Because of his claim on truth, Jesus will be a stumbling block to many in this generation, but let’s not add extra, unnecessary offense—Jesus’ radical offer of undeserved grace is offensive enough. Though the truth may appear restrictive to bespoke spiritualists, this truth can set them free, as it has us (John 8:32).

During my master’s in philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, I shared the gospel with students from China, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Canada, the Philippines, England, the United States, and, of course, Scotland. The university is a bastion of progressive ideals, student activism, bureaucratic greed, and endemic secularism. By and large, however, I felt welcome in the 400-year-old research institution. The diverse, rigorous academic environment fostered perpetual nerding out over philosophy (sometimes to my wife’s chagrin). Several students became my fast friends over this shared passion.

I often encountered the view of faith sometimes called “bespoke spirituality,” a way of engaging with religion by picking and choosing beliefs and practices that “vibe” with you personally. The students I met were authentically open-minded to Christianity. However, they resisted (or often struggled to understand) the claim that Jesus is the only “way,” “truth,” and “life,” and that “no one comes to the Father except through [him]” (John 14:6).

Bespoke spirituality often gets a bad rap—it’s full of mumbo jumbo, crystals, astrology, and naive optimism. However, my philosophically minded peers always offered careful, considerate reasons for their perspectives. I’ve distilled these conversations into two core observations: intelligent folks (especially young people) hold to bespoke spirituality from pragmatic motivations and on epistemic grounds. These positions, in turn, offer believers a way to engage bespoke spiritualists with the gospel.

Pragmatic Motivations

Worldviews aren’t detached, abstract philosophical positions. Rather, as the name suggests, they provide vision to act in the world. Worldviews are pragmatic means of living based on experience as much as they are consciously decided on. And bespoke spirituality is a sensible, pragmatic position in today’s world.

Consider the effects of globalization and multiculturalism. To socially thrive among family, friends, academic peers, and coworkers, young adults need to skillfully accommodate a wide range of cultures, beliefs, and religious practices. Tolerance is society’s most expedient shared value. It’s a broad and shallow common denominator. You might have a distaste for praying in Latin but tolerate Catholics who do it. You might have a distaste for hijabs but tolerate those who wear them in your workplace. You may have a distaste for witchcraft but join in on a séance for fun as a show of friendship.

The profusion of bespoke spirituality and its various forms and practices prevents young people from emotionally wrestling with contradictions between faiths or unpalatable theological beliefs like divine judgment and hell. Proximity used to suffice to find common worldviews; now, we must learn to live harmoniously with people of radically different faiths.

As a matter of both intellectual and social survival, most young people will judge spiritual claims and religious practices by a tried-and-true criteria: Does it work for me? The example of nutrition parallels nicely. In the face of conflicting dietary opinions, it’s better to make the deciding factor “Does it work for my body?”

The youngest generations are, mostly, not nihilistic. They don’t abandon spirituality altogether, and scant few are hard-nosed atheists. They want to live according to meaningful, idealistic values. Therefore, while arguments, reason, and evidence are significant to them, when it comes to spirituality, they’re concerned with what works for them.

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