Rick and his girlfriend came to the center for a free pregnancy test and to discover their options should the test show a positive result. Having a baby would jeopardize Rick’s job. Sandy wanted nothing to do with adoption alternatives. They had no interest in life-giving options, only those that would terminate the possible pregnancy.

Rick told me that for many years he felt like his parents’ failure-to-launch child. He finally found a steady job and income managing an adult care home. His employment contract required him to live on site. His living space was small, intended for a single person. He could not see moving his girlfriend and a baby in there with him. That would not please the owners of the home. And, it would distract him from his very busy work schedule. At the same time, he couldn’t feel good about leaving Sandy to manage a baby on her own.

I asked the young man if he considered himself to be a Christian. He said, no. I believe in God. I’m a good person. I believe good people go to heaven. End of story. I don’t go into it any more deeply than that. His girlfriend nodded in agreement.

He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14

Today, our culture assumes that we humans really are good people. The truth is that in its natural state, humanity lives in separation of God. This shows up as unceasing self-centeredness. When working with those who believe in God, but have no awareness of the Gospel message, we can cultivate spiritual growth by introducing them to the Savior. We can help them to see how knowing Christ can rescue us from the power of darkness that blinds our minds, tempts us toward dark works and holds us captive.

Minds Blinded to Need

We can tell others about the Prince of Darkness who, though once an angel of light, now rules the darkness of this world. His kingdom is about blinding the minds of those who don’t believe so they can’t see their need for rescue from their natural human darkness. We can share how the gospel message opened our own eyes.

Delighting in Dark Works

The Prince of Darkness delights in works of darkness and tempts humanity to tread there. He exercises his power over God’s created beings and he works quite effectively on those apart from Christ. We can ask others if they see the Prince of Darkness at work in their lives. In their honesty, many have admitted to this. It always serves as a reminder that God goes with me.

Captivity to Darkness

The Prince of Darkness holds people captive at his will. He keeps them in darkness and goes so far as to increase the natural darkness of the human mind. We can share the fact that nothing less than the power of Christ can deliver humanity out of captivity. Especially, we can tell them how Christ did that for us.

In cultivating the spiritual soil of those who believe in God but have no awareness of Christ, we do well to help them understand that being a good person involves being filled with the knowledge of God’s will so that in all spiritual wisdom, we may lead lives worthy of the Lord and fully pleasing to him (Colossians 1:9-10).