Times have changed significantly in my 50 years as a believer. Here in the United States, the perception and position of the Christian faith has flipped from seemingly being the home team to being the visitors instead, even perhaps the rivals met with booing. Some survey data suggests the decline in U.S. Christianity may be leveling off, but that’s after a significant drop. In 2007, 78 percent of American adults identified as Christians. In 2024? Only 63 percent.
We live in a post-Christian context, even, at times, a “negative world” in which being a believer is not just neutral but socially detrimental. This shift changes everything about how we present Christ. Our world is not new; it’s much like the world of the first-century church. Now, though, we must reckon with stereotypes about Christians and peoples’ past experiences of church.
The church taught for decades that what is in the Bible is true because it is in the Bible, full stop. But what do you do when the Bible is not automatically assumed to be a source of truth or, at the very least, an innocuous good book? “Because the Bible says so” can’t be the end of our conversations with the roughly 30 percent of Americans who identify as religious nones.
These days, how we engage with non-Christians is as important as what we present as truth. Christians have always valued humility and sacrificial love as core virtues, reflective of Christ on the cross. Through the centuries, we’ve seen how those virtues can change hate and hostility into love and respect for all made in God’s image.
But the temptation is always to use force instead. This is not only a theologically and ethically troubling solution to the problem of unbelief but also an ineffective strategy. The gospel is about an internal change of heart, not an external change of law.
Before we even begin to discuss specific contentious issues such as immigration, sexuality, gun control, vaccinations, abortion, the Middle East, race, diversity initiatives, or a host of other specific issues, we must consider how we enter the public square, a place where Buddhists and Presbyterians, Muslims and Baptists, Jews and agnostics must figure out how to live together.
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I want to argue that the Christian’s best initial strategy is to listen, and to listen seriously. Engagement means persuading, not badgering. We must take the time to understand the underlying why behind another person’s position, even when we ardently disagree. Leaping into argument and conflict often closes doors. If we sincerely hear out someone else’s rationale instead, we often discover not only an open door but also a bridge that can take us toward the gospel.
I have found looking for common ground often changes not just a conversation’s direction but its tone, allowing me to present how Christ makes a difference and offers an alternative way of seeing life’s choices. For example, when I have acknowledged our failure to live well together in a diverse culture, all of a sudden my conversations about race go from confrontation to collaboration.
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But for many Christians over the last four decades, the default in public spaces has been to fight. As a result, we have made nonbelievers the enemy, driving them away from the gospel. Peter challenges us to give a defense of our hope with meekness and respect (1 Pet. 3:15–16). In his letters, Paul insists that Christians do good to all people and alwaysuse gracious speech (Gal. 6:10; Col. 4:5–6). Ephesians 6:12, a passage drawing imagery from warfare, declares that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces. The people we seek to convince are not our combatants; the real battle is spiritual, not merely intellectual or emotional. This deeper spiritual battle means living out our faith consistently, with peaceable patience, even as we advocate courageously for our beliefs.
Christians may wrestle with what their orientation should be toward people who need what Jesus offers but have not yet received his free gift of grace. Do I fundamentally value those people on the basis of their being made in God’s image? Or do I focus first on the decisions they make or ideas they hold that run counter to God’s word? Do I see people who do not know God as my adversaries? Or do I see them as the ones for whom Christ died, to whom we make an appeal to know God precisely because of his exceptional, sacrificial love (2 Cor. 5:19–20)? The latter perspective is inseparable from our ability to share our faith in a pluralistic context.
The gospel is a challenge and an invitation. Without the invitation, I do not have the gospel. But I often see believers focused on the fight at the cost of the welcome. The result is a missed opportunity for attracting our neighbors.
The Bible is revelation from God, defined by The Oxford English Dictionary as “the divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence or the world.” Think about that definition. What’s revealed in Scripture is not separate from what’s revealed in the natural world. The Bible’s claims are constituent of human existence. A teaching is true not just “because it’s in the Bible.” Teaching appears in Scripture as a disclosure of what already is and has been—what was already true. In the beginning, there was the Word (John 1:1).
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When we discuss the Bible’s teachings with someone who has no regard for or familiarity with the text, then we need to present the ideas of Scripture on their own terms. We need to make the case for the biblical worldview by appealing to its wisdom and truth.
But in addition to using these apologetic strategies, we must also remember that the fruit of the Spirit is fundamentally relational. The Great Commandment is relational. Christ’s way is distinctive in how he calls us to treat those who oppose us: We are to love our enemies, not just our allies. That treatment is the standard by which we measure Christian love.
Tone matters one heaven of a lot. The best way to witness in our world is to reflect the approach of our Savior. Only in relationship and respect will we be able to not only stall the decline of Christian faith in the United States but also actually advance the gospel anew.
Darrell Bock is the senior research professor New Testament Studies and executive director of cultural engagement for Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the author or editor of over 45 books.
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