At the end of October it was reported that the Church of England is to tell Anglicans that speaking about Jesus to others is more likely to do harm than good.
This is based on research originally commissioned by the Church of England, the Evangelical Alliance and others. In a survey non-believers were asked if Christians had ever spoken to them about their faith. Of those who replied positively only 19% said it made them want to know more, compared with 59% who said the opposite. Although 23% said such witness had made them feel more positive towards Christ, 30% said it left them feeling more negative. Sadly, 40% of those surveyed did not think that Jesus was a real person who actually lived.
Public opinion?
It is likely that if a similar survey had been taken among those who heard the apostle Paul speak on Mars Hill the results would have been quite similar (Acts 17.32). However, this did not lead Paul to think he should stop preaching, rather the opposite. Obviously we need to be wise in the way we share the gospel and sometimes we get it wrong. But are we to take our directions about whether or not to evangelise from the opinions of people who according to Scripture are spiritually dead, or from the Lord Jesus (Matthew 28.18-20; Acts 17.30)? Do we look to public opinion or to Christ? We wonder how much money was wasted on this survey.
