What is your idea of a tough neighborhood? Is it boarded up windows, dilapidated housing, trash-strewn yards, crime-ridden streets. My idea of a tough neighborhood for the gospel is a gated community, pristine housing, manicured landscaping, golf courses, a spa, art galleries, museums, and fine dining. I know, because I live there.

Research (Thom S. Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door, Zondervan, 2003) indicates that three factors make my community a tough neighborhood for the gospel. Those three factors are wealth, education and age.

It has been demonstrated that the higher an individual’s income, the more resistant to the gospel he or she is likely to be.  Jesus said that “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) Wealth and the accumulation of possessions can be a hindrance to receiving and following Jesus. If our primary relationships are among the wealthier of society, and if our congregation is located in an affluent area, the likelihood exists that we will find greater resistance to the gospel.

In addition, the more educated the people, the less open they are to issues of faith. The more highly educated see religion as a crutch for the less educated. They cannot understand why people would believe in anything they could not prove scientifically. Among those who are unchurched, the older the person, the more they have avoided church, and have stayed in control of their lives, the less likely they will be open to the gospel.

In the parable of the sower Jesus taught that some “seeds fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.”  (Luke 8:5) Jesus explained that the seed is the word of God and that “those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12) Those whose hearts are hardened to the gospel, don’t let the written and spoken word of God enter their lives. They reject any information about God, revelation, and faith. The devil removes it from them lest they change their minds and believe. The combination of a hard and skeptical heart, and a deceiving spirit prevents a person from being open to spiritual truth.

The combination of wealth, education, and age does not have to prevent a person from being a follower of Christ. These factors are not negative in themselves. But the profile of the older, wealthy, educated person who is unchurched, is that they are resistant to the gospel of Jesus. They have a very skeptical view of anything supernatural. They attempt to provide rational explanations for events we Christians would describe as miraculous. For them, Jesus may have existed as a good man who did good deeds, but he certainly was not the Son of God. They do not believe in the resurrection, or heaven or hell. They do not believe in life beyond this mortal life. They do not pray. Why is this? Why do people who are wealthy, educated and older avoid the church and reject the gospel?

Their wealth insulates them from facing up to their needs. Wealth and the accumulation of possessions can be a hindrance to receiving Christ. Wealth becomes the object of devotion and precludes faith in Christ.

Education can be a source of pride and superiority over others. When you think that you know all the answers, and can dismiss from consideration any possibility of knowledge from a source other than science, then you can become closed to truth.

Age can nurse wounds that were suffered many years ago. Nearly seven out of ten unchurched people who are resistant to the gospel, and have an antagonistic attitude, have a specific recollection of a negative church experience from their childhood or youth. Their hurt and bitterness is so intense that they carry it throughout their lives. They are often angry at events in their lives for which they blame God or the church. They need healing and are in deep personal pain.

As a group, the wealthy, educated, older unchurched seem to have a nonchalant attitude about eternal destiny. Many seem amused and condescending in their attitudes about others who believe such myths.

How do we reach this recalcitrant group? What do we say to them? Is there any hope for their redemption? Should we write them off and put our resources into other more receptive unchurched groups?

They will respond to loving care at crises in their lives. Serious illness may make them more vulnerable and open to you. When they see that you are genuine in your love they will receive offers of prayer and appropriate resources, such as books. They need our prayers and encouragement. Some will respond to invitations to join you for church classes or worship. Many, who were formerly unchurched, can recall lengthy periods in their lives during which they were resistant and antagonistic to the gospel. They were moved to a point of greater receptivity to the gospel and the church through the persistent and long-term concern of a Christian friend.

Barry Q., a formerly unchurched man from Sacramento explained it this way: “Ten years ago I hated God. I hated the church, and I hated Christians. My dad was killed in an automobile accident when I was fifteen, and I blamed God for his death. Phillip was my best friend in high school, and he never forgot about me. He stayed in touch with me. I knew he was a Christian but he never judged me. Even when I would scream at him in my anger with God, he never retaliated. I can’t explain any one event that caused my pain and bitterness to subside. It almost seemed like a gradual event. When I finally decided to go to church, I already knew that God was working in my life. And when I finally accepted Jesus, it was not a moment from hatred to love, from darkness to light. It almost seemed like the natural thing to do. Phillip never stopped caring, never stopped praying, and never stopped being my friend.”

Many unchurched people in our community are difficult to reach. Many have barriers of intellectual pride. Some have barriers of material wealth. Others have a life experience that has turned them against God and the church. They are difficult, but not impossible to reach. Remember with God all things are possible. We should be about the business of loving and serving our neighbors into a point of greater receptivity to the gospel.

After hearing Jesus say how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, the disciples were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:25,26)

This is a God thing. It requires genuine love for our friends, and the willingness to pray for them. The only way the ground or pavement of the human heart, that has been hardened by wealth, education, or personal pain, can be softened enough to receive the gospel, is through the supernatural action of the love of God which comes through prayer and human friendship. We cannot expect to reach our unchurched friends, neighbors, and family members if we are not men and women of prayer. Begin each day with a prayer similar to this: “According to your will, Lord, guide me today to help someone with whom I can share the love of Christ.”

Mark M., a lifelong Floridian rarely attended church during the first thirty-six years of his life. Through persistent and loving invitations to church by his fellow-employee Chad, Mark finally agreed to go to church with him. He liked what he saw. “I’m not sure what I expected,” Mark said enthusiastically. “But it was so much better than I thought possible. I went with Chad the next two Sundays, and then I started going on my own.” Mark was a lifelong unchurched person. “My parents never went to church,” Mark said. “I never really thought about attending, it just wasn’t on my agenda. No one had ever invited me to church before in all my life. When I was in college, some holy roller Christians started harassing me, and I let them have it. I realized then that I did not like Christians at all.” But circumstances and time helped move Mark to a more receptive posture. “By the time Chad invited me to church, I guess I was neutral, perhaps open to discussion. I moved to being receptive to the gospel and to the church, and then to seeking for answers after I started coming to church.” For every Mark, who came out of a tough neighborhood, there is a Chad, who persisted in inviting him to join him at church. In our tough neighborhood we can be a Chad to the Marks we know.

Who do you know in your tough neighborhood who is unchurched? Pray for them. Invite them to join you at church. Be a friend. Be genuinely interested in them. You never know how much they crave your friendship. As people age they lose their friends and can be very lonely. Show them “what a friend we have in Jesus.”