We all have friends, family and people in our community that are disconnected from Jesus. We see their lives going in the wrong direction and unless something changes, their eternity will be separated from God.
First, let me encourage you, God wants to use your prayers and actions to help people connect with Jesus and you can grow in this area! Here are three simple things that ANYONE can do to help people begin a personal relationship with Jesus.
1) Look at evangelism as a process.
People often look at leading someone to Jesus as an event, but the reality is that it is more like a process. The scale below is a way to describe where people may stand from a spiritual and intellectual place. They have established their thought process and mindset from years and probably decades of experiences and thinking. The further they are away from God or committed to a certain philosophy or religion, may mean that it may take a longer for them to navigate new thoughts and faith.
Too many people get either frustrated, angry or feel like they are failing if they don’t see quick results, instead of seeing themselves as a piece of the puzzle and process of people navigating their way to God! Take a moment to look at the scale and then look to the next two things that you can do.
| REDMOND SCALE of the Evangelism Journey |
| The Redmond Scale describes general categories and possible feelings of people who are disconnected from Jesus. The role of the Christ follower is to walk with people on a journey to Jesus. On that journey, people must overcome or resolve different feelings, gain knowledge, correct wrong knowledge, and possibly overcome negative religious experiences. Though salvation happens in a moment, there is most often a process to get to that point. |
| -7 | Anti-God | Atheistic with a strong anti-religious or anti-God philosophy and negative emotions towards God or religion. Feel that belief in God or religion is a bad thing that represents foolishness or deception. |
| -6 | Atheistic | Belief that God is not real, but with little or no strong emotional bias against God or religion. View God as a fairytale or creation of man. |
| -5 | Disinterested | Religion or God is not part of regular life. They are fine if others want to be religious, but they have no interest in God or religion. May have a vague belief in God but no real understanding of commitment to God or religion. |
| -4 | Religious or “Spiritual” | Committed to a religion, spirituality, or philosophy other than Christ. This can include religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, and philosophies such as Buddhism, New Age, or Humanism. In a nutshell, they may be religious, “spiritual,” or “believe in God,” but they are purposely not committed to Christ with considerable barriers to Christ. |
| – 3 | Curious | Can be from any background but have come to a place where they are investigating the claims of Christ and the Bible as a possibility in their life and as something special and different than their current understanding of God and religion. Starting to understand that sin is real and a problem in their life. |
| -2 | Want Relationship | Relationship now takes priority over religion, philosophy, and good works. They are disentangling from past emotional, situational, and intellectual thought processes and replacing them with Biblical thoughts and desires. Understand sin is a personal problem separating them from God. |
| – 1 | Ready for Christ | Have investigated the claims of Christ and are ready to embrace them. They have worked through barrier questions and rejected other spiritual and philosophical options. Now understand they are a sinner in need of a Savior. |
| 0 | Salvation/New Life | True repentance of sin takes place, faith is placed in Jesus, and the work of the cross and a commitment to follow Jesus takes place. This is the starting line of a personal relationship with Jesus and the Christian life.1 |
2) Pray for people as they come to learn about God’s love and plan for their lives.
In addition to the intellectual process of someone coming to know and accept Biblical truth and the claims of Christ, there is a spiritual battle taking place. Whether we are seeing good progress, slow progress or even people moving away from God, praying invites God into the situation, which can only speed up the process.
Praying In Faith
God’s Word is very clear that it is His Will that “none shall perish” 2 Peter 3:9 but “all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of truth” 1 Tim. 2:4. Then 1 John 5:14-15 teaches us that when we pray anything according to God’s Will, He will do it. So as people go through the process of coming to know Christ, we pray according to God’s Will and He brings them to that place.
3) Walk with people in the process.
In the same way that Christ loves us unconditionally, we can love others unconditionally. As people navigate through their questions and issues. We can purposely be there for them. This can be challenging, but can make all the difference. When people know we care about them – period, no strings attached, it often helps to tear down the walls between them and God.
God wants to use you to pray for and walk with people as they come to know Him. It’s His Will! Your prayers are powerful and effective (James 5:16) and God’s Will is for ALL men to be saved from their sins! Just see it as a process and do your part. When that happens, we team up with Jesus who draws all men to Himself! (John 12:32) Jack Redmond is the Church Mobilization Pastor of Christ Church. To connect with him and learn about his books and ministry, go to: www.JackRedmond.org
1Redmond, Jack. Let Your Voice Be Heard: Transforming from Church Goer to Active Soul Winner. NY, NY: Morgan James Publishing, 2016. pp. 99-101