Winning Others to Christ
Wallace (Shaun) Shaunfield ©3/15/2013
Another article on approaching the non-believer about God
Do you have friends who do not believe?
Are you going to do anything about it?
It is a difficult subject, but now it is easier!
Six Step Program – Winning Others to Christ
with logic and secular evidence
The biggest problem in approaching a non-believer about Christ is that they most likely will not be objective about this subject and you feel you may jeopardize the relationship. They probably have already considered and determined their beliefs. They may generally be a very objective person, but this subject is not something they want to reconsider; their minds are already settled on the matter. The task and your focus is to have them develop an objective attitude on the subject of God’s existence and that will not be easy. Consider the following:
Steps for winning others to Christ
1. Be Christian in your actions at all times, at all locations. Be pleasant and make people around you comfortable and at ease. Never be argumentative. The key is to be an example such that others will realize that you are someone pleasantly different. And always be gentle in any discussion you have about the existence of God.
2. Determine your friend’s needs. There are generally two types who have a need of Christ: a) the down and out person who may have suffered difficulties such as addiction, financial difficulties, depression, etc. and b) the intellectual who has average or above intelligence and who feel they are doing just fine or even great.
- For the person down on their luck, a spiritual and biblical approach is best with gentle kindness. Try to get them help such as rehab or some type of recovery program such as AA or programs run by many churches. Much work has been done on this type; the key is to connect them with one of the Christ based programs that already exist.
- For the person doing just fine, the approach is much differed and probably more difficult and with less formal programs available. In most cases it will be up to just you. And here the spiritual, biblical approach is wrong and will probably just turn off any further consideration of the subject. I very well know, since I was an atheist for 50 years. However, this type person often will have an intellectual curiosity and be willing to have discussion on an intellectual or philosophical plane; maybe not at first but eventually. Therefore, the approach should be a secular approach based on the evidence of God. The rest of these steps will be based on this type person.
3. Enhance your understanding of the secular evidences of God. To this end I have written a small book, GOD Exists! Ten Evidences for Belief. The book is small, only 124 pages, with the thought that a non-believer may read it, but will not take the time to read the many other, but larger books on the subject. More information about the book is at the end of the steps.
4. Ask your friend to read the book. Approach them gently and non-confrontationally. You might say you have just read a profound book with logic and philosophy about God and you were wondering if they would read it and let you know what they think. Tell them it seems to make sense but you were wondering if they could tell you what is wrong with the conclusions. This or a similar approach that you come up with may just work. This is where your creativity can help. This is the most difficult but the most important step.
5. Discuss the book, GOD Exists, with your friend on an intellectual plane. After they have read the book, set a specific and adequate time for the discussion. The goal is not to convince them or even have them admit that God really does exist. So do not be discouraged if that does not happen right away. The goal is to cause them to develop some objectivity and open-mildness about the subject of God. If they then continue to think about the reality of God, they will probably continue study and if that happens then I am confident they will realize the evidence of God is overwhelming and that there is no evidence whatsoever of there being no God. How can you ever find evidence of the lack of something? Hopefully, they will realize that God really does exist.
6. Next, have them accept Christ as their Savior. If they accept the fact that there is God, accepting Christ is the most important step and hopefully you will get this far. And if that happens, your mission of winning them to Christ is accomplished. Praise God. At this time you can introduce them to a spiritual, biblical approach to God. Help them find a church they like, which may different from you own. Introduce them to Bible studies and the thousands of books available.
GOD Exists! Ten Evidences for Belief
This new book is my second book and maybe the most important. It covers ten of what I consider some of the most profound arguments for God’s existence. I am a retired engineer and approach the subject with a questioning, analytical and skeptical mind. What I found is a great deal of overwhelming evidence of God. As a devout non- believer one reason I did not believe is that I thought the concept of God was too farfetched to be true. Now, I still believe the concept of God is farfetched but know it is true. The book is available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon.com now and at other fine book sellers on special order. Details of this book with ordering information is available at the link:
One final thought: A lot of expert biblical scholars believe we are in the End Times as prophesied in the Bible and you have to agree that many of the signs are there. Now suppose that is really true and you do not even approach your loved one about the truth of God and the End Times really happens. It would be too late then. What do you have to lose by giving these steps a try? If you do it right, and they do not accept the truth of God, then you should be where you started in your relationship. If you are successful, then your relationship will be much better and they will be spared much sorrow.
One final step – share your results: The book, GOD Exists!, was written for the specific purpose of winning other to Christ and it was based on my own personal experience of being a devout atheist who experienced a change in attitude, first by becoming objective and then realizing the overwhelming evidence of God. But at this point, I have limited experience of this Six Step Program and its effectiveness. That is where you come in. From your stories, successful or not, we will see how well this process works and hopefully be able to refine and improve the process. Thanks you in advance for your valuable comments.