“The Greatest Injustice is Never to Have Heard About Jesus” A conversation with Nicky Gumbel

Crossing continents, cultures and even political regimes, for more than 35 years, the Alpha Course has reached tens of millions of people all over the world. It has changed the lives of many who encounter Jesus and come to faith. Nicky Gumbel, the developer and leader of Alpha, shares the roots of this extraordinary success and grace. What are modern people most desperate for today, and what can Alpha offer to the modern world? 

You have previously shared in one interview that while the message of the Gospel remains timeless, the “cultural packaging” must evolve to reach today’s world – particularly younger generations. Could you elaborate on that? In your view, what are the essential elements of effective cultural packaging these days?

St. Paul writes, “The Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who has faith” (Romans 1:16). The message is here, and we can’t change it. Otherwise, it loses power. Some people try to change the message. They say: “young people today can’t accept the message of the cross and resurrection of Jesus”. 

There are also a lot of people who change the message, but they leave the packaging the same. That’s a double blow. If you don’t change the package, then people aren’t going to hear anything anyway. Every generation has changed the packaging – the music, the way that we present the Gospel. 

What we have done with Alpha is to try to do exactly that. This generation doesn’t want to be preached at; they want to be listened to. What do young people like? They like eating together. That’s the New Testament – Jesus ate with his disciples. In Alpha, you come for a meal. Then you watch a 25-minute film (again, that’s what people do). They watch things on YouTube, on their phones… We try to make the Alpha film series very fast-moving. There’s never anything on screen for longer than 10 seconds. It’s appealing to that mindset. Then you go into a discussion group where people are listened to. The Alpha small groups are based on Proverbs 20:5, which says that in the heart of every person is a deep well, and the wise person draws it out. In other words, the task of the host is not to preach again. We proclaim the Gospel in the film, but then we listen to the guest, asking questions that will pour out the gold that is in every human heart. Right from the start of his ministry, Jesus was in the temple asking questions, listening, and that’s what he did throughout his ministry. He said, “What do you think?” For example, during the Alpha, when the talk is on the cross, the question is: “Has anybody here ever needed to forgive someone?” Then the second question is: “Has anybody here ever needed to ask forgiveness?” You have fascinating discussions around these subjects. No one’s gone through life without needing to forgive someone or ask forgiveness. And then the third question would be: “What do you think about the idea of God forgiving?” During these discussions, you get to know each other, and you draw out the deep well that is in every human heart. 

Alpha is over 10 sessions, it’s very low-key, unthreatening, unpressurised. It’s not intense. It’s a fun way to explore the big questions of life. Why am I here? What’s my purpose? Is there any meaning to life? What happens when I die? The Gospel is Good News, but we need to find a good way of proclaiming it. That’s what I mean by presenting the unchanging message of the Gospel in a way that is the packaging that works with Generation X, the millennials, and now the new generation – Generation Alpha. The Alpha Course is one attempt (but not the only one) to change the packaging. 

Alpha became one of the most successful evangelization initiatives worldwide. How did this project begin, and at what point did you realise that leading it was your specific missionand vocation?

I wasn’t a Christian. My father was a German Jew, and he was a refugee in this country [United Kingdom], but not a church- goer. My mother didn’t go to church. I became an atheist when I was a teenager. When I was at age 18, in my first year at Cambridge University, I read this book [shows the book], the New Testament. Jesus said: “I came that you might have life and life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). Looking back, I realised that there are many injustices in the world, but the greatest injustice is for someone to go through the whole of their life and never to have heard about Jesus. The greatest act of love is to introduce someone to Jesus. I tried many different ways, and most of them were either unsuccessful or counterproductive. It was sort of like going out on the street with a questionnaire. “What did you have for breakfast?” And then the last question: “Would you like to ask Jesus into your life?” Knocking on people’s doors, people thought you were the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was just lots of ways that didn’t work.

Then I stumbled on Alpha. It was already in existence. I didn’t come up with it, but we adjusted it to make it easier for people outside the church to come to. Then it took off. I’m not committed to Alpha, but I am committed to finding ways to introduce people to Jesus. I always say, “If I find a better way, I’ll drop Alpha and do the better way”. Last time we ran Alpha in our home with my daughter and son-in-law. So many people’s lives were changed. It still works. Over 30 million people have done the course, and it’s in every part of the body of Christ. We hear stories all the time of people coming to faith. I get emails, letters from people whose lives have been changed. So, we’ll keep running it. Our aim now is to make it available to everyone on the planet by the 2000th anniversary of the Resurrection of Jesus. Pope Francis opened our Leadership Conference by video, talking about the 2033 vision. I know that the Catholic Church is very involved in it. The Bible translators are all working to make the New Testament available in every language. Our part is to try to make Alpha available to everyone on the planet by Easter Day 2033. 

The Alpha Course now runs in over 150 countries. In which country or region was the course the most challenging to develop? 

The challenges are different in every country. For example, in China, the challenge is that Christianity is still persecuted (in parts at times by the government). The Chinese government doesn’t like the Western influence and large gatherings. So, we’ve done a course that is totally Chinese. All the speakers are Chinese (I’m not in it). There’s a “Chinese Nicky Gumbel”, the presenter. Stories are Chinese. Everything was filmed and directed by someone in China. Because Alpha can run in homes, it makes it much less threatening for the Government.

Same with the Arab world. We’re trying to do an Arabic version. I’m half Jewish, and they don’t want someone half Jewish presenting there. There will be an Arabic version that is totally Arabic speakers doing that. We will do it for India as well. We do one for the North and one for the South. Africa has different challenges. They want us in it because it’s quite divided. If you had a Nigerian doing it, the Kenyans won’t run it. If you have a Kenyan running, the Nigerians won’t do it. Stephen Foster and I will be the main presenters, but then there will be hosts who are African, testimonies, and African Vox Pop. And there will be a lip-sync just for Nigeria. We will have to lip-sync it into 140 languages. In Latin America, there will be a Spanish version of it.

The challenges are different in every country. In Africa, it will be more of a discipleship course, because there are 754 million Christians in Africa, and yet, there’s so much corruption in the government and so on. Lots of people are putting out their hand and saying, I’m Christian. But as someone has said, it’s a mile wide and an inch deep. In some places, it’s a unifying force. In Latin America, it has been a way of bringing together Catholics and Pentecostals, because they are all running the same course. In Europe, there are challenges with secularism. The challenges are different in every part of the world.

There is an ongoing debate regarding how to share the faith. Some advocate for a „quiet example”, fearing that public declaration can be even more polarising. Others believe we must speak boldly, loudly, about what we believe and without fear of rejection. How do you navigate this tension in your own life and ministry?

I think it’s not either or, it is both and, clearly, we have to live out the Christian faith. If we’re not demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit, no one’s going to be interested. The most important thing is to work on our character, to become more like Jesus, to be more loving, more peaceful, more joyful, more patient, and more generous. That, of course, is absent and our Christian presence in the world is absolutely keen. 

There’s context as well. In terms of a marriage, for example, if your partner is not Christian, not Catholic, then (as Peter is very clear) that it should not be by words. It should be by the purity of our lives. We should win over our partner. That might apply to anything where you are in close quarters, for example, in an office. If you’re working closely with people, you can’t be constantly preaching at them. You have to live it out. You have to show the difference Jesus makes by your integrity, by your honesty, by your positivity, by your love, by your kindness, by your making the tea for them. It’s all there. It’s a lifestyle.

But Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations”. He didn’t say only by your actions, not by your words. The disciples went out, and they preached the good news of Jesus. They didn’t just do it by silence. And if you ask anybody how they encountered Jesus, someone must have told them. That is the way they discovered it. How did the Gospel spread through the world? Through word of mouth. I don’t think it is a question of one or the other. I think it is both. We must live it out, and in certain contexts, that’s all we need to do, but in other contexts, we may get the opportunity to do more.

I swim in the Serpentine [Ed. Note: a recreational lake in London, England] every day, and there’s a group of people there who are not churchgoers, but I often get the opportunity to pray for them. Because there’s suddenly someone who said to me: “Oh, my wife’s just been diagnosed with what appears to be inoperable cancer”. And they welcomed prayer. I didn’t want to lay hands on her by myself, but we both, her husband and I, prayed for her. She experienced peace, her count went down from 150 to 73. Now it’s down to under one, under a quarter. That’s a way that they are drawn towards Jesus. I’ve prayed for a number of people there, just because of the situation that they are facing. We can pray for people to be healed. 

People ask questions. Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope that is in you”. But I think we need to find a way. For me, Alpha provided the way. People come on Alpha, they encounter Jesus, they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they get excited about Jesus, and it’s very natural for them to tell their friends, because their friends are outside the church. The best evangelists are people who have just encountered Jesus, because after a bit, we end up with a lot of our friends who are Christian, are Catholic. But when someone encounters Jesus for the first time, probably all of their friends are secular, and they can invite their friends very naturally. So, I think the key is that it’s done in a way that we’re just ourselves, and it’s natural.

We don’t force the Gospel down people’s throats. But on the other hand, what the disciples said was, “Come and see”. So, I think there are two things everybody can do. Everybody can say: “You know, I’ve really enjoyed Alpha. Come and see. Come along on the first night”. The second thing that you can always do is give your testimony. You can always say: “Look, this is what happened to me”. And no one can say: “Oh, it didn’t happen to you”. People are always interested in other people’s lives and what helps them. People are looking, people are desperate now. When Jesus looked out at the crowds, he saw they were “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd”. If we are going to translate that into modern language, we would say they were anxious, depressed and lonely. What happens to sheep without a shepherd? They scatter. They are out of contact with the shepherd and with each other. That’s this generation and I don’t think it’s loving to say, “Well, all these people are anxious and depressed and lonely, but I’m not going to do anything about that. I’m just going to be quiet”. He looked at the crowds with compassion, and He said: Go out, send out workers into the harvest field, because they need to hear the good news. And it is all about love. We’ve got to find a good way of telling them. 

After more than 30 years in the Alpha mission, what is your most significant discovery regarding the human person and their relationship with God?

We’ve been to most countries in the world, and certainly all the larger ones, and what we find is that, whatever age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, everyone is looking for three things. Everyone’s looking for love, for purpose and for belonging. This is why Alpha has worked for us. A woman who came on Alpha during lockdown, at the end of the course, said: “I’ve been looking for love all my life, but I’ve been looking in impossible places”. St. Paul writes: “The Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. In other words, if you had been the only person in the world, Jesus would have died for you. When you understand the Gospel, you know that you are loved. Then the Holy Spirit gives us an experience of God’s love. St. Paul wrote: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” The Holy Spirit enables us to feel God’s love, not just to know that we’re loved, but to feel that we’re loved.

Secondly, everyone’s looking for meaning and purpose. You can find meaning in your work, in your family, but ultimate meaning is only found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That’s a purpose that goes on forever.

Thirdly, everyone’s looking to belong. By the end of the course, we ask: “What would you like to do now?” The answer’s always the same: “We don’t mind what we do now, as long as we all stay together”. They have made friendships because of the vulnerability. We think we’ll impress people by how strong, how gifted, how successful we are, but we connect with people through our vulnerabilities. They talk about what’s really going on in their lives, they make connections, and they pray for one another. By the healing evening, they’re praying for one another. The relationships that are formed are so strong that they have a sense of belonging. People often say at the end of the course: “I’ve only known you for 10 weeks, but I feel closer to this group than I feel to any of my other friends”. That is because they have discovered what it means to be part of the greatest community on planet Earth, which is the Church of Jesus Christ. 

The theme of the upcoming World Apostolic Congress on Mercy is „Building a City of Mercy.” Where have you most clearly recognised God’s mercy during your Alpha mission? 

I think in His mercy to me. We’re all imperfect, aren’t we? I’m just a sinful human being. I’ve many failures, many weaknesses, many sins and yet God has had mercy on me. When you’ve experienced God’s mercy, you want everyone to experience it because, without a merciful God, we would be lost. St. Paul says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The wages of sin are death. So, we’re all heading in the wrong direction. And God loves us. Through Jesus, he is able to have mercy on us all. We need to bring that message of mercy to the world because it’s the most powerful and beautiful message.

This spring, we marked the 4th anniversary of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Four years of sorrow, injustice, disappointment and uncertainty. What would be your message of hope for the world in these restless, turbulent times? 

The world is very unstable, but we have an unshakeable kingdom. That’s why what you are doing with this conference is very important. Because we don’t build the kingdom, Jesus builds His kingdom. But He gives us a part to play, and we have to play our part in seeing the kingdom of God advance. Jesus said, “The gates of hell will not prevail against it”. But the gates of hell are there. We can see that in Ukraine. But the church of Jesus Christ will prevail. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. That’s our task.