How Would You Minister to a Pagan?

            Every day we encounter people who have different belief systems. I believe there is a key to reaching each person. I always ask the Holy Spirit to show me how to minister to the people I run into. Sometimes I am able to lead someone to the Lord; often I fail. Today, I crashed and burned…

            I met a man in the Atlanta airport today who is a self-proclaimed pagan. He was born a Baptist, but raised hell as a young man, now he is a girl’s volleyball coach. He is well read and has thought through his belief system. He does not believe there is a God who cares about him individually as a person, but he does believe in pagan fertility rites and Zen Buddhism.

            His life philosophy comes from his volleyball coaching experience. He said, “Whoever gets the most playing time in life wins.” He said the point of life was to have fun, to play, to spend time in the game.

            I shared my testimony with him and gave him a brief overview of the Gospel. He accused me of believing in a “closed-loop system.” He said that once I accepted “by faith” the existence of God and chose to believe the Bible, that I was closed to any other way of thinking. He said that my religion was no different than any other intolerant religion. After a few minutes of talking, he walked away to catch his flight.

            My question is: How would you have ministered to him? What would you have said to bring him to Jesus?