The great commission: Coping with pluralism

Diversity and tolerance are often promoted today. Pluralism is when multiple groups coexist within society. We can have multi-culturalism, multi-political groups, and multi-religious groups. How can a Christian cope with pluralism?

This post is based on a presentation by Dr Darrell Bock of the of the Dallas Theological Seminary.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mt. 28:18–20NIV).

This passage only has one command: to make disciples of all nations. To offer the gospel to anyone and everyone no matter where they come from, no matter what their background, social status, or culture is. We are to be offering the gospel and making disciples of all nations by engaging with people outside the church. These people are the goal, not the enemy.

And we do that by doing three things:

1. We go into the world. We don’t wait in church; we go into the world to make disciples.
2. We baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit when they respond.
3. We teach them to obey everything that He commanded.

And as we do that, we remember that we’re never alone, because Jesus will empower us until He returns.

Why is this important?

Here are some statistics on the United States to give you context on where Australia fits in the world. A poll by the Pew Research Center examined the amount of people who self-proclaim to be Christian versus the amount who say they don’t have a religious affiliation at all (the “Nones”). In 1972, 90% of the US population self-identified as Christian. By 2021, that number dropped to 63%. The number of religiously unaffiliated went from 5% in 1972 to 29% in 2021,

In New Zealand the “Nones” are 52%. Over half the population! They have increased by 58% in the last decade. Only 32% self-identify as Christian and 22% of these indicate no denominational connection. That has doubled since 2013. The institutional church is losing its credibility and presence in the world.

In the 2021 census, 39% of Australians claimed “no religion” (33% in NSW, 36% in Queensland, 39% in Victoria) compared to 44% claiming to be Christian. That number is growing at such a pace that at some point pretty soon, the number of religious nones in Australia will outnumber the people who self proclaim as Christian. In 1971, only 7% claimed no religion (in 2016 it was 30%) while 86% identified as Christian (in 2016 it was 52%). The growth in “no religion” is large among the youngest group (46% of 15-to-24-year-olds). If this trend continues, in the census this month there will be more people declaring “no religion” than there will be declaring to be Christians.

Yet, 56% Australians say they believe in God and 60% say they pray! This shows that the census numbers reflect attitudes about institutional Christianity. It indicates that there is still spiritual interest – so there is something to discuss. There is an underlying belief that something is out there behind the physical world. That’s important. People are still open to think about God.

Pluralism

Pluralism means there are multiple ways to live. There are many choices just a click away. Due to the technological revolution, we are more tightly connected than ever before.

Alongside this, there’s a loss of a Judeo-Christian framework at the center of the culture. We’ve gone from being the “home team” to the “visiting team”—and not just visitors, but the rivals who get booed!

I compare the world to a Middle Eastern bazaar, full of all kinds of stalls selling different ways to live. And some of these are bizarre! So what do you do when you say “we are made in God’s image,” but the person you’re talking to has no idea about God or the soul? What are they hearing? That’s the challenge with a religious none. Shutting down is not the answer. The great commission doesn’t say “go into the world and be quiet.” There is a way to engage that relies on your skill to ask good questions.

When you share your faith with people who don’t share it, you are in the business of creating categories they currently don’t have. You are building a bridge to the categories so they can understand what you are going to say. We do it primarily relationally—by how we connect to people and by showing our faith, not just talking about it. We’re called to be light. How much talking does light do? None! It displays. In the play Hamilton, there’s a line: “Talk less, smile more”. I want to tweak that for the church: “Talk less, show more”. What we talk about has to be on display. We are to be like a light. A light doesn’t talk, it shows.

The gospel is an invitation into a new and better life—a note of hope, not anger or frustration. To do this, you need a “spiritual GPS reading” on the other person: understand where they are coming from. The only skill required is the ability to be a good listener and ask good questions.

James 1:19–20 says: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

This is a contrast to the world’s version of this verse, “Everyone should be slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry, because my anger lets you know where I really stand”.

Four questions

What do people hear when we share our faith? This is anybody who is not theologically inclined—how they hear us and how we have to think about that while we’re communicating the gospel.

There are four questions that the gospel assumes, but the nones don’t. They need to be understood before anything we share about Jesus makes sense to them.

Here are four foundational questions to keep in mind:

1. Is there one God? Is there one Creator God who made us in His image for a relationship? That is where Paul started at Athens (Acts 17:24-25). In this sense we are all God’s children.
2. When we say “the Bible says” or “God says”, what do they hear? To a non-believer it means “nothing”. The Bible doesn’t mean anything to them. The idea of God speaking may not be a category that they have. The Bible is a disclosure from God. So something is in the Bible because it’s already true. It’s true on its own terms. It’s the best way to see and think about life. We must explain on its own terms why God’s way is the best way to live for everyone (like Paul in Acts 17).
3. How unique is it to say Jesus is both human and divine? Out of an estimated 119 billion human beings who have lived, only one (Jesus) credibly claims to be the Creator God incarnate. That is creating a category many people don’t have. It’s a unique category because Jesus is unique
4. Do you realize you are accountable to this God whether you recognize it or not?

If there is a creator God who created us in His image and made us to be in relationship with Him and who has communicated about what that relationship should look like and has sent someone to reflect what that relationship is supposed to be and we are accountable to that creator God who’s designed us for that relationship, then these are four questions that we should pay attention to.

When you engage with that in the background, listen for values that can build a bridge that will allow you to build categories that they don’t have. People won’t care about the gospel’s critique of sin until they know you care about them. Put your doctrinal meter on “mute” initially (we are not interested if they are right or wrong), don’t respond to what we think is wrong (avoid a debate) but ask, “Why do you think that? Where does that come from?” Show respect, and care for them. Try to relate to them before challenging them. Doing this sets a tone for when it is your turn to speak. Our tone matters, we are not in a cultural war. Our battle is not against people, but against spiritual forces in heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). Be prepared. Know what makes Jesus unique. Serve and care for them. You don’t need to know their worldview or the answers to the questions that they might raise in order to get to know the person. You just need to be able to ask questions. It catches them by surprise because they wonder why you care.

The gospel

The gospel has two core parts: a challenge regarding sin, and an invitation into life as God designed it. The gospel isn’t just about dodging hell or forgiveness of sins on the cross; the cross (forgiveness of sin) clears the decks so that we can be connected to the living God and walk with Him in new life starting today. It’s a hope that starts today. It’s about a new life. We’re not just waiting for something coming in the future.

Peter uses the word “hope” to summarize the Christian faith, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Pt. 3:15). When we engage with the world, this hope should be conveyed in a tone of gentleness and respect.

The early church

The church began and grew in a pluralistic world when they had no social power, no cultural power, and no political power. All they had was spiritual power. Here are some examples of how they did it.

When they were facing persecution, they prayed: “ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:29-31). And the prayer got answered immediately.

Notice what they didn’t pray for: They didn’t ask God to punish their enemies, and they didn’t ask for the persecution to be removed. They prayed for boldness in speaking about what was unique about Jesus and for God to continue serving and healing the very people pushing against them. We should be prepared to do the same. Like Jeremiah 29:7 where Israel was called to serve the city of Babylon (a pagan city) while they were in exile, we are called to show care and service to our surrounding world. It doesn’t take miracles to do this. The history of the church shows them caring for the needy and establishing hospitals, orphanages, and the Red Cross. This is pre-evangelism – clearing the way so we can get to the gospel.

In Acts 19, Paul was in an Ephesian culture dominated by the massive Temple of Artemis. ^“Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” (Acts 19:8-11).

The result was that, “Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power” (Acts 19:18-20). This represented 50,000 work-days, or 8,300 work-weeks or 160 years of worker wages! That’s a lot of money.

Change didn’t come by passing a law to prohibit magic; it came from changed hearts through the gospel. The only change that really matters is a gospel that can change hearts from within.

You need to appreciate the limits of politics because we’ve been through the experiment in the Old Testament of God being present and God’s laws being present and we know the results in the history of Israel. They failed repeatedly. At the end of the Old Testament we get the new covenant because they struggled under the old covenant. God said He would forgive their sins and put His Spirit within them (Ezek. 36:25-27). Nothing changes without a changed heart. Nothing changes without the gospel that we’re called to share with others.

Growth comes from changed hearts from within. Without this, nothing really changes. Because of a changed heart, that which is wrong should be corrected and we come to care more about others, even those different to us.

Lessons for us

Evangelism in part is about creating categories that people may not currently have while building bridges. Our goal is to get a spiritual GPS reading on someone, looking for what makes them tick. We need to know where they are before beginning our conversation about spiritual things. We do this relationally, by setting a tone. We “talk less, show more”. We care for people. We listen for values that can build bridges. To understand comes before assessing. And to relate comes before challenging, because the gospel is full of challenge. Be prepared. Know what makes Jesus unique. Serve and care for them. You don’t need to know their worldview or the answers to the questions that they might raise in order to get to know the person.

Jesus said that He came to rescue the spiritually oppressed, who needed a change of heart from within (Lk. 4:18-19). There is no need to fear what is happening in our world. 1 John 4:4 reminds us: “Greater is He [God the Holy Spirit] who is in us than He who is in the world.” Do we believe that? Let your faith and care be on display as light in a dark world. Listen and learn, looking for values that can be a bridge builder. Relate to them. Connect with them, so that when you share the challenge of the gospel their reaction is – “I don’t have that category, but the way you relate to me and the way you live makes me wonder whether that category is worth pursuing”. Be prepared to discuss what is unique about Christ. Be light. Serve to show God cares. The absence of such care removes the ground-work for the gospel. It says, I don’t care about you.

And if you don’t know Jesus, consider His uniqueness. It may save you a lot of work to make sense out of this life and give you purpose. Jesus came to show us who we were designed to be and how we can get there.

That’s how you cope with pluralism. You be light. You love. You serve. You listen. And you point them to Jesus who helps make sense of our world.

Acknowledgement

This post comes from a presentation by Dr Darrell Bock of the Dallas Theological Seminary.

Posted, August 2026