"I'm Satisfied With My Religion!"
Did you ever hear that statement? Of course you have. It is the usual, ordinary, and commonly expected response to nearly all initial approaches on the subject of religion. It is your task to bring your untaught friend to such a state of dissatisfaction that he will be open and receptive to the salvation Christ has to offer. For no matter how well-versed you are in the gospel, and no matter how willing your friend is to study and discuss the Bible with you, you will NEVER convert a man to Christ until he, himself, realizes his need. If he does not realize that he is lost, he will have little interest in being 'saved.'
"Are You Satisfied With Your Life?"
When your friend says, "I am satisfied with my religion," you may well respond, "Of course you are. Nearly everybody is satisfied with his religion. But are you satisfied with your life?"Many a man is aware of great needs in his own life which he does not consciously relate to religion at all. But when analyzed, these "needs" get right back to the basic tenets of a man's religious attitudes and convictions. For example, here is a man who is `satisfied with his religion,' but who in facing the death of a loved one has a terrible feeling of fright and insecurity. His 'religion' simply has no meaning for him in the dark hour of tragedy and grief. Or, here is another man who has high ideals and a noble picture of the kind of man he wants to be and the kind of life he would like to live — but who finds himself over and over again falling short, failing miserably to live up to the best he knows. Like Paul he can say: "But I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I know not; for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do....for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. For the good which I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I 'practice." (Rom. 7:15-19.) If one does not relate his 'religion' to his 'life', he may well be completely happy in the former, and completely miserable in the latter.
"I am satisfied with my religion," your friend says. But is he? Really? Perhaps he is facing tremendous responsibilities and anxieties in trying to instill principles of truth and right, or moral character, into the lives and hearts of children which have been given him by God. Is his 'religion' helping him in all the great crises of life? Does it give him quiet confidence, calm assurance, and a steady and solid "rock in a time of storm?" There is a lot more to a man's religion' than having his name on some church roll somewhere. "Religion" is a wonderfully personal and intimate relationship between a man and his God. And it is certainly true that there are thousands of people who consider themselves good members of this or that church — but who have no religion at all! They have never really encountered the Lord; they have no personal feeling about Jesus Christ in any way. Their 'religion' is a weak and watery sort of traditional hand-me-down from their forefathers. Well may they sing, "Faith of our Fathers," for that is exactly what they have — their fathers' faith, not their own.
Realizing That One Is Lost
But how to awaken your friend? How to make him aware of his need, that he is truly LOST, that is the problem. Here, of all places, it is going to be essential that one's own relationship to Christ be true and genuine. For we will find that true Christianity is probably more often "caught" than "taught." If your friend sees in your own heart and life the qualities which he knows are lacking in his; if he sees moral strength and courage instead of weakness and vacillation; if he senses a glowing purpose and meaning to your life which he knows he does not have in his own life, this will speak with greater power than ten thousand words! What you ARE will speak far more convincingly than what you say. It is hard to argue against a demonstration. And when the man who is 'satisfied with his religion' sees that your personal relationship with Christ is giving a beauty and a quality to your every-day existence when he can't even begin to approximate in his own life, he is likely to become UN-satisfied with his religion. You simply introduce him to the Lord — by what you are, as well as by what you say.
Specific Points Of Attack
Remember always that your friend is LOST without Christ; and it is your task to help him realize and understand that he is lost. Timing may be important. A proper approach in a time of great sorrow, or anxiety, or failure in his life may be more productive than when all goes well and he is free of trouble or anxiety or sorrow. Assume always that your friend is willing and eager to obey the truth; it is only a question of time until he understands and accepts it. If he insists that he is `satisfied with his religion,' help him to see that no man's religion is adequate until it is in harmony with the TRUTH of God's word. No matter how happy and satisfied one may be in what he believes, unless his religion squares with God's truth, he is living in a fool's paradise of illusion and deception. Saul of Tarsus is the classic example of a man who was 'satisfied with his religion' and was at the same time the `chiefest of sinners.' It could happen to anyone.
— F. Y. T.