A recent article by educator Noah Lewis about how Christians can reach out to the “spiritual but not religions” crowd caught my attention, so here’s an excerpt…

The church has an incredible opportunity to meet the felt needs of the “spiritual but not religious” who are seeking something bigger than themselves and can’t seem to find it. Here are four practical ways Christians can meet them where they are.

1. Pray fervently.

In Romans, Paul expresses his desire that those outside of Christ would come to know Jesus: “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (10:1, NIV). Paul knows it’s God who foreknows, calls, justifies, and glorifies (8:30). He knows that if the sovereign God of the universe doesn’t move in power, his loved ones won’t come to saving faith.

When thinking about the culture, it can be easy to skip prayer. We must resist this temptation. If we’re going to see the “spiritual but not religious” who are skeptical of organized religion come into our churches, we need God to draw them.

We cannot simply diagnose that the culture is skeptical about institutional religion and rush to apologetic arguments. We must pray that people will grow dissatisfied with their nonreligious spirituality. We must pray that people will wonder to themselves, Is this it? We must pray that people—by grace and through faith—will know the love of God in Christ and be joined to his body. Let’s boldly approach God with the names of our loved ones.

2. Listen with compassion.

As Ryan Burge frequently points out, not everyone who is “spiritual but not religious” believes the same thing. These are people who bear God’s image and have unique stories. Listen to their stories, ask curious questions, and have compassion when you see a pain point.

We must pray that people will grow dissatisfied with their nonreligious spirituality. We must pray that people will wonder to themselves, Is this it?

Matthew 9:36 says, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus’s posture toward the helpless people without a shepherd was compassion. He didn’t sigh and roll his eyes. His heart was moved.

Those who want to practice their spirituality by themselves are “sheep without a shepherd” and, in their own unique ways, feel harassed and helpless. We must listen long enough and care deep enough to hear their pain. We should get to know what experiences have shaped them, what they’re hoping for, and what fears regularly linger in their minds. People love to tell their stories to curious and compassionate listeners. Perhaps this compassionate listening might lead to opportunities for gospel proclamation.

3. Evangelize creatively.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul gives us a window into his strategy for evangelism:

To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. (vv. 21–23, NIV)

Paul was willing to fill whatever role was necessary to get people to Christ. Creativity in evangelism is a good thing. Creative evangelistic strategies can be used by God to turn those who don’t see the value of the church into faithful brothers and sisters.

Art, fashion, farming, pickleball, music, video games, and grilling are just a few of the opportunities that we can step into creatively and consider how we might introduce people to Jesus. Reaching those who don’t see the value in church is going to demand that we think outside the box and meet people where they are.

4. Commit to unity.

Jesus prays in John 17:23 for his followers: “That they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” The world knowing the love of Christ is downstream of the church’s unity. There’s something beautiful and compelling to individuals in a divided culture about a church united around the good news that Jesus saves sinners. A ruthless commitment to unity will force those with an anti-institutional bent to reevaluate their beliefs.

If the assumption is that institutions cannot be trusted because those who inhabit and lead them are in it for selfish reasons, then a consistent commitment to “do nothing from selfish ambition” (Phil. 2:3) is essential. Reaching people for the sake of Christ and welcoming outsiders into the church in an age of institutional distrust is going to take togetherness. But the good news, as Jesus reminds us in Matthew 16:18, is that the gates of hell will not prevail against Jesus or his people.