How Do You Reach Your Neighbor Who Follows Another Faith? (Part 1)

“I’m not finding anyone who is open to the gospel,” he told me in a call. I asked further questions. “Who are you wanting to reach?” He described his vision to reach high caste Hindus in his area. As we talked further, I asked him how he went about sharing the gospel. “I tell them they shouldn’t worship gods made from hands but should worship The One who created everything instead.”

A true statement, but not the best place to start with devoted Hindus. At some point, you need to speak the truth in love to those who follow other gods, or ways of approaching God. Jesus is indeed the only way to the Father. He said of himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father, except by me.”

Attacking another person’s religion and cultural values is neither wise nor fruitful. It is distasteful, unkind, and creates huge barriers for them to “hear” the gospel you are trying to share. At the same time, we live in a day and age where being tolerant has become a more important virtue than loving people enough to share the truth. We need to learn to boldly and relationally share the reality of who Jesus is for us and who He can be for them as well.

Giving Up Hamburgers and Steak

When we first went to Nepal, our first several years were devoted to language and culture learning. Our hearts longed to share the gospel with the unreached around us, but we faced a huge language barrier. In some ways, this was good. It slowed us down and forced us to take time to learn more about the Nepali Hindu worldview.

At first our learning was on the surface. We noticed things like food, clothing, how their houses were built, how they greeted one another. Slowly our language ability increased. We began to learn about deeper worldview issues. Things like what they believed about how the world began, the caste system, and reincarnation. This understanding would inform our witness.

Being foreigners, when we visited a Nepali home, we were welcomed warmly. Nepalis are generous and hospitable people. We’d sit on the floor, drink delicious cups of sweet chai, chit-chatting about their family, the weather, and other things.

Almost always, sometime within the first ten minutes of conversation, a question would surface. “Do you eat cows?” This question particularly came up, if we mentioned any kind of spiritual topic.

Most Hindus in Nepal (at the time we were there), had never heard about Jesus. They had little idea of who He was, why He came to earth, or what He did when here. His life, death, resurrection, and the reason for those things, was new information for them.

What they had heard though, was that Christians eat beef.

Hindus worship the goddess Laxmi who is represented by a cow. The cow is sacred for Hindus. In Nepal, it was against the law to kill a cow. At the time we lived there, the punishment for this was as great as the punishment for killing a person. It was a very big deal to them that Christians ate beef, a major barrier preventing their coming to faith.

If this obstacle didn’t come down, it was hard for them to listen to our message.

Soon after we moved to Nepal, my husband and I made a decision. We would stop eating beef as long as we were focused on reaching Hindus. It was not easy to do. Before this, hamburger had been a staple part of our diet.

Reading 1 Corinthians 8, we knew that food was not what was important. It could indeed be a stumbling block. We stopped eating beef completely.

After that when people would ask us, “Do you eat cow?” We had an answer ready. One that removed the barrier. “No, we don’t. We know that the cow is a sacred animal for Hindus. We want to respect your culture so we don’t eat beef.”

We then could move beyond that barrier into further relationship and begin sharing the gospel message. As we continued to learn, we identified other important barriers and bridges. This informed how we presented the gospel in that context.

“But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful however that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

1 Cor. 8:8-9 NIV.

3 Best Practice Principles for Sharing Jesus Cross-Culturally (Part 1)

In this article, I will share the first three of eight points. Next week, I’ll add five more.

1. Respect, honor, and curiosity are a great starting point.

When approaching someone from another culture or religion, be respectful. Don’t attack their culture or beliefs. Typically, Western cultures place little value on tradition. Youth around the world, tend to disdain the traditions of their ancestors and enjoy exploring new things (be it drugs, sex or a new religion or cult). That does not mean their interest will stick as they age, mature, and marry, nor is it a good pathway to reaching their entire family.

Instead of attacking their beliefs, show value for them. They are “God-fearers.” If they pray five times a day, that shows a certain hunger for God. You can affirm that. If they fast, or go to the temple, or have certain important rituals, be curious. Ask what those things mean to them. Be respectful of their devotion. This is a great place to begin.

2. Ask questions, listen and discover where they are at.

Within other religions, as with Christianity, there is a wide range of people. Some are radically devoted, others are nominal. Most have some level of allegiance to their religion that is greater than most “cultural Christians” have. This is because religion is strongly tied to community and identity. You can’t underestimate the degree of loyalty they will have to a religion they don’t actually practice much nor understand well. It’s there, under the surface, even with the most nominal or rebellious teen.

Get curious and ask open questions. As you do this, be careful that your questions are to learn and understand, and aren’t perceived as a hidden attack.

For example, you might ask a Muslim friend something like, “I’ve noticed that many Muslim men have beards. I’m super curious…what is the reason men in your culture don’t shave?” Listen well and repeat back to them what you hear to make sure you’ve understood their perspective.

3. Get rid of “my religion” vs. “your religion” language.

When talking with someone from another culture and/or another faith, stay away from my God/your god language. You want to build bridges, not walls (more about that in the next article). Don’t compare using these kinds of words. They divide and separate you from them. Instead, recognize their desire for spiritual things, spirituality, etc. Are they a seeker of God? Do they respect and honor God in some way, even if they don’t yet know Him as you do?

In Acts 17, Paul was in Athens. He began his conversation with the Athenians by talking about one of their altars. It had the inscription “to an unknown god.” He didn’t condemn them for making this altar or say, “We don’t make altars like that in our religion.” Instead, he used that as a bridge to help them understand who the God they were worshipping is!

Start a Learning Conversation

Do you have people of another faith and culture around you? Maybe they work in your office, or their kids go to your kid’s school, or you meet them at the market. Begin relationship with them by showing respect, interest, and being curious about their beliefs.

Who will you start a learning conversation with this week?

I would love to hear how these conversations go in the comments below or on the Missionary Life Facebook page.