God Space : where spiritual conversations happen naturally, is a practical book, with lots of ideas and thoughts about how to have spiritual conversations with people who aren’t Christians. Doug Pollock emphasises the importance of noticing, serving, listening and wondering. These four simple guidelines can lead to significant conversations. Pollock explains what this looks like through many illustrations, mostly from his own life. Pollock recommends we only share our God stories or Bible verses after asking for permission.
I appreciated the way Pollock pointed out that he has been doing this as part of his ministry for about 40 years so these practices come easy to him, yet he happily acknowledges the mistakes he has made along the way. I also appreciated his explanation that our goal isn’t necessarily to convert someone through one conversation but rather to stimulate their thinking and question their current assumptions. Conversion generally happens over some time and we might be one small step in someone’s journey.
Pollock includes some quotes from Bill Hybels and Ravi Zacharias which was unfortunate, but unforeseeable in 2009 when the book was published.
I was a bit shocked by his pre-Christian attitude towards women when I read his testimony at the end of the book. I was also disappointed he didn’t describe any of the spiritual conversations that moved him towards God. Nevertheless, his story recognises how God can bring significant change to a person’s life.
God Space is an easy-to-read, useful book that moves us towards sharing our faith in small manageable steps.
Overall, a helpful read.
More reviews of this book can be found on Goodreads. More reviews of other Christian Non-fiction books that I have read can be found here.
