By Mike Bergeron, special to the Baptist Message
NEW ORLEANS (LBM) — Some studies indicate that as few as 10 percent of professed Christians share the Gospel regularly, with “regularly” meaning only about one time per month.
What is the “brick wall” that seems to stand between many professed Christians and them sharing the Gospel?
An informal survey, November 2025, of SBC pastors (small churches to megachurches), along with seminary professors, and associational directors of missions and church planters (across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Missouri) sought their opinions about the top reasons why so many Christians today either never or rarely share the Gospel. Below are their candid responses combined with biblical passages to tear down each brick in the wall.
NOTE: Scriptures are from the NKJV translation of the Bible.
Not Vibrantly Walking with Christ: Too many Christians seem content to remain spiritually shallow in their own walk. Some feel disqualified to share the Good News because of personal sin in their own lives.
1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you; with meekness and fear.”
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Romans 1 :16 “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
Closet Universalism: Many Christians simply forego any evangelistic activity whatsoever, laboring under the erroneous belief that a loving God would mercifully allow the even the unconverted into the Kingdom of Heaven.
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
1 John 2:23 “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
No Sense of Urgency: This is a lack of understanding about the importance of the Gospel and not believing that countless numbers of lost people are dying daily, going to Hell, eternally separated from God. There is a clear lack of sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the result is overt disobedience and lack of faithfulness to Christ.
Mark 16:15-16 “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’”
John 5:26-29 “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
Apathy, Lack of Empathy for the Lost: Simply stated, many Christians demonstrate a failure to love as He loves, while falsely claiming to be His image bearers. This is often manifested as an unwillingness to open their friendship circle to include new (lost) friends. Some simply do not feel “people-y”, thus they don’t interact or share the Gospel with others in their midst.
Luke 19:10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Matthew 22: 37-40 “Jesus said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Consumerism: Some local churches have morphed ministry into mere consumeristic experiences for the members rather than a Gospel-centric congregation which expects service and soul winning from the entire church family. The yield or harvest in these local bodies is worldly selfishness rather than Christ-like selflessness, generosity and love. Evangelism is reduced to an occasional, inconvenient, forced box-check event and is not the culture of the church, and personal soul winning falls off the radar.
Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
Fear in General: By far, rejection is the most common fear that prevents sharing the Gospel. This includes embarrassment (being thought of as strange or fanatical), saying the wrong thing, leading a lost person down the wrong road, unable to answer questions, and damaging relationships as to make future conversations awkward (which, it was suggested, is one of the reasons often people will do foreign evangelism long before they will do local evangelism).
Luke 12:8-9 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
Matthew 10:19b “… do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;”
Lack of Training: While focusing on programs, numbers, committees, bigger buildings in better locations, etc., it is sadly apparent that many churches offer little to no consistently available, effective evangelism training; reciprocally, many members have not sought out evangelism training. Without equipping, discipling, modeling evangelism, and guided practice, confidence in their ability to share the gospel will not be cultivated, and the gospel will likely not be shared.
If their church doesn’t regularly schedule evangelistic opportunities and encourage discipled participation, evangelistic experience doesn’t accrue.
Uncorrected Mistaken Beliefs: Some Christians don’t share the gospel because they believe the lie of the enemy that no one wants to hear the Gospel anymore, or that they will “get cancelled” for stating their radical beliefs. Some assume that everyone already has a faith or belief, and they see no need to engage in evangelism. Erroneous assumptions kill the mission.
Bricks In The Wall (A Lay Person’s View)
Let’s identify some of the most common bricks that make up the wall that exists between many professing Christians and engaging in personal evangelism. Attached to each brick is scripture reference to help tear down the wall, one brick at a time.
Uncertainty of Own Salvation: (John 3:16, Acts 16:31).
Fear of Personal Rejection: (Isaiah 53:3, 41:10; John1:11; 1 John 4:18)
Ashamed: (Matthew 10:33)
Not a Priority (Matt 8:22)
Fear of Loss (Job 1:13-22, Phil 1:21)
I’m Only Around Other Believers (Acts17:16-34)
Fear of Failure (Joshua 1:1-9, Luke 8:4-8)
I Haven’t Been to Seminary ( Acts 4:1-13)
Hey, Did You Hear About…. (1 John 2:15-17)
Care for Others, But Not That Much (Matt 22:39)
Maybe Later…No Sense of Urgency (Matt 4:19-20)
I Really Don’t Like to Travel Overseas… (Matt 28:16-20)
What If They Say “Yes”? Discipling…(2 Tim 2:10-17)
Evangelism? That’s Not My Spiritual Gift…(John 4:7-30)
But Wait, I’m an Introvert (Again, Matt. 28:16-20)
I’m Not Eloquent Enough (Exodus 6:28-7:2)
It’s the Pastor’s Job. Yes, But… (2 Cor. 5:16-20)
Praying, But Not Saying… (Romans 10:14-15)
I Just Can’t Do This (Acts 4:31)
Is Today Your Demo Day?
We may follow His will in all areas of our walk with the exception of evangelism, hiding ourselves behind a wall built of one or more types of bricks discussed above, resulting in partial obedience which in our eyes is acceptable because sharing the gospel can be uncomfortable, inconvenient, costly, dangerous. Partial obedience, in God’s eyes, is disobedience.
Tearing down the wall requires intentionality, as does the sharing of the gospel, in the following areas: Redirected Focus on Prayer and Communion with God, the Great Commission, the Great Commandment and the Second Great Commandment;
Understanding the Gospel and It’s Urgency; Disciple Making & Discipling; Evangelism Training & Implementation.
The convicting yet encouraging truth is every single brick in the wall, and the wall itself, is within our span of control. The wall stands not because it is forced upon us, but because we were in fact it’s architect, and we allow it to stand until we finally resolve to tear it down. The question for us as Christians is whether we are willing to commit to go all-in to do the necessary heavy lifting as individuals, pastors, churches to intentionally modify our DNA, our culture, such that evangelism is our focus, as it is His focus for us. If we are truly His own, His image bearers, His royal ambassadors, it’s time to demolish the wall that exists between us and effective personal evangelism.
Consider again the importance and urgency of the gospel. Be intentional. Let the demolition begin today.
Mike Bergeron is a very blessed husband and father of three daughters. He serves as an Associate Pastor of FBC Mandeville in Southeast Louisiana. He holds both a B.A. & Juris Doctor from Loyola University in New Orleans. He also holds a Masters Degree in Pastoral Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he has also done graduate studies in the area of Church Leadership.
