Ministry to Non-Christians

As youth ministers, sometimes it is easy for us to get trapped into the mindset of only catering our ministry to Catholic or Christian teens - people who already have a foundation or understanding from which we hope to grow their faith. How then do we respond to an encounter with a person who is not Christian, and in fact may be turned off to Christ.

A recent article on CPYU.org, speaks on most non-Christians' stance on Christianity. Three points are discussed:

• Most non-Christians do not have a central truth. They are deeply spiritual, but have formed their own religion by "mixing their own unique combination of religious elements"
• They are turned off to Christianity. Why? Because they frequently encounter Christians acting in an un-Christian manner.
• They may be interested in Christ, but are turned off to the Church because they percieve the Church to be turned off to them.