When it comes to sharing our faith, let’s be honest, most of us could use some work. Of course, there are the select few enthusiastic believers who take absolutely every opportunity to bestow the Good News upon some poor unsuspecting stranger, but in general, we tend to keep things under wraps. Why is that?
One of the central commands of Jesus was to spread the Gospel — to take it to the ends of the earth (Mark 16:15). We are to embody the very nature of Christ in our behavior (John 13:35), and show the world who He is.
Recall the words of Christ from Luke 12:8: “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.”
Christians are called to be witnesses, to be the hands and feet of Christ, and to extend the Kingdom of God through the faithful teaching and preaching of the word. So why are so few of us actually getting on with this vital work?
According to a new study released by the Barna Research Group, a “growing number of Christians don’t see sharing the good news as a personal responsibility.” Over the past couple of decades, there has been an increasing feeling among Christians that this “evangelism stuff” is something for the Church, not for us humble lay people. The problem with that? Christians ARE the Church.
Some three in 10 Christians who have had a conversation about faith say evangelism is the local church’s responsibility (29 percent), a nearly threefold increase from 25 years ago. Why is this? More from Barna:
