Years ago, we had such severe flooding in our area that all the local rivers and creeks overflowed their banks and washed out major roads. A friend of mine got stranded on the wrong side of a river and couldn’t get back to her own house. So she called me asking for directions to her house (before the days of GPS) by way of routes that would get her around the various obstacles. And just like she needed help navigating the variety of blockades, as Christians, it’s helpful for us to be aware of multiple routes to help people “find their way home” to Jesus.

People are complex, and their interest in spirituality is diverse. Some people are hostile to anyone else, like you, forcing religion on them. And others are genuinely open and curious about religions, spirituality, or truth claims in the world. Here are five different ways to help people find their way home to Jesus. 

1. Felt Need

In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, Campus Crusade helped train people to look for the “felt needs” that people have. Those felt needs make a person open to receiving help. “Need” is the open door, and “help” is the arm that reaches through it. That can be as simple as praying for people and comforting them in their distress. Dave Ramsey has shared his faith with millions of people by giving them tools to manage their financial confusion. Counselors and friends can help failing marriages by joining relational solutions to biblical conversations about Jesus’ ethics and selfless attitude. Helping people get free from porn or alcohol addiction is almost impossible without a complete spiritual overhaul. A missionary in Africa found little receptivity to his Western religion until he paid to drill a fresh-water well for the village. As a result of his practical care, 70 people in the village were saved.

Jesus wants to save people, but He also wants to take care of them. When we look for ways to minister to people’s felt needs, we showcase God’s responsive care and soften them towards a God who loves.

2. Curiosity

Some people are genuinely curious about religions, faiths, or truth claims. The idea here is not to look for what people need but to appeal to their curiosity. Some ministries in Israel, for example, will offer an event that showcases the Christmas holiday and will creatively retell the gospel story as part of the Christmas presentation. Or families who host foreign exchange students will invite the students to join them for their religious celebrations under the pretense of a cultural experience. Friends of ours run a discovery Bible study for individuals with a Muslim background to explore the biblical texts that the Koran teaches them to respect. These are opportunities that provoke curiosity and give people an opportunity to explore.

3. Desire

We all crave a life that is meaningful and purposeful. Some people haven’t yet realized that God wired us that way. Death is an interruption to our thirst for life. Stories around the world point to some of these core desires—read Eternity in Their Hearts! We also crave acceptance, connectedness, and relationships. These are innate longings that God intended to fill with Himself and community. When connected to the Life Giver, everything comes alive in some mysteriously powerful way. Life becomes a magic dance, and we can help people discover the infinite craving they have for meaning and purpose. Pastor Rick Warren touched the hearts of millions of Americans with his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Some people try to fill their craving with pleasure, some with ambition and success. We can show people where the breadcrumbs of human desire lead. They lead, ultimately, to our Creator.

Theatre, movies, music, and literature can point towards the longing for beauty, true love, and selfless sacrifice. Read our article on Finding God in Culture. The words and scripts we act out in our social environments and arts are the contemporary wardrobe and expression of universal human passions. We can lead people to discover the way their desires are most deeply fulfilled in their Life Giver.

4. Truth

Some people are just wired to think, not just about life, but about the nature of life. Thinkers evaluate more intellectually than most other people. That quest for truth may manifest in the fields of science, philosophy, or religion. These people are often talking about evidence and facts. They know information, and are looking for the most plausible theory (hopefully). They aren’t afraid of conflict, testing hypotheses, challenging assumptions, and arguing about religious claims. That’s good news because Christianity makes claims about history, philosophy, scientific realities, and human nature that are observable and testable. Christianity invites people to explore, to weigh the evidence, and to discern for themselves.

Indeed, Christianity has a showcase of world-class thinkers who have migrated out of Atheism precisely because they looked at the evidence carefully. Some of the most articulate have been Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell, and There is a God, by Anthony Flew.  There are libraries and libraries filled with books that grapple with the various evidence for Christianity’s coherence. I’ve found Lee Strobel’s series to be the most user-friendly to read: The Case for Christ, The Case for a Creator, The Case for Faith, etc. But if you’re looking for a heavier philosophical treatment, go with Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig or Scaling the Secular City by J.P. Moreland. The point is, some people need us to challenge them to think critically and deeply about the data and how the data points to a Creator and to Jesus as the central figure in human history.

5. Personal Endorsement

If postmodernism has eroded the belief in universal truth, then personal endorsement is a way of saying, “This worked for me.” Your testimony is a story that people can’t discount. It tells how Jesus has changed your life. Here is a very experiential phrase that may be useful: “Jesus is so much better than…(fill in the blank)…” How would you finish that sentence? And are you convinced enough to give your personal endorsement to the people around you? Jesus is so much better than success, money, temptation, control, notoriety, pleasure, or empty religion. Jesus is the panacea to every problem. Your personal endorsement helps win people to the idea that if Jesus made a difference for you, maybe he could make a difference for them.

Conclusion:

Jesus is for everyone; they just may not know it yet. If you’re looking for additional resources on sharing your faith, read our article 7 Ways to Share Your Faith. I hope you find the patience and compassion to help the people around the obstacles to faith. There are more than two ways to get to just about any destination. And there are certainly more than a few ways to help people “find their way home” to Jesus.

Tags: truth, jesus, gospel, testimony, words, needs, sharing, desires, endorsement, curiosity