Survey flags up ‘gospel poor’

A new survey has identified which groups practising Christians tend to share the gospel with, and those people who may miss out on hearing the good news. The research holds significant findings on the attitudes of Christians towards sharing their faith.

The research was conducted by Savanta, and was commissioned by London City Mission, an organisation dedicated to equipping everyday Christians in London and beyond to share their faith. The survey asked practicing Christians to share their confidence levels for sharing their faith with others, with interesting results:

• Four in five practicing Christians (78%) are confident to share their faith with people who aren’t Christians.

• Nine in ten (89%) know it’s important to their own faith to share the gospel with others.

• However, three-quarters (76%) would like to talk more often about their faith with people who aren’t Christians.

Christians surveyed stated they are most likely to share their faith with close friends (42%), family (42%) and work colleagues (37%) who aren’t Christians. Among those groups that people feel less able to connect with and share their faith with are those from a different social background (30%), those who are outside their social circles, and those who are marginalised in society (e.g. homeless, refugees and asylum seekers) (20%).

The data also reveals why Christians may not take the opportunity to talk about their faith more often:

• A quarter (26%) said they are worried about a negative reaction when sharing about their faith with others.

• One in five (19%) say they might hold back from talking to more people because they feel they should be ‘tolerant’ and let others have their own beliefs.

Efrem Buckle, Deputy CEO and Director of Training at London City Mission, said:

‘We know that half of all Londoners live in gospel poverty, which means they don’t know a Christian who can share their faith with them. We also know that those Londoners who live in gospel poverty are also likely to be part of our most deprived communities. It’s down to us to act and start to build bridges to share the gospel with people on our doorsteps.’