I do find that problem a lot. I have friendships with many non-Christians, but my problem remains that when I speak of my faith at all, they tune out or walk away. Because God is the center of everything I do, they have a hard time grasping that the things I do aren’t for me or about me. I don’t do something solely for my own benefit any longer, and it frustrates them.

I can’t have a transparent relationship with non-Christians because when I am transparent, I am abandoned. Which pretty much ends the relationship.

I actually do have friendships with people I do not consider having professed their faith in Christianity. However, they are “good people”, people who I see promise in, and people I respect. Therefore, my challenge is to be transparent, in that they know where I stand in my faith, and my participation in Christian fellowship. I want them to see a difference in me, not as a stagnant Christian, but as an active one. Living my faith. I invited one such friend to the Easter service, who was very concerned about attending as he was not sure he’d be accepted. He Loved It! Buckhead Church does a wonderful job of offering acceptance to those who are not yet sure or strong in their faith. So, in essence, I think we as Christians can have authentic relationships with nonChristians. IF – (big IF) – we have accountability and also set the appropriate guardrails. Living transparently. Perhaps the greatest thing I admire in Jesus Christ, is that he could humble himself in non-Christian settings and have such a graciousness, that even non-Christians wanted to be in his presence.

I think that many if not most Christians are incapable of having honest, transparent, authentic relatioships. First of all, we can’t with our Christian friends because we don’t want to be judged. Then, we have to “be a light” to our pre-Christian friends, so that means we have to show them (our interpetation of) what Jesus is like. Then because we have no people to be honest with, we can’t be honest with ourselves and consequently, God… It is an aweful conundrum.

Another book that I hear is really good on this topic is:

Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.

I just purchased it the other day – haven’t read it yet but from my quick preview it looks good.

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this… but I find it easier to be transparent with my non-believing friends (and/or believing friends, but not practicing/church-going friends). They tend to be less judgemental. They accept me as a person, they accept my being a Christian, they accept me for me. I also accept them for who they are, be it homosexual, alcoholic, angry, etc. It is easy to love the person without loving their ailment/issue/religious preference.
I think when we accept them, we show them Christianity first hand. How are we any better than they are? Yes- we may be “saved” and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and are going to heaven when we pass, but we are not better.
We are called to love these non/ halfway believers. Some of us were probably one of those “non-believer friends” and look where we are today… We LOVE Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.
I don’t love the song I’m about to quote a line from, but I do love its message… “EVERYONE needs COMPASSION, the KINDNESS of a SAVIOR…”. I believe that we are the skin of Jesus here on earth. We have to love and engage with and be transparent with these non-believers to tear down the “religious” or “church” walls. They need to know that being a believer is not a building or a group of similar people or rules or fashion or popularity or money… it is simply a love story with a man named Jesus. We as believers are there to make the connection or the introduction.

It is true that Jesus spent most of His time rebuking religious people whose hearts were far from him. But remember the rich young ruler was not a pharisee, but a old time “Good Guy” who much like today thought his “good deeds” would make him acceptable to God. Jesus made it clear He needed to repent. Jesus was offensive to non-Christians who were unrepentant. Jesus was non-offensive to those who would repent. There is a fine line between being real with people and compromising the truths in Scripture that require biblical repentance. Some non-Christians will only be your friend if you don’t tell them they need to repent. All that being said, I don’t have it quite figured out …I had a transparent conversation with a non-Christian tonight who asked me, “What do you think about the fact that I am living with my girlfriend? Am I going to hell?” How am i supposed to respond?

Don’t misunderstand; Many of us have faith in God and Jesus. It is the christians and church organizations we reject. I have been to several churches and they rejected me because I am divorced. I will never be a part of their organizations because their interest is always “what can you give/do for us”. They have their inner circles and nembies are made to know right up front they are not wanted. One time I attended a service, alone, sat down, and a woman came up and told me I was in her seat, please move. I moved, right out the door. A baptist church sent me a letter demanding, not inviting but demanding, I take some workshop about baptist doctrine and threatened me if I didn’t I would not be considered for membership, and I had only gone to that church one time. I was looking to join God’s church, not the Baptist club. I also found that services are now a show, a rock concert, a vegas act. Sound systems so loud it was painful. I saw nothing nor heard anything about finding Jesus, and this was the same in every church I tried. I asked for an appointment with a minister and was told “he is too busy”. I found the hatred of those not like them sad and I will never want to be like them.