Christians polled showed a willingness to talk about their faith but few followed through on the prerogative.
QUICK FACTS:
- The majority of Christians say they’re ready and willing to have conversations about their faith but haven’t done so recently.
- A study by Lifeway Research found that Christians polled were willing and even desired to talk about their faith to those around them, but the majority haven’t engaged in that kind of outreach in the past six months.
- “Now, perhaps more than ever, people are open to conversations about faith, yet this study reveals few Christians actually take the opportunity to engage in personal evangelism,” said John Sorensen, president of Evangelism Explosion (EE).
RESEARCHERS’ FINDINGS:
- The survey of 1,100 self-identified Christian adults found that 95% were in some way open to having a conversation about faith with a friend, but less than half have shared a Bible verse or story with a non-Christian in the last six months.
- “Our mission at EE is to equip followers of Jesus to have the confidence to share the gospel naturally, lovingly and intentionally with family, friends and yes, even strangers, which is why we wanted insights on the evangelistic attitudes of Christians. We imagine a world where every believer is a witness for Christ to His glory,” Sorensen said.
- “Many Christians say they agree sharing their faith is important,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “But many also need encouragement and to be shown how to share the good news about Jesus Christ with others.”
BACKGROUND:
- About 1 in 7 (14%) of those questions said that they try to bring up faith in conversations with everyone and around 28% said they answer faith questions when asked.
- Only about 1 in 5 (20%) Christians say they won’t talk about faith with most people.
