Sharing faith is only a priority for around half of UK Christians, while many are unaware of the Great Commission, according to a new study out today. 

In the survey of 2,351 UK Christians, only 49% agreed that it was important for Christians to share their faith with others. 

Of the 21% who identified as 'active' Christians, two in five (43%) knew nothing about the Great Commission - the command of Jesus to his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. 

This rose to 71% of adults identifying as Christian and three quarters of the general population who said they had no knowledge of the Great Commission. 

Younger people (18-44-year-olds) were more likely to know at least a little about the Great Commission (26%) than those aged 45 or over (14%).

Those aged 18 to 44 were also more likely to have been to church in the last 12 months (55%). 

Among active Christians, 38% said that sharing the Christian faith with those who do not know about it is the primary purpose of church mission work.  

The survey was commissioned by Operation Mobilisation and carried out by Savanta ComRes. 

Commenting on the results, OM UK CEO, Matthew Skirton, said: "Despite faith-sharing being a biblical mandate for all Christians, this study suggests that a significant number of UK Christians do not actively practise this themselves."

The poll was conducted online between 16 and 18 September 2022.

The findings have been released just weeks after the 2021 census revealed a significant drop in the number of people in England and Wales identifying as Christian in the last decade. 

It is the first time that the proportion of Christians has fallen below half the population, down from 59.3% at the time of the last census in 2011 to 46.2% in 2021.

Over a third of people now say they have no religion - up from a quarter in 2011.