Ron Writes
Often the people we reach out to are heathens with immoral ideas and practices. However, it would be a big mistake to think that all non-Christians are immoral heathens. In fact, while the apostles did come in contact with those who were hostile toward Christianity, Luke refers to many non-Christians as “God-fearers.” In fact, most converts in Acts were religious people.
Cornelius (Acts 10) is described as a “devout man and one who feared God.” Luke says he was a generous giver and prayed continually. You could add that he had a miraculous religious experience seeing a vision of an angel. He looked more like a Christian than many Christians, but he wasn’t. He had not yet come to faith in Jesus. Like many today, he was receptive and ready to believe in the resurrected Christ.
Paul addresses a distinct group of Gentiles as “God fearers” when he preaches (Acts 13:16, 26). These were not Jews nor were they Christians. Luke would later tell us that many of these “God-fearers” became Christians (17:4). No doubt their attitudes toward God lead to their conversions.
While there was an obvious call for repentance in the apostles’ preaching, the main emphasis was on belief in the nature of God and His redemptive work through Jesus. It might be to our advantage to recognize that some non-Christians have “an honest and good heart” (Lk.8:15). It’s easy to spend our time on combating error and denominational doctrines. While there may be some merit, it will never convert the world. We should take a page from Jesus and the apostles who first presented the truth of God and redemption in Christ. It is more important to preach the truth than to expose error.
