A resource launched in September from the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and the Evangelical Alliance encourages Christians to speak publicly about their faith and shows them how the law protects them as they do so.
Speak Up provides an overview of how different areas of the law apply and provides a vital correction to fears that Christians may have when sharing the gospel.
Sign of a healthy society
Recent high-profile cases have sometimes given the impression that Christians are unable to talk about their faith at work. The Speak Up resource calls for Christians to always act with wisdom and sensitivity, but also reminds them that they do have wide-ranging freedoms.
Dave Landrum, director of advocacy at the Evangelical Alliance, said about the need for the resource: ‘Across the UK, Christians are passionate about sharing their faith and this is very good news for society. In fact evangelism is a sign of a free and healthy society. So we should celebrate and exercise our freedoms. Some may be worried about whether they will get into trouble if they do so. With wisdom, we want to give Christians the confidence to talk about Jesus.’
The summary booklet, at around 15 pages, has a layout that is accessible to most people and provides enough material to equip a Christian to do exactly what it says on the cover: Speak Up.
The full-length resource, although more detailed at around 40 pages, is not overwhelming in its content.
The top ten tips for how to witness to a colleague (or anyone for that matter) is perhaps the most valuable part of the resource. It will encourage the reticent to speak up, and pull up sharp the person who feels it is ‘their right’ to smilingly bash someone over the head with the gospel while at work.
This is also echoed in the section on street preaching on page 12 of the summary booklet: ‘Remember, most of Jesus’s hard words were reserved for the hypocritical religious hierarchy. To the crowds of non-believers Jesus met, his approach was intriguing, questioning, compassionate and patient. In trying to reach people for Jesus through public ministry we will want to seek to be winsome and loving.’
Needed 30 years ago
For someone growing up in the 1970s who was told that people weren’t interested in the gospel giving the implication that being a Christian was something to hide, and told that people would laugh at school when told that their friend went to church – which only a couple did – this is a refreshing resource that would have been great to have had around 30 years ago. Evangelism is commanded in the Bible and tolerated and protected (for the time being) by society. ‘And we have good news about the good news. Despite the fog and the fear, this publication… shows that we enjoy many freedoms to share our faith today. Let us be encouraged to use wisely the liberties that have been so hard-won for us, and engage in confident and fruitful evangelism in every area of life. Let’s speak up.’ (p.15)
