Kick Start Question: Sharing with Non-Believers
Kick Start Question: What is the easiest way to bring up Christianity with a non-believer?
The easiest way to bring up Christianity to a non-believer is to build a deep and genuine relationship with God, and then do the same with that person. I know it seems simplistic, but it is the answer.
Christians have to ask themselves three very difficult introspective questions:
Do I love God? Really love God? Spending time in that relationship?
Am I following Jesus? Am I actively surrendering my life to the Lordship of Christ?
Am I building real relationships with people who don’t know Jesus?
I have found in my own life and in the life of Christians that I admire and try to learn from, that if the answer to these questions is a clear and resounding “yes” then you rarely have to bring up Christianity at all, it merely overflows naturally into conversation. You share out of your life, hope and love instead of feeling like you are forcing a faith conversation.
That being said, here are 3 more important learnings that may be helpful in bringing up Christianity with a non-believer:
Release the expectation of conversion.
Eric Swanson in his book To Transform a City has an all-time line that I wish every Christian would adopt: “Jesus is our ultimate motive not our ulterior motive.” If we go into our relationships with non-believers freed from the understanding that we need to convert them, then we can focus on sharing our witness to Jesus instead of focusing on what the other person needs to realize and do. How much more fun is that?! And freeing. We cannot make the life transformation in others, God releases us from that expectation by accomplishing it through Jesus and His Spirit. In fact Alan Hirsch doesn’t even call people “non-believers” he calls them not-yet-Christians, believing in the expectation that God will complete the work in them.
Carry the correct posture.
This is so crucial. If we come into the relationship with a non-yet-Christians believing we have all the answers and they have nothing to teach us about God, then first of all we will be rejected, but secondly, we will flat out be wrong. We need to approach others as listeners, learners and servants. Jesus Christ, while never shying away from sharing the truth, came to serve not be served. He died for those who rejected him, laid aside his life for those who positioned themselves as his enemies. If we carry the posture of a servant, seeking the common good for all of humanity, we gain a hearing for the hope we have within us. If our posture comes as a lecturer shooting bullet points of salvation, we will not be heard.
Increase Proximity.
It is a documented phenomenon that the longer Christians live out their faith journey in America, the more insulated they become living inside a Christian bubble. All their friends become Christians. All their activities are through the church. It is a striking contrast that Jesus’ own life took him further and further into the missional frontier, closer and closer to the more hostile crowd, until he hung on the cross. What motivated this? A brokenness and infinite love for those who were far from His Father. People don’t want a formulaic evangelistic plan; they need to experience the sacrificial love of Jesus. That can’t happen without proximity. And this is the easiest part! If you need a recommendation of how to increase proximity, simply look up your community calendar and go to everything your community puts on.
What other things have you learned to help bring up Christianity and faith conversations?