Talking Jesus: Here’s a way to do just that!
Le Fras Strydom shares how the learnings from the Talking Jesus 2022 survey point towards Bible sharing as key to evangelism today.
“The challenge is engaging people in reading the Bible – the Bible speaks for itself, God speaks for Himself through the Bible.”
You may have heard by now of the Talking Jesus 2022 Report.
It’s an excellent, independently conducted research piece, gauging attitudes towards Jesus and evangelism, recently repeated after first running in 2014.
The findings come with many encouragements for those who care about making Jesus known in 21st century United Kingdom, and also with a number of challenges.
It also makes me all the more convinced that sharing God’s Word – that is, helping people encounter Jesus for themselves in the Bible – is simply THE most helpful way to engage people with the gospel.
Here’s why…
Encouragements from the Talking Jesus 2022 Report
These things encouraged me in the report:
One in three want to know more about Jesus after having a conversation with a Christian friend about their faith (p.25 of Report).
Talking Jesus 2022 Report, p.25
Now, we have to temper our enthusiasm here – the flipside means two in three don’t want to know more about Jesus after having such a conversation!
But isn’t that what the Lord told us to expect? Shouldn’t the parable of the soils in Matthew 13 prepare us to find a mix of responses, as we go scattering the seed of the gospel widely?
I know many Bible sharers who will bear witness to the truth of this statistic – as they go around living publicly as Christians in whatever communities God has placed them, unashamed about the fact that they love Jesus and want to speak about Him, and as they offer to open His Word with the people in their lives…the rule of thumb is around 1 in 4 people take an interest.
Isn’t it worth a few saying ‘no thank you’ in order to find the people who are already curious, or even hungry to know more about God?
Many people would go to a friend or to the Bible to find out more.
Talking Jesus 2022 Report, p.13
OK, Google is a go-to point not just for directions or easy recipes, but for questions about life, the universe and everything! We know that. I’m thrilled there is an increasing awareness and focus in the evangelical world on investing in Biblically faithful gospel content that is search engine friendly. If you are gifted in that way, please consider how you can use your gift to get faithful content pointing to Jesus well ranked on search engines.
But encouragingly, people are still willing to go to a local church to find out more – which leaves the responsibility on all the gathered church to make sure we know how to welcome the newcomer and the ‘unchurched’!
But my eye was particularly drawn to the next two: “Reading the Bible” and “Talking to a friend or family member who is a Christian”.
Now, we could give someone a Bible, and that is a good thing to do. But would they know where to start? And like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 – would they need help to understand?
We could also have conversations about “our faith”, and sometimes that is helpful.
But what if we could offer them both? If we offer to journey alongside them– to guide them through an initial encounter with the Bible within a relationship of trust – isn’t that an even more compelling offer?
More than once, on making such an offer, we’ve heard the sincere reply “Would you do that for me?”
Many come to faith through reading the Bible and/or through the witness of family members and friends.
It’s not just where people go looking that is encouraging, it's how they come to faith which is so telling.
Talking Jesus 2022 Report, p.31
As we lovingly come alongside the people we know, show them Jesus in the Bible and connect them at the appropriate times to church gatherings or other Christian events, we combine many of the factors people say has brought them to follow Jesus.
Christians are liked and respected by their non-Christian friends (more so than the perception of the institution known as “church”).
Talking Jesus 2022 Report, p.17
For many – not for all – but for many, a trusted Christian friend is a far more obvious and less intimidating connection point than the institution they think they know as “church”.
People generally think well of the Christians they know.
So, the question arises…are we encouraging brothers and sisters to cultivate and make the most of these relationships?
Because there is also a flipside to the report…
Challenges from the Talking Jesus 2022 Report
People around us have less Christian connection than they used to.
This to me was the most disappointing statistic of the entire report – the number of people who know a ‘practicing Christian’ fell from 68% in 2015 to only 53% in 2022. This may be partly due to the pandemic but remains a very worrying trend.
This statistic raises a number of questions in my mind:
Are we entrenched in our Christian communities?
Do we leave space in the church calendar for brothers and sisters to connect with the people God has placed them amongst?
Are we equipping each other to be publicly Christian, to speak of Christ and share God’s Word where we are?
Do we really think only 11% have a Christian colleague – or only 8% have a Christian neighbour…Or are we going deep cover as Christians, unavailable to serve and witness to our work colleagues and neighbours?
Talking Jesus 2022 Report, p.15
Many Christians are disconnected and lack confidence.
The above statistic is exacerbated by a lack of confidence and connection in a large percentage of practicing Christians:
42% of practising Christians say they don’t feel that they know any non-Christians well enough to talk to them about Jesus Christ.
40% of practising Christians say they don’t feel able to answer difficult questions and therefore don’t speak about their faith.
Mobilising God’s people to truly ‘talk Jesus’
I know how it feels to be disconnected from neighbours and colleagues. I know how it feels to lack confidence, to constantly feel on the backfoot.
But what transformed my own confidence, and through that led to a more authentic and fruitful connection with those around me was the step of faith that taught me share God’s Word.
We see this newfound confidence, this deeper connection again and again as we equip people to share God’s Word. It’s why we talk about ‘joyful Bible sharers’. God’s people are liberated when they discover that they don’t need to have all the answers, they don’t need a knock-down testimony, they can simply bring people to Jesus in His Word.
Friends, there are many positives to take from this survey:
More people are open than we think.
They consider a Christian friend and the Bible as reasonable places to start exploring.
Christians are well thought of by their peers.
So, our plea to those ministries who equip people in evangelism, and to our fellow church leaders: let’s join hands to equip brothers and sisters to truly talk Jesus by sharing God’s Word.
Recommended Reads
