Christian Concern in late September launched a new initiative to encourage Christians to witness for Jesus Christ and stand firm for the gospel.
‘Not Ashamed’ was launched in response to two observations. The first is the widespread recognition of the attempt in our society to remove Jesus Christ and Christian influence from public life, restricting him to the domain of the ‘private and personal’. Many believe that this has brought disastrous effects for both individuals and our communities. The second is the corresponding collapse in confidence, within the church, that Jesus Christ both speaks to and is positive news for public life.
Dual aim
‘Not Ashamed’ has a dual aim. First, to encourage the church to regain her confidence that Jesus Christ is the good news which our contemporaries need to hear. Secondly, to provide an opportunity for our nation to see that Christ is the only lasting hope.
Christians are invited to participate in this initiative by wearing a symbol — for example a wrist band carrying the logo ‘Not Ashamed’. There are a number of items which can be bought relatively cheaply through the Christian Concern website. They are meant to draw attention to the Christian hope and act as conversation starters with friends and colleagues.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, director of Christian Concern, said: ‘While the initiative is in part a response to the increasing marginalisation of the church, we do not envisage it as a defensive campaign to safeguard the “rights” of Christians. The growing antipathy in many areas of public life towards those adhering to biblical belief and behaviour must be highlighted, as must the inevitable and destructive consequences for our country.
‘However, we do so out of a desire that our nation would not reject the hope and life that is found only in Jesus Christ. In providing an opportunity for the church to stand together, we pray that God will use this initiative to help his church grasp and exercise her role with renewed confidence, namely as herald of judgment and hope in Christ Jesus.’
December 1
The focus for the campaign is Wednesday December 1. Christian Concern hopes that on that day thousands of Christians across the UK will wear a ‘Not Ashamed’ emblem. They will also deliver a declaration to key leaders in society explaining that Christians believe that Jesus Christ is vital for the wellbeing of public life and calling on them to reverse the trend of his being shut out from it.
They trust that the ‘visibility’ of the initiative will give rise to many opportunities for Christians to speak out for Christ. To that end, Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has agreed to write a short evangelistic leaflet to be used in conjunction with the event.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali is backing ‘Not Ashamed’ and explains why on a video which can be watched via the Christian Concern website.
The campaign continues to gather momentum and has generated interest not only in the UK but also in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
EN asked a couple of questions. First: ‘What happens to the profit from the sale of Not Ashamed items?’
Andrea Minichiello Williams replied: ‘We don’t anticipate there being any, once all the relevant costs are taken into account (e.g. design, production, postage, publicity, promotion). In fact, Christian Concern expects to have to subsidise this campaign heavily, but we’re backing it because we long for it to be used by God to help put the hope of Jesus Christ at the heart of our nation. If there is money left over, we plan to put it towards making Lord Carey’s evangelistic booklet as affordable and available as possible’.
Why wear a symbol?
Then EN enquired: ‘Why wear a symbol to declare that we are not ashamed? Surely people should be able to tell from our lives?’
Andrea’s reply was: ‘We long that people might know that Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Saviour. Clearly, our lifestyles must be increasingly consistent with that claim and, where they are, we can expect opportunities to arise to speak of him, especially when we face suffering for belonging to him (1 Peter 3.13-16). Wearing a symbol is not essential but it is one way of declaring that our confidence is in him and that we’re not ashamed of him or of our standing with our brother and sisters in Christ. We think that it’s a particularly useful opportunity at this time when there is pressure in society to make our discipleship a “personal and private” matter and prevent it from impacting how we live “publicly”, for example in the ethics that we bring to the workplace’.
She concluded: ‘We’ve been very encouraged by the overwhelming positive response to Not Ashamed, even in its first few days. In God’s providence, it seems as though it comes at a strategic time. There has been much discussion in the media recently about the place of Jesus Christ in public life. Meanwhile the new Coalition Government is eager to promote a conversation about the future shape of our society and has recognised that “faith groups” have a part to play in that. It’s important that Christians speak up for Jesus Christ as the only One able to provide a solid foundation for our nation’.
For further information, contact Christian Concern on 020 7935 1488, info@christianconcern.com or http://www.christianconcern.com where you can also sign the declaration.
