Reaching secular readers: Responding to the great commission

This MTI blog series aims to help you and your readers sharpen your skills in communicating faith matters to secular readers – skeptics, seekers, and the spiritually disinterested.

Jesus told his followers to go, proclaim the gospel, teach, disciple. Could you use a dose of inspiration, challenge, motivation, focus, and fun as you seek to follow his last command?

In 1968, as a young believer in Jesus, I attended a Campus Crusade for Christ (now called Cru) Bible conference in southern California. We learned to share our faith in Christ. On July Fourth, they sent us out in pairs to present Christ on the beaches. If the people whom we interviewed with religious-interest surveys were interested, we were to present the Gospel to them.

As our car approached Huntington Beach State Park, my friends and I decided we should ask permission from the lifeguard to take these surveys. I volunteered to ask him, hoping he would say “No.” I was nervous about sharing Christ.

Before the lifeguard could answer, a small five-year-old boy standing nearby with his friend said, “We’ll take your survey!” I stammered, “Well… let me get my friend.” Skip, a Cru staff member, and I paired off. I interviewed Andy and Skip spoke with his friend.

Andy was very interested. After the survey, we discussed a short Gospel booklet. He invited Christ to be his Savior. We discussed spiritual growth.

The next day, Andy wrote thanking me for introducing him to his new friend, Jesus.

I learned that God could use me to help introduce someone else to Christ, to help them pass out of darkness into light. I wanted to do this more, and often!

Back at university, I shared Jesus all I could, individually with classmates and professors, via speaking and writing. I submitted articles and letters that our university newspaper published.

I wrote faith-themed papers for academic courses: on God’s existence for philosophy; biblical responses to poverty for sociology; communicating faith to children for child psychology; Christianity and racism for Black history, and more.

Jesus and his Great Commission captivated my heart.

I knew what it was like to feel confused and lonely and afraid and guilty and not sure what to do or whom to trust. Jesus was a friend who rescued me from that and would guide me forever. I wanted other people to meet him. I saw he could use my abilities and availability to help them.

How does the Great Commission relate to you as a publisher or writer? What is your response to it? I pray that this resource will be motivating, inspiring, challenging and fun … but most of all, that it will prompt you to consider what God might be saying to you.

The Great Commission: What is it?

Jesus told his followers to go, proclaim the gospel, teach, disciple:

¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18-20 NLT)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8 NLT)

Perhaps you’ve heard these verses for years. In university, I heard popular speaker Josh McDowell teach on some characteristics of the person that God uses. It helped me better understand the needs of the world and powerfully affected the depth of my commitment to help reach it. Here’s a summary of what he said:

Some characteristics of the person God uses (Matthew 9:35-38 NASB)

35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Josh explained that someone who loves Jesus, walks closely with Him and desires to follow Him will:

See like Jesus saw.
Feel like Jesus felt.
Pray like Jesus prayed.
Go like Jesus went.

Jesus saw disease, sickness, spiritual hunger. What do you see in your community, as you drive on the highway or go shopping? Crowds of people that delay your progress? Or masses of individuals who need the Savior’s touch?

People are hurting. They have needs. Though many may seem like they know what they’re doing in life, few really do. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10 NASB)

Jesus felt compassion.

Have you ever felt distressed or downcast? Perhaps you’ve lost a job or a loved one, had a romantic disappointment, marriage struggles, a major illness. Maybe your finances are stretched. You’ve felt sad, discouraged, lonely, depressed.

Maybe your distress has made you sensitive to other people who are hurting. You understand some of what they are experiencing, and you feel compassion toward them.

How did Jesus pray?

“The harvest is plentiful…” (37) Every day, thousands of new believers enter God’s family. But, every day on this planet thousands of people die, many without Christ.

“…the workers are few.” (37) Who will tell all these needy people about Christ? You can help reach them through communication and disciplemaking.

“Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” (38) More workers – faithful Christian writers – are needed. We can pray like Jesus prayed.

How did Jesus go? He left heavenly bliss to come to a dying planet. He endured ridicule, injustice, pain, and death so that we might pass from darkness into light.

Across the centuries, those who love him have followed his lead and gone to tell others about him. Sometimes they’ve gone across the street, sometimes around the world.

The Great Commission and you

How should the Great Commission influence you?

There can be many barriers to going as Jesus went, regardless of your profession. Consider some differences between the “Consumer-oriented Christian” and the “Cause-oriented Christian.”

Advertisers seek to answer the basic consumer question, “What’s in it for me?”

The “Consumer-oriented Christian” asks “What’s in it for me?” There is already a lot: eternal life, every spiritual blessing, you’re a child of God, you have eternal security, great friends. Serving Christ brings adventure, camaraderie, and fun.

An over-emphasis on “me” can obscure the cause. The difference is largely one of focus. Consider some questions that each type of Christian might ask about serving Jesus.

Consumer-oriented Christian

What’s in it for me?
What hours will I work?
Will I make enough money?
What will my benefits be as an employee of this company?
How will I look to others in this job?
Will I ever get married?
Will I be fulfilled?

Cause-oriented Christian

What are the needs of the world?
How can I help? Is there enough time in the day for me to meet the needs of the ministry to which God has led me?
How much can I give?
Does anyone in this movement need my help?
Can I make someone else successful?
God will provide a teammate for me if He chooses, to help me glorify Him and reach the world for Christ.
True fulfillment comes from knowing and following Jesus.

I’m not saying deny your legitimate needs. The key is finding the right balance.

You are special in God’s eyes. You are also needed. Together we can help reach the world for Christ.

The pendulum has swung too far toward the consumer mentality. Let’s help swing it back toward the cause of Christ.

Some challenges for you

Ask God to help you to see as Jesus saw, feel as Jesus felt, pray as Jesus prayed, and go as Jesus went.

Ask Him to show you how he wants you to apply what you’ve read. Maybe you’ll want to write to communicate Christ to lost people, selecting topics and approaches to facilitate that.

Could you write for secular publications? Perhaps you could include material for nonbelievers in your Christian publications, maybe a special edition, section or pullout that believers can give to their non-believing friends. And you could educate and inspire your Christian readers to have Great Commission mindsets.

May God guide and bless you as you follow his lead!

Want to know more?

Gratis online resources:

Responding to the Great Commission. Jesus told his followers to go, proclaim the gospel, teach, disciple. Could you use a dose of inspiration, challenge, motivation, focus, and fun as you seek to follow his last command? (mp3 audio file, 33 MB; 00:35:13) Handout
The Audience Map is a Cru interactive online tool to help Christian communicators analyze their audience and develop ideas for reaching them for Christ. Easy to use, global in scope, and research based. It includes videos and many questions to help you think through skeptics, seekers, the spiritually disinterested, nominal Christians and more. Offered as “Your missional guide to seeing and loving people in the digital age.”

by Rusty Wright. Rusty is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively.

Photo by Warren on Unsplash