Persuading the Lost Through Grace: Engaging Non-Believers for the Gospel

I beg you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1–2)

God is the only hope for our culture—so how then shall we live?

How Shall We Then Live?

God is the primary solution to our problems. If you depart from Him, you have major problems and no hope. Either that's true or it's not. I believe it's true—and if it is true, how should we respond when we see these things happening in our world today?

It's the question that Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer asked in 1976: How shall we then live? I want to give you five steps for moving the needle in the opposite direction.

First: Renew Our Minds Through Scripture

Understand the Roman world of the first century, into which Paul brought the gospel that turned the world upside down—or I would say, right side up. That Roman world was very similar to the paganistic, pluralistic culture you now live in, in this post-Christian society. This is Rome, first century. Read Roman history; it's going to get a lot worse. One of the things the Romans did, following the pattern of the Greeks, was to say that one of the ways to raise boys was sexual pedophilia. We're headed that way. All old things are new again; there is nothing new under the sun.

Paul wrote to the church in Rome: "I beg you therefore, church, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your only right response. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"—how? through the Scriptures—"so that you might display and show and prove what is good and acceptable, God's perfect will." The world needs to see Christians living according to the perfect will of God, and that comes only as we offer ourselves to the Lord and are transformed by His word.

Second: Be Salt and Light

Jesus preached to His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount:

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Endeavor to be salt and light in a distasteful and dark world.

Third: Create Christ-Centered, Countercultural Communities

Create and grow Christ-centered, countercultural communities of faith. What is that? That's a church. A church is a Christ-centered, countercultural community of those who believe—not just on Sunday, but as we gather together in homes for meals, in growth groups and connect groups, as we are the people of God in this community.

Fourth: Engage and Invest in the Lost Generation

What is the Lost Generation? It's not an age group. It is all those people in our culture who say, "I don't know if I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I don't know if there is a God. I'm agnostic. I'm atheistic." Engage and invest in them.

Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them the things that I have commanded you." And Peter said, "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, God's holy nation, His own special people, that you would proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light."

Fifth: Engage the Culture Persuasively With the Gospel

That word persuasively is key, because this is what American Christians have forgotten over the last forty years—my lifetime. We don't know how to have persuasive conversations with people who don't agree with us. We just want to shout at them, yell at them, tell them they're sinners, tell them they're going to hell, tell them to repent—but we have no idea how to engage with them persuasively.

And let me tell you, all of the low-hanging fruit, the easy people to win to faith, is gone. You must learn how to have an actual conversation with someone who does not agree with you—who votes according to blue-state values, who thinks abortion is a woman's right to choose and a perfectly fine form of birth control, who thinks you can change your sex on a whim. You have to learn to speak persuasively with that group, to help them see that it's not reality or truth, and to convince them toward the view that you have.

The Apostle Peter said, "Sanctify the Lord God in your heart, and always be ready to give an answer—a defense—to the one who asks a reason for the hope that is within you, and do so with meekness and fear."

And Paul said to the church at Colossae:

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

One Hope, Plan A and No Plan B

God has called you to reach your family members, your friends, your co-workers, and your neighbors. It's my call and my job to equip you for the work of the ministry, and I will do everything in my power to do that—I can't stop myself from constantly trying to do that all the time.

But there is only one hope for our culture, only one hope for our world: it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's only one plan. It's plan A, and there's no plan B. That's it. God help us. Amen.