When lots of us as Christians hear the word mission, the primary thought is of foreign places, of Christ’s words to achieve “the ends of the earth.” And rightly so. God’s mission is to reconcile to Himself people from all nations through Christ. But God’s heart just isn’t only for faraway lands. The mission also includes our friends, neighbours and the communities right on our doorstep, in a rustic where for the primary time since records began, lower than half of the country identifies as a Christian.
This statistic might discourage us, but we’re also seeing positive signs of renewed interest, particularly amongst Gen Z, with church attendance quadrupling from 4% to 16%. There is a growing cultural moment of openness and curiosity with the spiritual realm, and Christianity specifically.
The mission field for our time
Mission today isn’t any longer about inviting people right into a broadly Christian culture; it’s about reaching out in an increasingly polarised society marked by little biblical illiteracy, deep scepticism and competing ‘truths’. Despite this shifting ground, we’re called to stay faithful to Christ, inviting others along on the journey to find Him for themselves through the living Word of God.
Five challenges to our local mission field
So what are the cultural challenges for evangelism within the UK today? I’d suggest five which can be especially pressing:
1. Individualism
Our culture prizes autonomy and private alternative above all. Faith may be seen as a personal matter, best kept to yourself. Yet the Bible presents a radically different vision: life in community, under the loving authority of God, with a call to share the salvation we’ve got received: holding out the words of life to the people God has placed around us.
2. Mistrust of institutions and authority
Scandals across political, financial and even religious institutions, including the Church, have led to widespread cynicism. For many, the Church is assumed to be a part of the issue. Building trust through real relationships is subsequently not optional, it is usually essential groundwork for sharing the gospel.
3. Loneliness
Despite digital connectedness, the UK is experiencing an epidemic of loneliness, with one in 4 adults reporting to be chronically lonely. People long for deep, real community, yet often struggle to seek out it where AI and algorithms fight for our attention. This presents each a challenge and an open door for Christian witness, in an entire latest landscape.
4. Busyness
The relentless pace of recent life can leave little space for reflection, let alone spiritual exploration. Evangelism cannot assume people will simply ‘make time’, or attend Church at Christmas and Easter since it’s the ‘traditional thing to do’. We must find ways to satisfy them within the midst of their often very busy lives.
5. Scepticism towards faith
From Richard Dawkins to Ricky Gervais, public discourse often portrays Christianity as outdated, irrelevant, and even harmful. Whilst the media is increasingly portraying stories of celebrities and on a regular basis Christians who’ve found life and hope of their faith, there remains to be some strategy to go until this imbalance is redressed. Encountering scepticism could tempt us to lose confidence, but it surely must also challenge us to return to the Bible, to find what it has to say about life’s big questions and to share that with others.
A practical way forward
How will we engage missionally on this context? At The Word One to One, we consider one of the best ways is to let God speak for Himself. In a time of constant change, the Bible, and the Jesus that we meet as we turn its pages, stays the identical. The Word One to One provides a straightforward, relational resource for opening John’s Gospel with friends, colleagues, and neighbours, without assuming prior knowledge or requiring theological expertise. It is a tool designed precisely for this cultural moment.
Where is God calling you to be on mission?
A give attention to world mission reminds us of God’s heart for the nations. But allow us to not forget that the UK is an element of that mission field. We have a terrific legacy of Christian faith within the UK, from churches which were here because the Norman Conquest, to the impact local churches have in every community throughout the country. The cultural challenges we face listed below are real, but so are the opportunities. Mission just isn’t only overseas, neither is it just for specialists. It is for all of us, in our atypical contexts, with our friends and neighbours. And it may begin, quite simply, with opening the Bible together.
Simon Lennox is CEO of The Word One to One.
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