We’ve been exploring what spiritually open people hope to get out of their conversations about faith. But what do they bring into those conversations?

For Christians or church leaders who are engaging with non-Christians, it’s important to grasp the public’s existing baseline of beliefs about God, Jesus and more. This can go a long way in being precise and building trust and connection through conversations or sermons. It also can keep people in the Church from making assumptions about the ideas or worldviews of those outside the Church; they may be surprised by just how prevalent Christian beliefs are among the non-Christian public, especially those who are spiritually open.

“God Is Definitely Real—and Might Be Many Things”

In general, spiritually open non-Christians tend to be more accepting of foundational Christian beliefs about Jesus, heaven, the Bible and God than those who are not spiritually open. (Return to this article for more details on how we defined these categories. Here, we’re referring to the 48 percent of non-Christians who fall into high or moderate levels of openness as “spiritually open,” while those who are “not spiritually open” are the 52 percent of non-Christians who scored low on this metric.)

For instance, spiritually open non-Christians are significantly more likely to believe in God or a higher power than those who are not spiritually open. While, overall, 58 percent of non-Christians hold this belief, nearly all of spiritually open non-Christians (87%) do so, compared to only 23 percent of non-Christians without this openness.

While a significant 30 percent of non-Christians who are not spiritually open is simply unsure what they believe about God, about half (47%) firmly do not believe there is a God or higher power. When prompted elsewhere to identify what or who, exactly, God might be, these more spiritually closed non-Christians are consistent in their conclusions: 42 percent say there is no such thing as God. There is a whopping difference on this point, as only 4 percent of spiritually open non-Christians do not believe there is a God.

Instead, spiritually open non-Christians are more likely to lean toward a more traditional Christian understanding of God. More than one-third (36%) believes “God is the all-powerful, all knowing, perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today.” Only 14 percent of non-Christians who are not spiritually open agree with this statement.

On the other hand, a sizeable number of spiritually open non-Christians tend to embrace more relativistic or pluralistic beliefs about who God is. It’s possible, they say, that God represents a state of higher consciousness (17%) or that everyone is god (17%). There are many gods (14%), they suggest, or godhood could be something found in the realization of human potential (11%).

While a general spiritual openness leaves ample room for Christian beliefs about God, it is clearly not exclusive. This tracks with spiritually open non-Christians’ confidence that many religions can lead to eternal life (43% strongly agree).

“Jesus Walked the Earth—But Why?”

As we shift the focus to Jesus, we see a general agreement about the historical fact of his existence on earth. The majority of non-Christians, whether or not they are spiritually open, is at least somewhat certain that Jesus was a person who existed about 2,000 years ago.

Sorting out the spiritual or physical truths of Jesus’ existence, however, brings up more questions among non-Christians.

Spiritually open non-Christians express a few different views about Jesus in similar measure, sometimes affirming his presence as divine. About one in four says Jesus was a prophet of God (28%) or believes in an incarnational view of Jesus as God in human form (23%). One in five says he was just a normal human being (19%).

Meanwhile, the latter is the most common belief among non-Christians who are not spiritually open (34%). If they don’t assert that Jesus was strictly a normal human, they tend to express confusion over who Jesus is (24%) or believe Jesus is a fictional character (15%).

Some of the gaps in non-Christians’ beliefs about Jesus relate not only with their general spiritual openness but their specific connection to Jesus—in the past or present. We’ve noted that two in five spiritually open non-Christians (39%) say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important to them, something that is rare among other non-Christians (13%). Those in the Church can’t assume they are the only ones for whom Jesus holds deep and personal meaning.

Still, non-Christians’ ideas reveal conflicted perspectives about Christian tenets regarding Jesus’ life and significance. For instance, spiritually open non-Christians both agree Jesus was crucified and resurrected and agree that he committed sins. To them, these beliefs allow for what many Christians would think of as “salvation by works,” as opposed to salvation through faith in Jesus alone: One in three spiritually open non-Christians (33%) strongly agree that “if a person is generally good or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a pace in heaven.”

The spiritually open non-Christian tends to trust that Jesus is real, important and sacred; for what purpose, they are less certain.

Spiritual Openness Often Represents Common Ground

Why is there such openness to central aspects of Christianity among many of those who don’t consider themselves Christians?

Part of the reason may be that the U.S. is culturally Christian. Christian figures, themes and references are ingrained in much of our American history and norms. Exposure to Christianity is high, even if affiliation has declined; in fact, 72 percent of people in the U.S. say they were raised Christian.

Additionally, many non-Christians were raised Christian (including 37% of those who are spiritually open and 31% of those who are not). As we saw above, 39 percent of spiritually open non-Christians still profess having a commitment to Jesus that is important to them today. Even if they haven’t identified as a Christian, 61 percent in this spiritually open group have attended a Christian church or parish at some point.

What does this mean for Christians who are communicating, conversing or building relationships across lines of faith?

First, they should not expect they will be met with combative or even contradictory opinions. For instance, alongside a general warmth toward God and Jesus, spiritually open non-Christians have a perhaps unexpected reverence for scripture. They tend to agree the Christian Bible is both divinely inspired and completely accurate.

Additionally, Christians should expect that non-Christians take matters of faith seriously and personally. While some of their views may seem blurry or befuddling to someone currently practicing Christianity, these beliefs are revealing of non-Christians’ varied backstories—many of which wound through the Church at some point.

Sermons, conversations and resources that intend to connect with a spiritually open non-Christian may be more fruitful when they search curiously for common ground, rather than to root out ignorance or indifference.