The Challenge of Christian Testimony in 2024

01 March 2024 0 Sandrine Laporte

“Our society has changed. It’s no longer the way it was, everything moves more quickly, everything has changed.”  Some agree, other maybe less. What is undeniable is that if our society is changing, our way of proclaiming the Gospel must evolve, adapt or at least be called into question.

That is what we were doing for several hours in Drulingen over the weekend of 17^th to 18^th February 2024. Our small group of around twenty, all from Eastern France, asked ourselves how we can respond to the challenge of Christian testimony in the heart of our society in 2024.

Yann Magnus and Bertrand Obringer, members of the leadership team of 100% connecT, led our discussion and invited us to share with one another our relationships with our unbelieving acquaintances. We referred to the difficulties we experience when we wish to speak about God to those around us and were able to encourage one another in this desire we have to serve God through our testimony.

I was asked several questions. One of them struck me particularly: “Do your friends and colleagues believe in the existence of God?” I realised I didn’t know the answer and that I only rarely had conversations with my acquaintances on this subject. Nevertheless, I’m sure several people would have no problem giving me an answer to this question. Being able to listen to the point of view of my Christian brothers and sisters opened up the possibility of finding ways of daring to ask meaningful questions which could lead to more profound exchanges.

God’s model for communication was one of our main topics of reflection and enabled us together to call in question our own current model. I was touched to see how God is teaching us to love and to share personal times with each other. I learned more about my identity and the mission God has committed to us.

I was very encouraged by the personal testimonies I heard. It was refreshing and stimulating to share methods of evangelism with other Christians and hear how one day they themselves encountered God. We had profound and precious discussions on building our vision of evangelism in contemporary society.

And how about you? How do you talk to people around you about God? Do you think society has changed and that we need to proclaim the gospel in a different way? Do your friends and colleagues believe in God?

If you have questions like these, you could join us for the next 100% Witness weekend in Drulingen on the 4^th and 5^th May to discuss them!

Anne-Sophie K.