Seeing Seculars Through Jesus’ Eyes

Numbers are numbers until you add a name to them.

Lights flashed in the darkness, and emergency vehicles blocked the small road leading to my village. An officer at the site of what appeared to be a major accident gently told me to turn around and drive the 45 minutes to enter the village from the opposite side.

I wondered if I knew the victims. “What are the car models involved?” I asked the officer. His answer pierced my heart—the model and color matched my parents’ car. I waited 10 minutes while he went to check the plates. Those were probably the worst 10 minutes of my life. I was praying constantly, hoping my parents were safe.

Finally, he returned. The plate number was different. Relief.

“Are they OK?” I asked about the victims.

He responded in the affirmative. “They will be in the hospital for a while, but it’s nothing really critical.”

I thanked God again. He saved those people.

It made me think about how different it was to process the thought that my parents were inside that car compared to how it felt when I learned that they were strangers.

Numbers are numbers until you know them personally.

Why am I telling you this? Secularism has reached almost 25 percent of the world’s population.[1] With 1.9 billion, it makes nonaffiliated people the third-largest “religious” group after Christianity and Islam. What began in Europe and spread to the rest of the West is now present on every continent and in every region worldwide.

It affects not only Christian countries. In younger generations it is becoming a great spiritual pandemic. One out of four inhabitants in this world is either detached from religion or disenchanted with the divine.

Numbers are numbers. But who are they?

Who Are the Seculars?

“Secular” refers to things belonging to the present age rather than to the sacred. It describes a society in which public life operates independent of any reference to God. Within this worldview ideas such as truth, ethics, and purpose are grounded in human reasoning and personal experience rather than divine revelation.

The term post-Christian describes cultures and people that were once shaped by Christian moral and spiritual values but no longer live under their influence or authority. These societies continue to employ such moral concepts as compassion, justice, and dignity; however, these values are now often detached from their original theological foundation. In a post-Christian world, belief becomes one choice among many rather than a shared social assumption.

At its core, secularism redefines the center of reality. Where faith once placed God at the heart of meaning and morality, secular and post-Christian thought now enthrones the self. Personal choice becomes sacred, and authenticity replaces transcendence. The human being, rather than God, becomes the final measure of truth, purpose, and goodness.

Paradoxically, as secularism grows, spiritual interest does not disappear; it diversifies. Millions now describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. They reject institutional faith but seek mindfulness, energy, or connection with something bigger. People want spirituality without submission, meaning without community, transcendence without doctrine.

Yet this search reveals a deep hunger. Behind yoga mats, crystals, or personal rituals is a longing for community, identity, and hope. Beneath skepticism there remains an unextinguished desire for eternity and transcendence.

Numbers are numbers until you know their story.

One Out of 1.9 Billion

Cora is a 30-year-old woman who grew up in an atheist environment, though she had always had a certain openness to the spiritual world. As her life unfolded, she began to sense that there must be a greater force beyond herself. She called it “the universe,” without seeing it as a personal God.

Once she began her job in Lausanne, a city in beautiful Switzerland, she decided to pursue a long-held dream: learning to play the cello. While searching online, she found a teacher who was an Adventist and who spoke openly about his faith in God. What began as a teacher-student relationship transformed into deeper discussions around spirituality. Through their conversations Cora began to understand for the first time that the “universe” she believed in could, in fact, be the God of the Bible.

After a long journey, supported and accompanied by several believers along the way, Cora eventually found her place at the Awake Seventh-day Adventist Church, a church plant in Lausanne to reach secular people. There she discovered not only others who shared her faith but also a family and a nurturing environment for her spiritual growth.

Mission and evangelism are accomplished when the church dwells among people, mingling and ministering to their needs, not merely planning events and programs.

Through one-to-one Bible studies, community activities, and moments of worship, her faith deepened and flourished. Today Cora says, “The Awake community has allowed me to develop a real connection with my faith. I appreciate the openness that welcomes every person and every question. I have finally been able to identify myself as a Christian.”

Her story is not yet finished, because God continues to reveal Himself to humanity each day. Her friends at the Awake community are grateful to have her among them and to witness God at work in her life.

Cora’s story is a wonderful example of discipleship based on Christ’s method: “The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’ ”[2]

Her journey to Christ was shaped by five keys to mission among secular people, and these serve as a life-giving framework for building genuine friendships with such post-Christians as Cora.

1. Prayerful Attitude

• Begin with prayer. Pray regularly for your friends, not that they become “projects,” but that they experience peace, hope, and clarity through your friendship.

• Continue to pray. Pray for your speech to “always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:6, NASB).

• Do not stop praying. Every time you pray for someone, you are desiring good for that person, considering their needs, and being intentional and present.

2. Intentional Presence, Missional Mindset

At the heart of these four keys is incarnational presence, modeled after Jesus’ own choice to set aside His distance and make His dwelling among us (see John 1:14). Paul expands the implications of the Incarnation, speaking of Jesus, who, “though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6, NLT).[3]

The church is called to emulate Christ’s action toward humanity. Mission and evangelism are accomplished when the church dwells among people, mingling and ministering to their needs, not merely planning events and programs. When the church dwells among people, God’s presence becomes more visible, and people begin to know Jesus.

The goal of the church is not merely to proclaim Jesus, but especially to invite people to have an intimate relationship with Him. “Knowing” in the Bible has a twofold dimension. First, the cognitive-intellectual approach, the acknowledgment of someone’s existence, as fallen angels believe and know God (James 2:19). The second is relational, describing an intimate relationship between two persons. The church, as the new royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), has the responsibility to accomplish the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:16-21) through constant presence and blessing to humanity.

3. Authenticity

Secular culture often values authenticity, yet people rarely experience it—many present filtered versions of themselves, longing for genuine connection but fearing rejection. Genuine authenticity means living without pretense, being honest about doubts, pain, and imperfection. When Christians practice this kind of honesty, they create safe spaces in which others can be real too.

Authenticity is not incompatible with curiosity. To blend these in practice, ask questions that reveal genuine interest: “What inspires you?” or “What gives you energy and passion these days?” or “What makes you say that?” Curiosity opens hearts.

Jesus asked far more questions than He answered. Questions trigger reflection, while strong affirmations sometimes can close doors. Questions help us understand people’s beliefs and values, helping us know them better. When the moment comes, then principles can be shared in a way that shows how they are rooted and shaped in the Scriptures.

4. Community

“It takes a village to raise a child” says the proverb. When Jesus sent the disciples on a mission, He sent them in pairs. Personal witnessing is essential. So is your personal relationship with the individual.

But mission does not happen in a vacuum, nor does it happen individually. Different testimonies, different experiences, and different perspectives are needed to grow strong in faith. It takes a church to raise a disciple. Cora’s story is not finished, but the Bible promises, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

5. A Commission

Jesus commissioned us to make disciples, and He reminds us in Revelation 14 that the true gospel must be preached to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, including those who have a distorted image of God, the secularized, and the post-Christians.

Numbers stop being numbers when they are seen through Jesus’ eyes.

When we see people through Jesus’ eyes, they become God’s children. They matter in a way we could not comprehend before. And as we learn to love them as Jesus does, we also discover that there is no higher purpose in life than being part of their journey to the Father.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/how-the-global-religious-landscape-changed-from-2010-to-2020/

[2] Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1905), p. 143.

[3] Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.