It’s time for us to press in and open our mouths

People are often more willing to hear about Jesus than we are to tell them!

In recent years there’s been a lot of revival talk, especially in Europe and particularly here in the UK. We’ve seen statistics and reports about an increase in Bible sales, church attendance, professions of faith, baptisms and the like – the veritable “quiet revival”. And, with great excitement the church (perhaps understandably so) picked up on the narrative and it became commonplace to speak of the “quiet revival” in the UK.

Now, call me cynical, call me a wet blanket, or call me dour (perhaps a by-product of enduring three Scottish winters as a South African). But, to me anyway, revival is something quite specific – and so I’ve been only optimistically cautious in using that language.

I speak regularly at churches across the UK around topics of evangelism and apologetics and the “quiet revival” question often comes up. Only time will tell, but sadly we’ve seen that some of the statistics that formed much of the basis for the excitement are not as reliable as we would have hoped. Now I say this with gentleness and humility as a Christian in the public sphere contending for the faith – but perhaps this is instructive for us to be cautious about too quickly adopting narratives that, as exciting as they are, may end up being just that: narratives.

Now, the question is, is there perhaps a baby in the bathwater that I’ve just decanted with such sweeping incredulity? I hope so. I think so.

I worked in the biological sciences for many years, so I like data! But, for what I say next I have no hard data – only my anecdotal musings. But they are musings from my experience, and I believe they are true.

Musing 1: There is undoubtedly a growing openness to spirituality and faith among many older folks. I regularly hear stories of people coming to put their faith in Jesus after years and years of resistance. Perhaps as the complete insufficiency of atheism as a worldview has been shown not only intellectually, but existentially.

Musing 2: There is undoubtedly a growing openness to spirituality and faith among younger people too. As I spend time on university campuses – especially in Scotland (secular as it is) – they are alive with conversations around the big questions of life, increased awareness of “spiritual” health, and even interest about Jesus and what difference faith in Him makes.

Musing 3: People are more ready to hear about our faith than we are to talk about it!

To me, something is definitely afoot – and we’d best not be caught with our foot in our mouth!

One of the negative by-products of the “quiet revival” is that to many it was a sigh of relief, and their response was to sit and relax, not to stand and respond. An unfortunate reality amongst evangelicals, broadly speaking, is that we are not good at talking about our faith with those outside the church, and so here was a subtle way to justify our sitting posture – even if subconsciously and unintentionally.

It may not be a revival just yet, but maybe something more akin to a realisation, a shifted cultural milieu in which faith – and particularly the Christian faith and the person of Jesus – is being looked at afresh. It is our job to meet that opportunity (1 Peter 3; Matt. 28).

Maybe the starting point is to simply adopt the attitude that “Hey, this person wants to hear about Jesus, how can I move the conversation in that direction?” Maybe it’s beginning with listening more and looking for points of contact with them.

Either way, if people are increasingly open to hearing about faith, then this is the time for us to press in all the more, and open our mouths to talk about it. We have something vital to share and everything suggests that people outside the church are surprisingly interested in what we have to say.