Jesus was a friend of Atheists?

“I tried atheism for a while, but my faith just wasn’t strong enough.”

  Can I vent for a moment? It really irritates me when I see Christians caricatured in the media. It seems like every time the Media portrays a Christian, typically it’s someone with a redneck accent who’s a hypocrite running some scam financially, sexually or both. Or, they’re some mystical type with a spaced out look and their feet planted in midair.

  Since the media is the gatekeeper of public information, the way Christ-followers are portrayed influences the public perception of Christianity. 25% of the respondents to a recent Barna survey said they were unable to remember any positive contributions from Christians during recent years. It doesn’t help, according to the Pew Research Center, a mere 8% of national journalists and 14% of local ones indicated they attend a place of worship every week. Inaccurate stereotypes perpetuated about Bible-believing Christians frequently stems from insufficient religious education and interaction with true Christians…it hurts to be so terribly misconstrued.  

  Yet sadly, we Christians frequently do the same thing to atheists. It’s also very unfair. Most atheists I know are not anything like the Freedom from Religion Foundation, nor are they acerbic like Richard Dawkins. In fact, and I say this unapologetically – some of my best friends are atheists. I love them, pray for them and have great respect for them, though I’m sure sometimes I drive them crazy.

  In 2013 researchers from the University of Tennessee found atheists run the range from vocally anti-religious activists to nonbelievers who observe religious traditions. In other words, atheists are a very diverse group. While not a scientific study, these are some of the types of atheists I’ve met.

  Fad Atheists. Often, these are teens or twenty-somethings. Their parents are often very religious. Most young people want to distinguish their identity from their parents and want attention. What better way to get some “shock mileage” than to declare “I’m an atheist!” They usually love to argue to impress others with their atheistic intellectualism. Wise parents just love them and for the most part, ignore it.

  Wounded Atheists. These are often individuals who have suffered greatly. Sometimes they’ve been molested or abused. Some have a debilitating disease or have seen terrible atrocities like war. Some have been horribly treated by parents who hypocritically hid behind their religion. The parents may have gotten divorced during their formative years or Dad abandoned the family. And since for most of us our concept of God is colored by our relationship with our father, if we reject Dad – God is usually next.

  Perverse Atheists. When someone feels guilty, the best way to attempt to discard a sense of guilt, is to seek to eradicate God. With someone evil like a Stalin, a valid question is – which came first, the atheism or the evil action? When someone is living an evil or perverse life, atheism can be an attempt to keep from feeling accountable to a transcendent authority?  

  Angry Anti-theists Atheists. Unfortunately, this is the group most Christians are familiar with. They’re on all the talk shows. They’re the ones bringing lawsuits against municipalities for Nativity scenes. They regularly speak out against religious beliefs. They view religion as the ultimate ignorance and any individual/institution associated with it as backward and even socially dangerous. They’re very confrontational, believing obvious fallacies in religion should be aggressively addressed. Yet, I think you’ll find, they’re a small minority. Most atheists I know don’t want to bother anyone or be bothered. They respectfully disagree and want to be treated with the same respect.

  Apathetic Atheists. Personally, this group concerns me the most. They don’t involve themselves with either religion or anti-religion. As long as they’re basically happy and nothing rocks their world, they don’t invest time thinking about life’s big questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? What’s the point? Religion plays no role in their life. They don’t believe much of anything. Their absence of faith means the absence of anything religious in any form in their mental spaces. Some even sit in churches week after week. Some in ones just like ours. Some don’t really believe in God, some merely give lip service to Him. But God has no true effect on their life. They may like the social relationships or find the moral teachings beneficial for themselves or their children. They may not even acknowledge they are atheists. But for all practical purposes, because God has no place in their lives, they’re atheists.

  Unanswered Questions Atheists. I think this is probably the largest percentage of atheists. Many of them think and feel very deeply. They see tragedies like 911, babies born with birth defects, a young mother raped and murdered and they can’t get past there could be a God who allows such suffering. They read the Bible and discover passages where God commanded the destruction of whole people groups. It seems horribly unfair and cruel to them. They refuse to believe in a God who’d command such things. They can’t believe God is good or loving, and still sends people to Hell.  Many are intellectual. Evolution and scientific theory make more sense to them than a God who created everything out of nothing. They have many unanswered questions and unbelief makes more sense.

  How do we deal with atheists? Love them. Let God love them through you. Are you attracted to someone who is hateful and angry? Why would an atheist ever embrace the faith of a hateful Christian?

 Pray for them. It’s God who opens up eyes, not slick Christian arguments. No one will ever be argued into heaven. Sadly, I’ve seen Christians win the argument but lose the relationship.

  Be honest. We don’t have all the answers. There are many we can’t answer. And it takes faith to be a Christian, even in the face of unanswered questions, so just admit it. Of course, atheism also takes faith.

  Live like Jesus. The truth is I know I’m a mess so I admit it. Yet, by God’s grace, I seek to be kind. And I’ve never regretted being too kind. 

  I think Jesus is greatly pleased when the worst thing an unbeliever can say about us is: “I hate them. They’re just too kind, honest and gracious!” So live so much like Jesus even the greatest skeptic can’t argue with your life! 

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