Be persuasive, and stand for the rights of others – that's the message from Os Guinness to Christians who want to speak to society.

Speaking to the Evangelical Alliance Council, Mr Guinness said Christians need to take a lead in showing a constructive way forward in how we communicate with each other in the public square.

"We can speak with our own voice – we are followers of Jesus – but to make sense of people coming from very different backgrounds we have to be persuasive," he said.

"We can't go in preaching, pronouncing, protesting only; we have to go in persuasively."

He added that Christian leaders are becoming known for our culture warring, which is defending our own interests, but as followers of Jesus we have to always have concern for others.

"When you come to something like religious liberty, the key thing is that our rights are always best protected when we stand for the rights of others," he said.

"We've got to be known to stand for the common good for Christ's sake, but also for the country's sake."