How does one evangelize someone who believes in God but is opposed to all organized religion?

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Hello everyone. I thought about combining this with my other thread but I thought it would be best to keep them separate so I do not become confused as I have a tendency to do. ;):p:o

So, I have a friend who believes in God but he is opposed to all organized religions. He is in his mid 30s. How would I go about evangelizing such a person?

My first instinct is to evangelize by my way of life which I try to do but unfortunately I fail a lot. What other ways can I evangelize such a person?
 
Maybe start by asking them what God they believe in,
and where did they get their idea of God.

Without organized religion its just individual opinion.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hello everyone. I thought about combining this with my other thread but I thought it would be best to keep them separate so I do not become confused as I have a tendency to do. ;):p:o

So, I have a friend who believes in God but he is opposed to all organized religions. He is in his mid 30s. How would I go about evangelizing such a person?

My first instinct is to evangelize by my way of life which I try to do but unfortunately I fail a lot. What other ways can I evangelize such a person?
Click to expand...
As someone who is in the same shoes as your friend, my best advice is not to evangelize to them at all and to simply treat your friend with love and respect. Just like how everyone’s lives are different and we all have many different paths and paces, our spiritual journey and path are very individualized and intimate to all of us. It is definitely not one size fits all. When it comes to beliefs and spirituality, I feel that there are no right or wrong set of beliefs, just whatever we feel the most comfortable with and whatever we feel helps us the most on our spiritual journey. Just because he doesn’t believe in organized religion doesn’t mean he can’t have a personal relationship with God. Someone’s beliefs are amongst the most sacred attributes of that person and they are personal and unique to them. No amount of evangelizing is going to change that person, it is only going to upset them and most likely make them resent you. No one wants someone else to try and change their mind about something so individualized and cherished as their own beliefs. Would you want someone to evangelize to you a different set of beliefs as your own? If this person is going to change their mind about something dealing with their beliefs, it is most likely going to come from within and they are going to have to be the one to initiate change within their own mind, heart, and soul.
 
Even satan believes God exists! That does not make him Holy or enlightened.

Jesus came down from Heaven, and established a Church. He wanted us to grow in faith, love, and knowledge of God in this Church. “Do not forsake the gathering together of the assembly” A lone soldier is an easy target! None of us is intelligent, or wise enough to figure out God on our own, with satan constantly deceiving us!

When ever they refer to **The Church **in the New Testament, they are talking about The Catholic Church. This Church is God’s gift to us. They lived the new testament, learned directly from Jesus, taught his truths (sacred tradition), wrote it down, assembled it into the Bible, and preserved it for all people. Who better to know what it means, than the Church that has lived it for 2000 years? 😉
 
I would pray for him, offer your Rosary for their conversion of heart.
Find bits to share with him in ordinary conversation about the Church that increases your faith.
Ask where he turns when he has a question about the nature of God.
One of the best aspects of the Church for me is that although there is structure and boundaries, with in those there are so many ways to personalize your own individual spiritual experience and expression… my father is most sustained by devotionals. I am fed more by study of the Church and what she teaches.
I would ask him about his faith life and how he comes to God… then show him how that can be done within the Church, gaining the other graces that God grants those in the Church.
Is he Christian or just deist? If he believes in Christ, ask why he wouldn’t want to be in the Church He founded to guide His followers?
Now I wouldn’t do all of this at once. Pray first, ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit and your Gaurdian Angel and his (he has one even if he doesn’t know it). Then ask him where he is… then reveal the Church to him as the Spirit moves you.
Don’t treat him as a child or idiot… tell him and demonstrate the love that God has for him
Charity in all things
God Bless
 
Pray for him and ask St Monica to also pray for his conversion.

Do as St Francis does "Preach the Gospel at all times and only when necessary use words.”

I never actively ‘evangelise’ anyone. I prefer to focus on a personal relationship and if they ask questions about the faith, I answer as best I can. I find my books written by senior Church Apologists to be the ULTIMATE! Two of my Baptist friends came to the faith over the past 3years by first coming to me, bombarding me with questions, overcoming their misconceptions and a growing and surprised by their insatiable hunger for the Eucharist.

I have been a Catholic my entire 22years on earth and am discovering there are still things about the Church I never knew and/or had misconceptions about.

I even flirted with Islam for a while but my very very patient Priest Fr Gerry answered all my questions via email, face to face and if he didn’t know he always came back later with an answer which revealed the truth, clarity and strong foundation of my birth faith.

Be patient, once the veil is removed from their eyes it is truly wondrous and miraculous to witness.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hello everyone. I thought about combining this with my other thread but I thought it would be best to keep them separate so I do not become confused as I have a tendency to do. ;):p:o

So, I have a friend who believes in God but he is opposed to all organized religions. He is in his mid 30s. How would I go about evangelizing such a person?

My first instinct is to evangelize by my way of life which I try to do but unfortunately I fail a lot. What other ways can I evangelize such a person?
Click to expand...
Such people are funny.
They learnt religion from organized society (like family, friends and organized religion: I mean, if it were not for organized religion they would not know nothing), yet they accept not the organized religiom.

But the best way to approach is to say “why” and “why” again to his answer and “why” again till you reach the bottom of his beliefs. then you see how shallow is their beliefs.
 
If he doesn’t like organized religion, ask him what he thinks of disorganized religion 🙂
 
it’s hard because they believe in God, but want to do whatever they personally believe.

so they become their own god, in a way.
 
Thanks everyone for your answers. I think that like Lemaitre said, I should simply try to live the Faith as best I can and be available when he asks questions.

I also like the approach that PaulToJesus came up; asking why when he says something. I’ll just have to be careful that I do not anger him.

I would appreciate everyone’s prayers for his conversion. 🙂
 
I have always found it useful to try to understand where someone is coming from, then inspire or challenge them to take a good look at themselves.

You might find this article from the CNN Belief Blog to be interesting:

“I’m spiritual but not religious” is a cop-out

Here’s an excerpt:
Those in the spiritual-but-not-religious camp are peddling the notion that by being independent - by choosing an “individual relationship” to some concept of “higher power”, energy, oneness or something-or-other - they are in a deeper, more profound relationship than one that is coerced via a large institution like a church.

That attitude fits with the message we are receiving more and more that “feeling” something somehow is more pure and perhaps, more "true” than having to fit in with the doctrine, practices, rules and observations of a formal institution that are handed down to us.

The trouble is that “spiritual but not religious” offers no positive exposition or understanding or explanation of a body of belief or set of principles of any kind.

What is it, this “spiritual” identity as such? What is practiced? What is believed?

The spiritual but not religious reflect the “me” generation of self-obsessed, truth-is-whatever-you-feel-it-to-be thinking, where big, historic, demanding institutions that have expectations about behavior, attitudes and observance and rules are jettisoned yet nothing positive is put in replacement.

At the heart of the spiritual but not religious attitude is an unwillingness to take a real position… Theirs is a world of fence-sitting, not-knowingess, but not-trying-ness either.
Click to expand...
 
Nan_S said:
I have always found it useful to try to understand where someone is coming from, then inspire or challenge them to take a good look at themselves.

You might find this article from the CNN Belief Blog to be interesting:

“I’m spiritual but not religious” is a cop-out

Here’s an excerpt:

Those in the spiritual-but-not-religious camp are peddling the notion that by being independent - by choosing an “individual relationship” to some concept of “higher power”, energy, oneness or something-or-other - they are in a deeper, more profound relationship than one that is coerced via a large institution like a church.

That attitude fits with the message we are receiving more and more that “feeling” something somehow is more pure and perhaps, more "true” than having to fit in with the doctrine, practices, rules and observations of a formal institution that are handed down to us.

The trouble is that “spiritual but not religious” offers no positive exposition or understanding or explanation of a body of belief or set of principles of any kind.

What is it, this “spiritual” identity as such? What is practiced? What is believed?

The spiritual but not religious reflect the “me” generation of self-obsessed, truth-is-whatever-you-feel-it-to-be thinking, where big, historic, demanding institutions that have expectations about behavior, attitudes and observance and rules are jettisoned yet nothing positive is put in replacement.

At the heart of the spiritual but not religious attitude is an unwillingness to take a real position… Theirs is a world of fence-sitting, not-knowingess, but not-trying-ness either."
Click to expand...
👍
 
I heard someone on radio call in one evening and say that they prayed at home, read the bible, and didn’t see the need of going to church.

This is a valid objection and one that needs an answer because there are any number of people who accept this and act on it. Whether catholic or not, they need to go to church.

“I am the vine, you are the branches.” Jesus

We are one not individuals. We are part of one another and belong to one another. We belong on the same vine and receive what we need because we are a part of that vine. Charity hindges on this, that is love of God and love for one another. We are all one.

“I am the good shepherd.” Jesus

We belong to a flock, a group. We are one. Not only individuals.

There are other examples of this. But basically, we are saved because we belong. The sign we belong is to be together and support one another in prayer and other ways. We cannot do this alone, we need to be together as one, caring for one another. This is where our real strength comes from and makes us strong for God’s purposes. The sacraments are a sign of this oneness with each other and with Jesus.

In eternity we will not be just individuals, but a mystical body, united with one another and all the angels.

We are social animals. That is part of us, to be together, not lonely, or alone. We need one another and we need to give to one another. That is what we are and how we were made.

The church recognizes all of this and so we go to church on sunday together, praying for one another and supporting one another in our faith, love, and hope, and material possessions if need be, united to those around the world, in purpose and intention.

Just a few thoughts.
 
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