My Friend is an Unbeliever. How Can I Reach Him?

I recently read an article by Aaron Earls, titled, “Most Protestant churchgoers have non-Christian friends.” It was based on analysis by Lifeway Research, which found that most Protestant churchgoers are surrounded by people who share their religious beliefs; however, this doesn’t prevent them from having friends who believe differently. These friends ranged from those who are agnostic or atheist to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus. The article caused me to be introspective and ask if I could be accused of being (as Jesus was) a “friend of sinners” (see Matthew 11:19).

I immediately thought of my neighbors across the street. They are Hindus, and I have (over the years) given them all sorts of gifts and Christian books. And I have prayed for them daily in the hope that they would come to Christ. I once tried to witness to the sweet elderly lady when she came to our door to give us some lemons, but when I touched on the subject of eternity, she slowly backed down our driveway in an effort to get away from her crazy neighbor.

I dread the day that this dear couple die. The frail husband is very responsive to my love and recently crossed the street to shake my hand. As we shook hands, I held onto his, so that he couldn’t get away as I very briefly shared the gospel. One consolation is that I did get to share the complete gospel with their colorful adult daughter who was very responsive.

Launching into the Deep

Before we look at how to witness to Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and atheists, let’s look at a relevant portion of Scripture. In Luke 5, Jesus had Peter push his boat out onto a lake for Him to speak to the crowd. This was not only to stop the crowd from pressing in on Him, but possibly to amplify his voice—something still water so effectively does. In essence, Jesus was using the boat as a makeshift pulpit.

Notice that He asked Peter to “put out a little from the land” (verse 3), but in verse 5 we are told that, when He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep.”

When we use the pulpit to teach believers, we are launching out just a little. There’s no big step of faith. No one is going to verbally disagree or ask questions that we may find hard to answer.

However, if we love the lost and want to obey the Lord, we must launch out “into the deep.” Scripture says of the disciples:

“And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42).

They didn’t cease to teach and preach Jesus as the Christ. There is no risk in teaching believers, but there is in preaching to unsaved sinners. When the disciples launched out into the deep, we see the miracle of catching a multitude of fish. And the scenario culminated in Jesus saying that He would cause His disciples to be fishers of men. How comforting it is to see that, as He said this, He addressed the subject of fear:

“And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’ So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him” (Luke 5:1-11).

While it does take some courage to teach believers, for most of us, the thought of preaching to the unsaved is terrifying. But there are a number of things that can help us put our fears into perspective. So, in an effort to help you deal with your fears, let’s look briefly at the following.

Evangelizing Atheist Friends

Atheists can be intimidating because of their well-crafted arguments against the existence of God. . However, the Bible calls the atheist a fool (see Psalm 14:1), and we are foolish if we think they are wise. This is because they believe the scientific impossibility that nothing created everything. If you have an atheist friend, ask him if he really believes that nothing gave us flowers and birds and trees, fruits and seasons, puppies and kittens, male and female in all the species, the marvels of the human eye, and the miracle of childbirth. If he is reasonable, he will change his mind in seconds. You can see this happening in “Crazy Bible” and in “The Atheist Delusion”

It’s impossible for a genuine atheist to exist. “There is no God,” is an absolute statement, and for an absolute statement to be true we must have absolute knowledge. Let me give you an example. If I say, “There is no gold in China,” I’m making an absolute statement. For that to be true I must know that there is no gold in China. I must know what’s in every rock and every riverbed—because if there is gold in China, my statement is untrue. Again, to make an absolute statement, I need absolute knowledge, and only God has absolute knowledge.

Conversely, to say, “There is gold in China,” all I need is to see a gold ring on someone’s finger in China and my statement is true. I don’t need absolute knowledge to be able to say that there is gold in China.

This means that every professing atheist is actually an agnostic. He doesn’t know if God exists. I have found that the issue has nothing to do with atheism or agnosticism and everything to do with the fact that Scripture says, he loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19). It’s been well-said that the so-called atheist can’t find God for the same reason a criminal can’t find a policeman.

Evangelizing Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu Friends

Also, we need not feel intimidated by a friend who is Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu. Be respectful and loving, but just do what Jesus did and address the conscience (see Mark 10:17-18). Begin by asking if they believe that there’s an afterlife, and whether they do or don’t, ask how they’re going to do on Judgement Day—when God judges them by the Ten Commandments (see Romans 2:12 and James 2:12).

Look on yourself as a firefighter for Christ. A firefighter may be fearful as he climbs a ladder to rescue people who are screaming on the fifth floor of a burning building. But he ignores his fears because he’s not thinking of himself, but of the fate of those who are about to be consumed by the horror fire:

“And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 1:22-23).

©2023 Ray Comfort. All rights reserved. Used with permission.