"This is a moment for us to be good news people in a bad news world."
Why share your faith with your friends?
The most significant person in helping someone becoming a Christian is a friend. We all play a part in sharing good news.
Why now?
People are more open to Jesus than ever. We are spending more time, and better quality time with our friends and neighbours.
Story Bearer Sessions: How to share your faith with your friends during coronavirus
Over the next few weeks, the Great Commission team at the Evangelical Alliance want to inspire you and equip you to share your faith with your friends during coronavirus. This is a moment for us to be good news people in a bad news world.
It feels like the volume has been turned up on life. At one end of the spectrum, I have experienced deep sadness and crushing disappointment; a close relative has died, another is very poorly indeed. At the other end there have been moments of joy and laughter; I have never been so grateful for a garden, a long prayed-for baby has arrived in our extended family. Many, like me, are experiencing bereavement, heartache and frustration but also gratitude and compassion like never before.
In these times, it feels like not only that the rug is being pulled from beneath our feet, but the walls stripped away and the roof with them. We stagger from side to side, our hands grasping for something real to hold onto, our senses search for a point of reference: something to trust in, something to hope for.
And people are searching for faith.
Internet searches for prayer skyrocketed to their highest levels in five years across 75 countries in March. Online church attendances are dramatically increasing. The BBC reported on 17 April that most people want to change their lives after COVID-19. With people searching for faith and open to change, surely this is a moment to be directing people, with our lives and our words towards the Way, the Truth and the Life.
How might this happen? And why might it be even more relevant at this time? In recent years, most people who become Christians do so through a friend. Many of us assume that the leading influence in someone coming to faith is a pastor, a preacher or a priest. However, some significant research found that Christians most credit a friend or family member for introducing them to Jesus.
And we are spending more time with friends and family.
The YouGov poll quoted by the BBC also found that 39 per cent of us are more in touch with friends and family. Many are also finding that their conversations are going deeper than usual. What might this mean for the spread of the good news of Jesus? Our hope is that this beautiful blend of Christians spending more time with their not-yet-Christian friends, who themselves are more spiritually hungry than ever will lead to many of them come to say, ​‘I became a Christian during coronavirus.’
But are we ready? We feel called to make the most of this moment and inspire all of us, as the UK church, to do the same.
So, over the coming weeks we would love you to join us on a journey of talking about sharing faith. We will be sharing the power of story, how sharing your story can be natural and effective and letting you know about some new, exciting resources to help. Through video, articles and live Facebook chats, do join us on this journey and encourage those in your church to do the same as we seek to make the most of this challenging time. So join us. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and here on the website for regular updates. Let’s share our faith with our friends and together make Jesus known in this coronavirus season.
"We would love you to join us on a journey of talking about sharing faith."
