“Will everything be ok?”
“What happens when you die?”
“Is there a purpose to life?”
These are the big questions that people in the UK are asking right now, according to the new
Talking Jesus report, produced by the Evangelical Alliance, HOPE Together and others.
It’s clear from the report that people are less interested in dogma and tradition, and more in
what faith means for them personally.
As Christian organisations and churches, we are ideally placed to help provide these answers.
But it may require thinking in different ways from those we’re used to.
Christians have a long and often wonderful history of telling people the Good News, and then
praying that God will open their hearts for them to believe and receive it. This remains an
important part of our evangelism. Indeed, “ how can they believe in the one of whom they have
not heard?” (Romans 10v4)
But we should sit up and take notice of what non-Christians are telling us – according to the
report – listening is very important to them. What they remembered best about conversations
with Christians wasn’t a clever argument or having the Christian faith explained clearly (although
these are all good), but being asked what they themselves believed. Listening is key, because
how can we empathise or find common ground with someone without knowing where they’re
coming from? Plus, Christians should always remain humble about what we can learn from
others.
According to Talking Jesus, a high percentage of non-Christians also remembered Christians
telling them a personal story about their faith. Again, this is personal, and it’s authentic – two
things that people crave in these times, when we’re bombarded with so much false information.
This is something we need to be ready for in advance:
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope
that you have.” (1 Peter 3v15)