Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult (Paperback)

The book opens with a short exposition of Colossians 4.2-6, and thereby establishes the foundational matter of prayer. Prayer for opportunities, prayer that opportunities will be taken up, prayer that when they are, there will be clarity. Alongside, there must be the lifestyle to match - the lifestyle that begs questions.

Nick Pollard helpfully categorises unbelievers into four groups: there are those who are ripe for the picking (if only, I hear you say), those who have genuine questions, those who are merely ignorant and those who just don't want to know, thank you very much. Since most of the non-Christians you and I meet are in the last category, the longest and most challenging section of the book is on what to do with these. We have to learn, Nick says, to listen to our friends and discover their world views, even if they don't know they've got one. When we've done that, our dialogue with them becomes a bit like a game of Jenga. We undermine their position, piece by piece, until it tumbles down. This is called positive deconstruction and if you want to know more about it, read the book.

I sense your objection already, and it was mine: this sounds fine for your philosophy graduate in conversation with the fellow member of Mensa, but perhaps less appropriate for your average soap watcher in the queue for her lottery ticket. But Nick defends his strategy in that context as well. Listen, analyse (he tells you how to do that) and then start chipping away at the assumptions. With characteristic candour, he points out that after months or years of dialogue, your friend might just be less of an atheist than he was.

Or, he might say to you: 'Go on then, tell me what you believe', and when you get up from the floor... what will you say? Again, this book has a section on how to explain the gospel clearly and appropriately, without recourse to techniques or scripts. And then there are the classic questions - on suffering, the reliability of Scripture and evidence. Nick indicates the best way to come at these, with due sensitivity for the question that is often behind the question. This book is more than just a 'how to' it makes you want to get out there and do it.

Esme Shirt Evangelicals Now June 1997.

Nick Pollard divides his book into four main sections. These correspond to four responses to the Christian faith he encounters when talking to those who aren't Christians.

Some people are just about ready to become Christians

Some people really want to become Christians, but are held back by questions and doubts

Some are genuinely interested but don't know where to begin

Some are simply not interested, mainly because they are quite happy as they are.

Excellent insights abound, many of which will relieve Christians burdened by untrue and unhelpful ideas about evangelism. A number of the concepts take some thinking through, positive deconstructionalism for one, but the style is engaging and practical.

There is no hard sell of the Gospel here, rather a sensitive understanding of the context in which people don't believe, and some fascinating tools to help us in the sharing of faith.

At the end of this helpful book I had one major concern. I have a sneaky suspicion the author suffers from a common trait among those who are evangelists (and I include myself). There is a great danger that we project our particular gift and experiences onto others who neither have that gift nor are likely to have similar experiences.

This means we set expectations too high for people through the stories we share and the gifts we long for others to have. When their experiences don't match up to the subtle expectations we create, they quickly become disillusioned and demotivated. Guilt is often not far behind.

I think this book is in danger of undermining much of what it is saying by still asking too much of Christian people who are not gifted as evangelists, but are called to play their part in evangelism. Yet, it definitely gets my thumbs-up, for having read this book, evangelism is slightly less difficult for me. Well worth a thoughtful read.

James Lawrence New Christian Herald 5th July, 1997.