“How are you witnessing to your non Christian friends?”
This is a phrase often uttered in university Christian unions, youth groups, and churches.
If you grew up in a Christian setting or have spent a significant amount of time in a Christian group or church, words like these may have led you to believe that the only way to effectively share your faith is to get your non Christian friends to church, to a Christian club or outreach, or to find a private moment to share the gospel with them. While these opportunities shouldn’t be ignored, they’re not the only way to share what you believe with those in your community.
Sometimes, even, this single-minded approach to evangelism can be met with resistance in the person you’re talking to — and it can lead to burnout in yourself.
With this in mind, maybe we should shift our mindset on what it looks like to share our faith.
Examining your posture of public faith
Phyllis Crosby defines public faith as:
… the posture an individual or church takes toward the wider world and lived out in public space. It includes observable convictions expressed through attitudes and behaviors that are experienced by those outside the community of faith.
What posture do you observe Christian communities typically holding toward the wider culture? Perhaps one that involves assimilation — being “of” the world too much — or dominating in an effort to snuff out uncomfortable cultural norms around us. Or a posture of withdrawal, separate from any cultural dialogue?
The truth is that to many “outsiders,” Christianity may seem rather “unChristian.” Churchgoers are accused of being hypocritical, sheltered, condescending, and judgmental.
This is a sad commentary on the posture the modern Church has adopted toward culture in general; instead of creating culture, the Church most often condemns it, distancing itself from it.
But this isn’t the answer to reach those around us — and it most often doesn’t make a welcoming introduction to the faith.
Working together for the common good in the public square
At the heart of Christianity and the great commission is God’s original intent for us to create culture and serve the common good.
However, the common good is not the exclusive domain of Christians; much of society — people of all different backgrounds and beliefs — is interested in shaping our communities and cities for the common good. As Phyllis Crosby says,
People of all ideologies are responsible for stewarding the common good and should be equally present in the public space. For Christians living in pluralistic societies, the implications are huge. It means that we share responsibility for the common good with people from other faiths and of no faith at all.
While the thought of Christians and non Christians working together toward a joint, God-given goal may be uncomfortable, this is actually good news. It means there are endless opportunities to demonstrate your faith every day in a way that isn’t overtly focused on conversion, instead reflecting the faithfulness of God in the relationships we build with our neighbors.
Do you care about what I care about?
The typical posture of the modern church reveals its priority: “you should believe like I believe.”
This is an alienating stance, both for the church and those outside of it.
Instead, in order to effect greater influence, build relationships in the wider community, and serve the common good, we should be focused on a question: do you care about what I care about?
If your non Christian community cares about the common good, caring about the same thing with them goes a long way toward demonstrating your faith in a compelling way. Here are some examples of this in the Bible:
- Joseph worked with the Egyptians to alleviate famine
- Nehemiah partnered with the administration to get foreign aid for his heritage home and rebuild the walls
- Esther influenced the king to avert injustice and save lives
- Daniel faithfully worked in the government sphere for decades, which resulted in Babylon being blessed
This way of working toward the common good by joining our communities in what they care about can be summed up as faithful presence, which is modeled on God’s covenant faithfulness to his people throughout the kingdom story. We care and show up for those around us the way that God has demonstrated. For those around us, this is hard not to notice. Not only is the care palpable — the resulting blessing is often quite tangible.
Blessing is more important than converting
In 2007 Mark Russell went to Thailand to research business-as-mission (BAM) enterprises in one cultural context. He conducted 128 interviews across 12 BAM enterprises. The results of his research were intriguing.
Some of the businesses were struggling financially and producing minimal missional results — and the common themes among these were that:
- They used terms like “convert” and “evangelism”
- They kept conversion at the forefront of their goals; the social contribution the business made to the lives of the Thai people was only instrumental in value, and the business itself was only a vehicle for proclaiming the gospel
Some of the businesses were flourishing and producing tremendous missional results — common themes among these were:
- They used the term “bless”
- They held sincere concern for the Thai people, keeping the desire to help their financial, spiritual, and relational aspects of their lives as their primary motivation for operation
Overall, the blessers produced more converts than the converters, at a ratio of 48:1.
Why was this?
They cared about what the Thai people cared about.
Changing our posture changes the way we reach those around us
When we change the way we relate to others, people’s perception of our faith — and what that faith means — changes.
Instead of hypocritical, we could be seen as authentic.
Instead of sheltered, we could be seen as engaged.
Instead of condescending, we could be seen as genuine.
Instead of judgmental, loving.
When we join with others to pursue the common good, showing that we care about the things they care about through faithful presence, they have a chance to not only hear about the transforming effect of our faith, but feel it.
What do your non Christian friends and coworkers care about? Does it serve the common good? If so, what opportunity do you have to demonstrate that you care about what they care about?
This article is part of an ongoing series exploring what it means to live out the Christian faith in all areas of life: family, media, church, art & entertainment, education, government, commerce & technology.
©2021 Cities Project Global
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