One of the most gifted persons in this regard that I know of is Barb Espland, one of our missionaries to the Philippines. Noel and I marveled, as we spoke with her for several days how she spoke of all unbelievers as more or less on the way to Christ. She could see signs of hope in almost everyone. She doesn't seem to have that static, crisis mentality that sees people as fixed in their alienation from God and stationary until some crisis crashes in and converts them. Instead she has a more dynamic view that sees people, to be sure, as really cut off from God and in need of conversion, but not as static.
People are in motion spiritually.
God is at work in a hundred ways to influence them, and she has an eagle eye and a glad heart for these signs of grace. That means that they have the beautiful gift of fading into the background while pushing others into prominence. They are not addicted to the praise of men and do not crave the limelight. Barnabas' ministry in Antioch had been so successful that the converts were everywhere. I have earned a good reputation for my work.