The UK is not an easy place to convince people to be Christians. People are often suspicious, angry, or politely disinterested when discussing faith. With that in mind, we’ve put together a special issue of Christianity on evangelism. All the regular items are still here, but we’ve given over the bulk of the magazine to the vital question of how we tell non-Christians about God. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of consensus on how to do it, or even what message we should be presenting (read Nicky Gumbel and Rico Tice’s profile interviews (p18) to see what I mean). But we do all agree that we should be doing it, and that at least is a good start. Here’s what I’ve learned about evangelism this month: We aren’t very good at it 90% of us think seeing people become Christians is of central importance. Where we fall down is actually getting out there and doing it. There are some places it is happening – read Heather Tomlinson’s Grassroots Special (p43) which profiles several innovative evangelistic projects – but overall we struggle. It’s not about numbers As soon as you start listing how many people have converted through a particular event or activity, there is a danger of losing perspective. Does a mission event have to boast a certain number of converts for it to be deemed a success? Steve Chalke (p65) and Rico Tice both talk about the dangers inherent in this approach. It is about discipleship I personally know people who have completed courses, appeared to become Christians, and then walked away. Why? Because they didn’t know where to start. As a new Christian it can take a really long time to acclimatise to Church culture. You spend a lot of energy trying to conform to things that don’t really matter. We all need to be asking ourselves how easy we are making it for people to pursue Jesus in our church. What unnecessary barriers are there which are stopping people from doing so? We are not alone Evangelism is not all a head exercise. A heart encounter with God is vital for everyone. This is why we’ve included a feature on worship in this issue (Are You Stuck in a Worship Rut? p38). If we lose our ability to connect with God, we lose the source of strength in our lives. At my church weekend away I received a verse from John 15: ‘apart from me you can do nothing’. It was a good reminder for me that I shouldn’t be surprised if my evangelistic efforts come to nothing, unless I begin on my knees before God, worshipping him and asking him what to do. I hope that part is something we can all agree on.