I don’t expect to get any argument from my Evangelical Christian friends that they and the other people who share their political perspectives are mostly Christians. Since you and your associates have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are therefore expected to follow Christ’s teachings and fulfill His commandments. At the end of Matthew, Jesus pronounces “The Great Commandment” where He mandates that those people who profess to follow Him go out and make disciples of people who are not in The Kingdom.
I have long taken the Great Commandment very seriously and at different phases of my life, I have done my best to fulfill it. For example, when I was at 1st Presbyterian Church, I worked closely with Associate Pastor Jeff Rhodes to implement “Evangelism Explosion”. We would go out and knock on people’s doors and if they allowed us into their homes, we would confront them with two questions: #1. If you died today, are you certain that you will go to Heaven and #2. When you arrive at the gates of heaven and are asked why should you be allowed in, what would you say? We were able to convince many dozens of people to say the Sinner’s Prayer with us and thereby mitigate their chances of going to hell.
These days, I spend most of my time communing with “progressives”. And a significant number of them do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Some are Unitarians, others are agnostics, a few are atheists, others are Muslims, and quite a few are people who conclude that if those people on the other side of the political spectrum are Christians and who I can expect to find in Heaven, what is Plan B? I am finding it much more difficult now to lead people to accept Christ than I did in years past.
That is not just my problem; this is a problem for everyone who considers themselves to be a Christian and especially an Evangelical Christian. You, like me, have been commanded to lead non-Christians into the Kingdom. And since most everyone you hang out with is probably already a Christian, where are the fields with plentiful harvests: on the progressive side of the political spectrum , right? So, what are you going to do to convince them to come into the Kingdom? I’m finding that the fire insurance pitch doesn’t work that well these days. Paul gave relevant advice in 1st Corinthians 9, He says:
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. 20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. 23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
So, to win over non-Christians and convince them to accept Christ, the onus is on you and me to be like them – to see things from their perspective. Only then, can we genuinely relate to them in a way that makes them believe that we are sincere, that we care about them, and that we are a person that they would want to spend eternity with.
I have done this. I get these people. Over the next week or so, I plan to do a series of posts that will help Christians and particularly “Evangelical” Christians, better understand why progressives who are not already Christians are so confused, disappointed, and turned off by many of those who say they are followers of Christ.
For those of you who are Conservative Christians, I want you to know that I have put a lot of thought into this. I do hope what I have to say will be helpful to you in your Christian evangelical ministry.