First of all, let me respond by saying that this is precisely why Jesus told us to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Jesus taught that salvation is found only in Himself, and He has entrusted the sharing of that extremely urgent message to His followers.
With that said, however, (and after having been asked this same question many times myself while sharing with unbelievers), I believe there is oftentimes an underlying ulterior motivation for asking it. If it sounds cynical to ask—“Do you really think unbelievers are that concerned about those who have never heard?”—then I’m sorry.
It seems to me that the unbeliever may be attempting to move the spotlight of God’s scrutiny away from his own situation, and also from having to face Jesus Christ as his only hope of salvation. If an unbeliever can center the conversation around some unknown person far away, perhaps even a hypothetical person whom he has never met, it keeps him from having to confront the convicting truth of God’s Word for himself.
I’m reminded of the time shortly after Jesus’ resurrection in John 21 where the Lord confronts Peter, asking him three times if he loves Him. I’m sure we are all very familiar with this story, but the end of the story is the part that has always fascinated me. Yet we seldom hear anyone teach or preach about these last few verses of John’s gospel.
After Peter confesses his love for Christ the third time, Jesus responds by saying, “Feed my sheep.” Then in the next few verses the Lord prophesies about Peter’s death and finally instructs Peter, saying, “Follow me!” Peter’s reaction, however, is to look back over his shoulder at John and say, “What about him?”
Peter seems to be attempting to turn Christ’s focus from himself to John, but the Lord brings His words squarely back to Peter and says, “What is that to you? You must follow me” (emphasis mine).
It seems that each of us, whether we are a believer or not, finds it difficult to have God’s searching eyes focused directly upon our own life. It is often easier to divert attention to someone else, so that we don’t have to personally deal with Jesus and His demands. Yet He lovingly stands knocking at the heart of an unbeliever (and in the midst of the lives of His children) and says, “Follow Me!”
Each of us is guilty of trying to shift the focus to someone else, while our loving Lord stands by asking, “Who will follow Me today?”
What will be my answer?