I think there are two parts to this.
On explaining our faith to your friend, whose belief incidentally is typical of how most people think, that all religions are the same, it is important that we can authentically testify that that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus clearly said that He is one and the same as God the Father (John 10:30), which makes Him one and the same God as the Father. He also said that (I am the way, the truth and the life. Except through me, no one can go to the Father.” (John 14:6)
This means that Jesus Himself claimed to be God, and that He is the only way to God.
So either Jesus was telling the truth, which means that Christianity is unlike all other religions, or He wasn’t.
If he wasn’t telling the truth, He might have been deceived or simply didn’t know it wasn’t true. For someone who did all those miracles and so completely believed in His beliefs that He died for them, that would be pure madness. He would be a lunatic.
But if he knew he wasn’t telling the truth, then he would be the most evil deceiver to mislead the Jews to believe he was the Messiah and even God Himself.
The above is known as the trilemma argument from C. S. Lewis. It shows that Jesus can only be a madman, an most evil deceiver, or as He claimed, God Himself. And considering all the good works that He has done, the first two possibilities are simply impossible.
Meanwhile, Jesus also cannot be just a good guy, a good teacher, or just a prophet. His words did not permit these possibilities. We cannot pick and choose what we like to accept as His words. Either we take the whole thing, which leads us to the only three options above, or we deny everything about Jesus.
And besides, unlike all other religions, Jesus did appear in our history. He did indeed said all those things and did all those works. He indeed died on the cross and rose. And the historical evidence of how the Church exploded across the world from a small group of people whose leader had died a gruesome death bore truth that Jesus indeed has risen and has given them power to bring conversion to the world, for otherwise it would be utter madness for the followers of a dead man to even conceive starting the Church, and to do no human wisdom and no amount of luck could achieve. All these are historical, and done without the use of force or coercion.
That is the reasoning part. However, for someone to come to consider Christianity, they need to encounter Christ. They need to come into contact with His mercy and love, and it begins with coming into contact with you.
People rarely choose a faith by reason alone. They usually begin with experiencing trust and safety, understanding and genuine friendship. Jesus did not begin by beating over the heads of those who came to Him with doctrines, but rather He approached them with no judgement, offering instead healing, companionship, forgiveness, understanding, encouragement, friendship, and service; “for the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
So you too, must ask Jesus to lead you to do the same for your friend, to be Christ presence to your neighbours. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you, and to help your friend to experience God’s love and truth.
Q :
I would like to introduce my faith to a friend who believe in yiguandao which is a cult(一贯道) They claim that every religion is the same and claim that Jesus was one of the prophets sent down by their god. What should I do to explain my faith to him?
【 Question from 】 Malaysia 馬來西亞
Fr. Francis :