At first glance, this book appears to live up to Graham Nicholls’ intention to provide practical guidance on how Christians can publicly proclaim the gospel to non-Christians. In six short chapters, the director of Affinity addresses the challenges of spreading the word through traditional forms of media, social media and the internet, local outreach projects, community projects and direct evangelism.
Nicholls is realistic and refreshingly honest about the challenges facing the evangelist in the modern world, accepting that it is not always an easy thing to do, especially when met by indifference or hostility.
The book is written in accessible language and is easy to read. But it is frequently let down by a text that is repetitive and has a superficial, flight-of-ideas quality to it, mired further by some imperfect sentences and poor grammar. To be fully effective, the text needs editing and rearranging. As Nicholls candidly admits in chapter three: ”This is a very simple set of reflections, as there are plenty of books and online resources which develop them in more detail and say it better than I can.” I confess that I am inclined to agree.
Robert Jaggs-Fowler is a freelance writer and a visiting fellow of St John’s College, Durham
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