One out of five non-Christians in North America doesn’t know any Christians.
That’s not in the fake-Gandhi-quote “I would become a Christian, if I ever met one” sense.
It’s new research in Gordon-Conwell’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity’s Christianity in its Global Context, 1970-2020. Missiologist Todd M. Johnson and his team found that 20 percent of non-Christians in North America really do not “personally know” any Christians.
By all means read this important article; it’s an eye-opener. There are lots of other revealing stats cited here, including the fact that over 80% of the world’s non-Christians don’t know any Christians personally. Over 8 in 10. That’s a daunting challenge. But the info on the religious background of immigrants to North America is particularly vital.
My only surprise with the 20% figure highlighted in the title was that the number wasn’t even higher. And I’ll indulge in drawing a perhaps obvious conclusion: these hard cold facts amount to a strong call for the planting of new churches. It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. If currently existing churches were capable of doing the job, there wouldn’t be 20% of North Americans who don’t even know a Christian personally.
David Handy+
Perhaps, if we Christians actually lived our faith in public, we would be more noticeable? Perhaps, if we spent less time fraternizing in our own small groups and more time in conversation with strangers, more non-Christians would have at least one Christian to know personally? Did I miss the percentage of Christians who admit that they don’t know any non-Christians personally? I admit that I am not an agressive evangelist, but sometimes I do draw questions that give me the opportunity give the reason for the hope that is in me and, having done that, a personal relationship often develops.
Evangelism is too important to leave it up to churches when most non-Christians won’t go near a church if its door is open.