Conversational Evangelism: How to Respond to 7 Common Questions From NonbelieversSample

2. What about those who have never heard the Gospel?

This question is not usually an attempt to wrestle with deep theological issues but rather is a smoke screen to avoid the truth of the Gospel. Once we provide an adequate answer (see below for some possible ways to address this), it is also helpful to turn the question around (the boomerang principle) so they feel a responsibility to do something with our answer. To do this we can ask, “Now that you know, what are you going to do about this problem?” In this way we are encouraging them to take a step closer to Christ.

In answering the question it is helpful to determine whether there might be an issue or question behind the question, such as, “How is it fair for God to condemn someone for not having enough knowledge to save him, but just enough knowledge to condemn him?”

To answer this, we must remember that God is not responsible to give us greater light of who He is when we have not responded to the light we already have. Matthew 13:12 says, “Whoever has will be given more.” Other examples of this in Scripture are the Ethiopian in Acts 8, Cornelius in Acts 10, and God-fearing Greeks in Acts 17. Romans 1 teaches us that all people have some knowledge about God, even if it is not saving knowledge.

Consider this illustration that demonstrates how God is still just even if men never come to know anything about Jesus Christ. Suppose you are lost in a desert and it’s getting dark. You are hungry, thirsty, and know that if you do not find food and shelter soon, you are probably going to die. Then you see a speck of light on the horizon indicating that there is human life out there. If you move away from the light instead of toward it, whose fault is it if you die? It would be your fault, right? Had you chosen to move toward the light, would not the light have grown brighter, revealing who was there? In a similar way, God is not responsible to give us greater light if we have not responded to the light He has already provided through general revelation.

Furthermore, the Bible shows us God’s universal concern for mankind when it tells us that there will be people “from every nation, tribe, people and language” in heaven (Revelation 7:9), which proves that God is not discriminatory in His love and desires for all to come to know Him (2 Peter 3:9).

Finally, it is helpful to ask, “If God really loved us and demonstrated it by paying the ultimate price in sending Jesus to die in our place, is it not possible He would be willing to do whatever it took to save us?” After this question, we can again ask them the key question: “What are you going to do with this information since you know about Christ?”