WHAT WOULD THE NOT CURIOUS SAY? “I’m convinced of a different truth, generally skeptical, or completely focused on other things in life. I have no real interest in Jesus and his message.”
Unfortunately, the NOT CURIOUS stage involves two sad truths:
- They are the majority of the people we encounter (in most cases).
- They are the most difficult to engage and help move along the path.
There are three major categories of the NOT CURIOUS:
- Loyal to a non-Christian faith and suspicious of all others
- Skeptical of all faiths (and maybe Christianity in particular)
- Completely oblivious to Jesus and faith in general through choice, ignorance, or distraction
Tips
1. Don’t expect an appeal to the Bible as an authoritative source to impress them. If they don’t believe the Bible is authoritative, showing them scripture won’t instantly make them change their mind about their beliefs. You can and should always appeal to biblical truth. We should be ready to share why we trust the Bible. But it may also help to find what they do consider authoritative and start there (logic, science, pleasure, etc).
2. Make it your goal to arouse curiosity more than proving your point or winning an argument (sometimes this means saying less). Example: “Yesterday, God asked me to do something I didn’t want to do” is more intriguing than it is instructive but it may lead to curiosity.
3. Ask lots of questions about them. Remember the first words ever spoken to fallen man by God were these 3 questions (questions God already knew the answers to but asked anyway):
- Where are you?
- Who have you been listening to?
- What got you here?
4. Ask them if they have ever heard what Christians believe from a practicing Christian (a “no-brainer” question that will most often be answered “no”). Ask them if you could give it a try (give them a big picture version like Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration). This is especially useful with people from other faiths as most of them haven’t heard the gospel from a Christian.
