What Responsibility Do Christians Have toward Non-Christians?

Dr. Lee Ormiston, Pastor of Family Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN

The Lord commands us to lift up our eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest![1] We need to cultivate a heart for the lost as modeled by the Apostle Paul when he said, “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.”[2]

At times we become forgetful of the destiny of the lost. There is a penalty for sin and it is death. We need to remind ourselves that it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.[3] Those who have not come to know Christ are headed for a place of torment[4] and eternal punishment![5]

If we have any heart at all, the eternal destiny of lost souls ought to help us overcome our complacency and fear.

The average person in our culture seems oblivious, unconcerned, and pathetically ignorant to their eternal destiny without Christ, and many are disappointed with and cynical about life. At the same time the culture seems to have concluded that Christians are hypocritical, arrogant, naïve, foolish, irritating, and at best irrelevant.

Nevertheless, we are called to be obedient to our Lord’s commands, pray for God to bless those who abuse us, persecute us, and revile us.[6] Even though those in the world treat us like we are their enemy, we are to intentionally do them good in tangible ways.[7] Physically helping the lost by compassionately caring for the well-being of the lost and if possible by living peaceably with the lost is God’s will for us.[8]

Our objective is to model such a genuine love that the world around us will know that we are Christians.[9]

As believers, we are to demonstrate our love for our Lord by faithfully and purposefully following the Lord’s commandments…  If a man really loves God, he must also love his brother and his neighbor (1 John 3:10–18; 4:7–21)… Love is the basis for obedience. In fact, all of the Law is summed up in love (Rom. 13:8–10). If we love God, we will love our neighbor; and if we love our neighbor, we will not want to do anything to harm him.[10]

By purposefully extending biblical love to our neighbors, we prepare the soil of their soul to hear the good news of the Gospel.[11]

Most unsaved don’t want to hear what we have to say until they are convinced that we genuinely care about them. But be encouraged - love, properly administered, often earns a genuine hearing. However, all the good deeds of a lifetime are no substitute for sharing the Word of God.[12]

I have personally found that the Lord has often given me opportunity to share the gospel with the very people I have been purposefully endeavoring to love biblically. But I want to be clear, we are to love the lost even if they are adversarial.[13]

What responsibility do Christians have toward non-Christians?
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We have the responsibility to pray for non-Christians, administer God’s love to them, and boldly but wisely share the good news of Jesus with them!


[1] John 4:35

[2] Romans 10:1

[3] Hebrews 9:26

[4] Luke 16:23

[5] Matthew 25:46

[6] Luke 6:28, Romans 12:14, 1 Corinthians 4:12

[7] Luke 6:27, 31, Romans 12:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:15

[8] Romans 12:18, 13:10

[9] John 13:35, Matthew 22:39

[10] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 81). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[11] Acts 1:8

[12] Matthew 28:19-20

[13] Luke 6:27, 31, Romans 12:20