Trying to Think Like Someone I'm Not

The longer you’re a believer, the less you think like an unbeliever. After you come to Christ, your interests and values change. You will likely begin to develop new relationships at a church and gradually you find that most of the people you know and with whom you spend the most time are also believers.

Because I’ve been a follower of Jesus for more than 40 years, I think like a Christian. I don’t normally think like an unbeliever. That’s good, because it keeps me from doing some horrible things. However, it can be bad if it keeps me from being effective as a witness for Christ.

But worse than thinking like a Christian all the time, I tend to think like a pastor and that’s even farther removed from an unbeliever’s mind-set! That means I must intentionally change mental gears when seeking to relate to non-Christians.

One of the key areas to which we should give special attention is the language we use. I’m not talking about foul language or profanity. No, what I am addressing is the use of terms which non-Christians don’t understand without a full and complete explanation. Even then, sometimes communication does not occur because of a language barrier.

I’ve heard pastors complain that unbelievers are more resistant to hearing the message of salvation today than in the past. I really don’t think that is true. I don’t think people are more resistant; rather, I think we are guilty of practicing poor communication. That’s a problem because that means the message isn’t getting through to the people who need to hear it. Churches need to stop saying that people are closed to the Gospel and start finding out how to communicate on their wavelength.

No matter how life-changing our message is, if we’re broadcasting on a different channel from the unchurched, it won’t do any good.

How do you learn to think like unbelievers? Talk to them! One of the greatest barriers to evangelism is that most believers spend all their time with other Christians. They don’t have any unbelieving friends. If you don’t spend any time with unbelievers, then you won’t understand how they’re thinking.

This is the way we’re to become the church God intends us to be. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:13, ESV).