How to Reach
Those Who
Make Up Their
Own Faith
Monte Cox
TWO BIG CONCERNS
1. Are we underestimating the width
of the chasm between believers and
non-believers?
2. Are we presently equipped to lay
our lives across that chasm as
messengers of the gospel?
WE NEED TO KNOW THAT . . .
1. In the present pluralistic climate,
people prefer customized worldviews
pieced together from an ala carte menu
of worldview options.
“convergent spirituality”
“JewBu”
Star Wars
“Zen Christianity”
Baha’i
WE NEED TO KNOW THAT . . .
2. Even churchgoers are engaging in
recreational “mixing and
matching” in the religious
laboratory.
believe in astrology (22%)
read weekly horoscope (24%)
have consulted a fortune-teller (12%)
believe in reincarnation (20%)
believe in channeling (11%)
3. This is not as new as we might think.
COMMON SPIRITUAL THEMES
AMONG UNCHURCHED AMERICANS
1. There is an experiential core common
in all religions.
2. That core is spiritual energy, described
in personal terms by some (as God or
Allah or Brahman) and impersonal
terms by others (as “vital force” or
“chi” or “atman”).
3. Human beings have unlimited spiritual
potential which must be actualized to
achieve success in life.
COMMON SPIRITUAL THEMES
AMONG UNCHURCHED AMERICANS
4. Individuals have a duty, not just a right,
to establish their own criteria for
believing.
5. Experience, not truthfulness, is the
proper test of any worldview.
6. Spirituality has more to do with a
general “openness” to multiple
spiritual realities than a commitment
to a particular set of creeds.
COMMON SPIRITUAL THEMES
AMONG UNCHURCHED AMERICANS
7. Those who are “spiritual but not
religious” are very suspicious about
institutional religion.
8. An emphasis on holism repairs the rift
between the physical and the
metaphysical, a consequence of
modernity.
CAN WE STILL BE EXCLUSIVISTS
IN THIS PLURALISTIC CLIMATE?
1. Exclusivists believe that:
a. Jesus is the unique incarnation
of God, fully human and fully
divine.
b. Salvation is found only in Him.
c. Bible is true, unique,
authoritative revelation.
d. Claims incompatible with the
Bible must be rejected as false.
CAN WE STILL BE EXCLUSIVISTS
IN THIS PLURALISTIC CLIMATE?
2. Inclusivists believe that:
a. The basic claims of Christian faith
are true, and Jesus is unique.
b. BUT God reveals Himself and,
through Christ, saves people
through other religions as well.
CAN WE STILL BE EXCLUSIVISTS
IN THIS PLURALISTIC CLIMATE?
3. Radical religious pluralists believe that:
a. Jesus is NOT unique.
b. God reveals Himself in all
religions and saves all pious people.
4. Universalists believe that:
All people will be saved
regardless of what they know or
how they live.
SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN
LOVE
1. We must begin with the question of
truth, not pragmatic experience.
2. We must be more informed about the
alternatives.
3. We must stress the uniqueness of
Christ and his “exclusive” kingdom
without ridiculing other religious
figures or beliefs.
SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN
LOVE
4. We must replace the traditional
“monologue” approach to evangelism
with genuine dialogue.
5. We must live lives that are consistent
with the truth.
6. We must not overstep our authority as
messengers; we are not judges.
7. We must bathe all of our efforts in
prayer.
A FINAL WORD FROM PAUL
“Devote yourselves to prayer being
watchful and thankful. And pray for us,
too, that God may open a door for our
message, so that we may proclaim the
mystery of Christ, for which I am in
chains. Pray that I may proclaim it
clearly, as I should.
A FINAL WORD FROM PAUL
Be wise in the way you act toward
outsiders; make the most of every
opportunity. Let your conversation be
always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer
everyone.”
(Colossians 4:2-6)
1. Devote yourselves to prayer . . . for
open doors
2. Being watchful and thankful . . . when
they open
3. Make the most of every opportunity...
by:
a. Proclaiming it clearly as you should
b. Being wise in the way you act toward
outsiders
c. Letting your conversation be full of
grace, seasoned with salt