I have been told by people (usually opponents of faith) that religion should be a private issue and kept to oneself. To announce ones faith in some occupations can be career suicide (which in law is illegal but is a reality at times).
In America to deny a belief in God is political suicide. In Australia to make too much of belief in God will result in relentless accusations. One Sydney journalist who is upset by the publicity that the Catholics have received regarding ‘World Youth Day’ recently wrote ‘When religion is in the heart or in the church, it can be happily ignored by non-believers or defended, if necessary, on the grounds of live and let live.” He was very annoyed that religion was being so publicly espoused and even worse in his own eyes that tax payer dollars was assisting this. No doubt the same writer had no grievance with the annual tax payer funded Mardi Gras being publicised.
If faith was kept private then that faith would die with the person holding that belief. One lawyer and banker Giuseppe Tovini said back in the 1800’s ‘“Our children without faith will never be rich; with faith, they will never be poor.”
The Christian faith is about living out ones faith but also identifying with the Saviour. Jesus said ‘Therefore whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man shall also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.’ (Mark 8:38)
One of the teachings of Jesus was that for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven they must be born again. This teaching of Jesus and then His apostles demonstrated clearly that a person is not born a Christian. The only way they can become a Christian is when they hear the gospel message and then respond to it. For anyone to make that decision they must first hear the gospel message from someone else and then respond to it.
The Bible makes it clear that when Christians share their faith they should do it with respect. The belief however that believers should be silent is contradictory to God’s Word. Believers have as much right to speak about their faith as people who express the belief that they should be silent.