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 [1], speaks on most non-Christians' stance on Christianity [2]. 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.