message of the whole Bible.
This stunning promise speaks of the depth of God’s love for His world and the hope that Jesus Christ offers to those who trust in Him.
Structure
Chapters 1-3 address the idea that God loves the world, made it wonderfully, communicated clearly, and gave instructions for our best interest. Chapters 4-6 explore what went wrong in the world, showing the disobedience and downward spiral that we shouldn’t ignore. Chapters 7-9 help us to see that God loves us by sending his own Son as the rescue that we need. The final two sections of the book explore the call of God to come back home (part 4), and the promised hope that we can look forward to in eternal life (part 5).
The Gospel, Simply
The book takes the long story of God (and the gospel) and explains it in a clear, short, and helpful way. What I like about this book is that it gets down to the business of presenting Jesus without trying to be different, new, or trendy.
This warm and conversational book that asks the reader to explore what they are thinking about God, Jesus, and their world, from one of the most famous verses in the bible. While some books try to be trendy and seek a new way to explore the gospel, a strength of “Long Story Short” is that it is happy to be clear and get down to business.
What I Liked
Firstly, it is warm and conversational. People will find this book enjoyable and accessible, even for non-readers. The tone is gentle and loving, even though it does challenge our ideas and thinking. As a gospel book it talks about sin, is clear about our disobedience, and explores the deceitfulness that lies in every heart. There is a big difference between an escape and a rescue. We don’t need an escape. Rather, we need to stand under Jesus and accept his rescue.
Secondly, it is both old and modern. Dave uses illustrations and stories well in his book. Sitting in the world of today, the book mentions smartphones, influencers, and the recent cave rescues in Thailand. But for the older readers Dave is happy to quote Bob Dylan, John Denver, the Bee Gees, and the musical Les Misérables. This gives Long Story Short wide accessibility that many ages will respond to. I would gladly give it to both a young adult and an older person.
Thirdly, it has all my favourite verses. The evangelistic strategy is not to seek a new edge, or a surprising bible passage from which to explore the gospel. Along with John 3:16, Dave reflects on 2 Corinthians 5, Luke 15, Isaiah 53, and Colossians 1:12. It was like he had grabbed my bible (and hopefully yours too) and found all the underlined favorite verses that we love in our bibles and re-visited them to explore the gospel. This means that as you chat with the friend you are reading this book with, you will be going to the verses that you well know and love.
And lastly, this book is human, personal, and real. Dave mentions a few times in his book about his cancer diagnosis he received in 2023. He tells how his doctor gave him a concerning word of truth that he needed to hear about his health. The gospel similarly has a true warning that we need to hear about the coming judgement. He reflects on living with a diagnosis which reminded him that our days are numbered, and that number is in God’s hands. The cancer diagnosis also helped Dave consider and look forward to eternal life.
Critiques
One of my negative reactions to the book was that its size and shape made it feel like a textbook, or a course manual. I got over it, but something more like a paperback novel may have felt friendlier. Inside, the titles, quotes, and general layout also added to the textbook feeling. While I do like structure and order, I needed to be won over to what the book had to say.
There are also quite a lot of quotes and verses throughout the book which may be quite a step for those with little Bible background. Though the verses are engaged with clearly, Dave sets a high bar, showing his confidence and love of the scriptures.
Jesus in Your Pain
I had a coffee with Dave after a chance meeting at Perth Men’s Convention some years back. He made the comment that his cancer diagnosis made him wonder and long for eternity and even look forward to what it will be like. I think this comes out well in the final chapters of the book, which explore eternity as something good and of a quality and a quantity bigger and better than we can imagine, and better than the things we enjoy now.
Near the end of the book Mansfield writes:
… (with my diagnosis) I was close to being ‘out’ (a cricket illustration) but I was given an extension of time, sort of ‘another life’ as they say in cricket. But I have to remember, (as we all do), that the finger will be raised at some point. Our number will be up, and our days will be over, no one remains ‘not-out’ in this real life. Can you imagine the disappointment on the Lord Jesus’ face if we stood before him on the day of judgement and said we didn’t think his love was all that important, nor did we care much for his death and resurrection, and gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
It’s a good challenge. And we could introduce a friend to Jesus, by giving them a copy of this book, and opening up a conversation about God’s big story in a short form from one of the best-known gospel verses in the bible, explained in a clear, short, and helpful way.
Long Story Short is a good book to give to a friend so they can explore the gospel and meet Jesus. Your timely introduction could lead to them meeting and knowing Jesus for themselves.
