Jason Roach
1. How did you become a Christian?
When I was 19 a friend of mine was killed in a road traffic accident. At his funeral, his father said to me: ‘I want you to know I’m going to see my son again’. His words struck me so deeply that they started me on a two-year journey of seeing that Jesus is who the Scriptures claim He is.
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Like many others, when I was young I had this idea that the Lord had this one specific future for me – and if I somehow made a wrong decision, I might fall off the edge of God’s plan. I wish I could have realised much earlier that God is more concerned about the way I make decisions than the actual decisions that I make, and to trust He will take care of the rest.
3. How would you describe your prayer life?
My understanding of prayer as a relationship or conversation is becoming more and more precious to me. I’m on a slow journey of that understanding becoming more of a reality in practice. More than anything else, my true desire is to be close to Jesus.
4. Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan; How People Change, Paul Tripp and Tim Lane; A Praying Life, Paul Miller
5. Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
Peter Saunders who was CEO of the Christian Medical Fellowship and Richard Coekin who is Director of the Co-Mission Network of Churches. I was grateful to Peter for a Biblical worldview that recognised the importance of culture, creation and work. I am grateful to Richard for his faithful exposition of the Scriptures week by week and desire to give me opportunity to exercise my gifts in church. Both men have been incredibly patient and gracious with me over many years.
6. What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
We live in an increasingly post-Christian society where people have little knowledge of Jesus. On top of that, many of the people around us are apathetic, more than dismissive of Jesus. The challenge for many is to keep believing that Jesus is king of the universe, in this kind of context. And I think that it’s felt particularly acutely by the younger generation. The rubber is hitting the road for people who are school or university now in a way that it didn’t for me at the time. The opportunity though is for the church to be seen as a community of believers that offer love, compassion, justice and hope in a polarised and lonely world.
7. What encourages and what discourages you?
I’m a boulderer (which is a form of rock climbing). Getting up a particularly difficult boulder gives me joy, especially if I’ve struggled through with friends. Discouragements: where do I start? My emotions, like most parents, are very bound up with how my four children are doing. When they’re sad and feeling discouraged, that brings me down too.
8. What makes you laugh?
It doesn’t take much to make me laugh. I laugh pretty easily. Probably too easily sometimes!
9. What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
Life is very short; eternity is very long. Make decisions on the basis of eternity.
10. Which Biblical person (other than Jesus) do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
How about the Ethiopian Eunuch? He was maybe the first person to take to the Christian message back to Ethiopia, to Africa. I would love to meet him and to find out how that story unfolded as he returned home.
The Rev Dr Jason Roach is a medical doctor by background and served as a special advisor to the Bishop of London. He is a well-known evangelical author and speaker on a range of topics. He currently works with London City Mission team as Director of Ministries after being the founder and pastor of The Bridge Church in Battersea London.