Lifeway Research recently released an article about eight critical characteristics, or signposts, of a healthy church. One of the eight characteristics for Christians is living unashamed, willing to publicly admit they are a follower of Christ.
However, a State of Discipleship Report Card reveals that living unashamed is the second-lowest score for Christians, 61.0, receiving a D. According to data on the subject regarding Protestants, 30% of churchgoers admit people are not aware they’re a Christian, and a third of churchgoers say not everyone they are acquainted with needs to know.
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, spoke with Tony Perkinds on the “Washington Watch” program about the recent data, saying it’s concerning not just for those who read and understand Scripture but for church leaders trying to disciple.
“There's a large number of followers of Christ that maybe aren't intentionally hiding, but they're definitely keeping their mouth shut at some key opportunities to let others know that they're a follower of Jesus Christ,” McConnell says.
Even among Christians, 42% do not talk about their faith with other believers, where it’s expected, he says, for Christians to be more open. and about a third admit they are a different person in public than in private.
While people do change how they act depending on where they are, McConnell says Jesus Christ is expected to be evident whether somebody is at home, at school, around neighbors or in any other setting. As for why Christians are not living unashamed, he points out that depending on the survey, 20%-30% of Americans say they don’t have a religion.
“I think there are a lot of Christians that kind of look around and see the culture has religion or faith on mute, and they just assume they need to stay quiet, and they assume that people really are against religion and against faith,” McConnell states.
A little over 15% of churchgoers say they are hesitant to let non-Christians know they are one.
McConnell says his group recently did a survey of Americans that have no religion. Only around 50% say religion does not belong in public life. In fact, almost 30% say they themselves are a person of faith, and almost half of them would call themselves spiritual.
“The very people you'd expect to be secular, they're pretty split on the issue,” says McConnell. “I think sometimes Christians are afraid of something and making it bigger than it really is when, in fact, people are open to hearing your beliefs and the things that are important to you.”
Christians have the opportunity, he says, to be honest with who they serve and show spiritual integrity.
McConnell mentions the other signposts, saying they encourage each other. For example, building relationships in the congregation and seeking God, one way by giving thanks, can influence how Christians live unashamed.
“When we have significant relationships at church, we see repeatedly that people are more engaged in many other aspects of following Christ, like sharing their faith with others, like living unashamed,” says McConnell. “That habit of giving thanks to God is really what living unashamed is. It just means saying it verbally as we begin to talk with friends, neighbors and co-workers.”
Pray like Paul
Using the signposts as a mirror for spiritual life, he says a Christian’s desire should be to lean into the relationship with Jesus. In the research, he says one of the most helpful things is wanting to be on His agenda, meaning Christians should pray for opportunities to share and pray — like the Apostle Paul — for boldness.
“When it comes to living unashamed, we need to be asking God for the boldness to be willing to simply identify with Jesus Christ and let people know that's a priority in our life,” states McConnell. “We've got friends that are mentioning the sports team that they have allegiance to. Why can't we be speaking up and saying the same thing about our relationship with Jesus Christ?”
Besides teaching truth from God’s word, McConnell says the church can help Christians live unashamed by giving encouragement and reminders, especially when people fall short of what they know to do. The church should be a model, he says, in telling the success stories and encouraging honesty among believers.
“When we build that transparency into our relationships at church, and we're openly talking about how we're following Christ, we begin to make that a habit in our lives, and it makes it easier for that to spill into conversations with people who may not be followers of Christ in our lives,” McConnell concludes.
