Part Two: Bridging the Gap between Christians and Non-Christians

Some theologians insist there is no common ground between believers and unbelievers. In mankind’s fallen state, they claim an unbridgeable chasm exists between redeemed Christians and estranged unbelievers, a difference so severe that any meaningful dialogue in the area of spiritual truth is impossible. Unbelievers don’t want to hear the Christian message, and, even if they did, they would not understand it—let alone accept it.

I disagree. The fact is, Christians and non-Christians can and do engage in religious discussions that can and do result in religious conversions. If this were not possible, evangelism would be futile, and Christ’s mandate to be His witness “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth “(Acts 1:8) would not only be meaningless but baffling.

Theologian Alister McGrath explains this concept well in his book, Intellectuals Don’t Need God, and Other Modern Myths:

Secular and Christian rationalities, although distinct, overlap at points. Sin has a noetic influence in that it disrupts the continuity between secular and Christian outlooks; it does not, however, destroy their contiguity. The task of the apologist is to identify the areas of overlap in order to facilitate the transition from a secular to a Christian worldview. . . . It is thus possible to make the transition from a secular to a Christian outlook through the points of contact that act as bridges between the two. There is not so much a “no man’s land,” as an area of shared possibilities, a region in which there is room for ambiguity. The creative apologist will direct attention to this region with a view to exploring it and emerging within the context of a Christian worldview. (57, 59)

McGrath further observes that “a point of contact is a God-given foothold for divine self-revelation.” In other words, God Himself provides points of contact. He does this by instilling in all people everywhere, by virtue of our creation in His image, basic moral, spiritual, psychological, social, creative, aesthetic, physical, and emotional needs and capabilities. Since the source of all these innate human qualities is “divine self-revelation,” they point to God. For example, both Christians and non-Christians possess an intuitive understanding of what constitutes proper moral behavior (Rom. 2:13-15). Both rely on God-given principles of logic to make heads and tails of reality. Most importantly, both Christians and non-Christians share (whether acknowledged or not) an innate, created awareness that God exists (see Eccl. 3:11; Rom. 1:19). (In next week’s blog I describe examples of common points of contact.)

The presence of these universal human traits and yearnings explain why pantheists and monotheists have different concepts on the nature of God, but both agree He exists. It explains why Muslims and Christians differ in their relationship with God, but both share common spiritual needs. It explains why theists and atheists disagree on whether God even exists, yet use the same principles of logic to govern their conclusions. It also explains why all cultures, regardless of their worldviews, appreciate beauty, exhibit God-given creative powers through art and music, and endorse selflessness, bravery, and wisdom while condemning selfishness, cowardice, and stupidity.

The fact is, people everywhere share fundamental notions of what constitutes reality in terms of what is essential to fulfilling basic human physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. For this reason, evangelism can be successful among diverse worldviews fostering different customs, religions, and languages.

As an avenue for evangelism, however, points of contact are not ends to themselves. As McGrath says, they are bridges between a secular and Christian worldview. They serve the purpose of bringing Christians and non-Christians together at a point of mutual agreement. But apologetics will often need to be applied to further the evangelistic task, as I demonstrated in last week’s blog article by applying C.S. Lewis’ trilemma argument in a dialogue. In short, as an avenue of evangelism, points of contact can get us a willing listener, but, more often than not, apologetics (or law) must be applied to complete the evangelistic task. ©