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! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

When "Lost" is real...

“Discernment itself is rooted in the understanding that there is good and bad, that there are God’s ways and other ways. A secular worldview, on the other hand, teaches that truth exists along a continuum. Truth is subjective; it is relative.”    Tim Challies

  Several weeks after hearing this true story, I’m still chuckling. Back in mid-July, three women were stranded overnight on the banks of the Muskegon River in Western Michigan after a first-time tubing trip. What started out as a fun-filled float down the river, turned into a nightmarish 20+ hour ordeal. The three, all in their 20s, set out around 4 p.m. on July 12^th. 24 hours later, they had to be rescued by local fire officials. According to Deputy Fire Chief Bob Grabinski, “They went and bought some tubes and they went to the Maple Island Bridge, which is one of the access points to the river, a popular spot. They were misinformed: Somebody said (the river) makes a big loop and they’d come right back to their car.” Unfortunately, they didn’t understand basic geography.

  “They thought it was great,” Grabinski said of the alleged circular river. “They believed it.” The threesome set out on what was expected to be a quick, easy trip. Right about dark they realized that wasn’t the case. They got off the river onto the bank and began screaming for help, but were in an isolated area. Nobody was going to hear their screams. To further complicate matters, they had no food, shelter and were in swimsuits. As they were out on the water, they didn’t bring a cellphone. It was sheer chance they were rescued the next day, about three miles from where they’d launched. A fisherman happened to hear them and called 911.

  When first responders found them, they were in good spirits, though they had scratches from trying to walk through some thorny-type bushes and lots of bug bites. Emergency personnel took them back to their vehicle, where it was determined their body temperatures were slightly lower than normal. They were advised to get checked out at a hospital. Since they declined transportation by ambulance, officials didn’t know if they followed up for medical treatment. But their tubing days are over. According to Grabinski. “They said, ‘I will never do this again’.”  

  “Somebody said (the river) makes a big loop and they’d come right back to their car.” Your Mom told you, “Don’t believe everything you hear,” yet, most do believe everything they hear. We’re told satisfaction comes from the material and physical, temporal world stuff – pleasure, popularity, wealth, a life of ease. It doesn’t. Should we really be surprised when the people of this world “believe everything they hear”? For them, this world is all there is. Life is limited to a horizontal perspective.

  What’s heartbreaking though is when Christians, those of us who are otherworldly, who’s life doesn’t end with our last breath “believe everything we hear.” We’d be wise to periodically read the book of Ecclesiastes. It’s the emptiness and exasperation of a man attempting to find meaning and satisfaction by “believing everything he’s heard.”

  These women would have saved themselves a frightening night and public shame, if they’d just consulted a map. A little basic knowledge of geography would have spared them lots of embarrassment.

  Know something even more foolish? Christians who know God, yet rarely, if ever consult His roadmap for this life and the next. What do you really know? What would you or even others say you’re an expert at? Truly proficient at? More importantly, does it matter? Will it make a difference in this life and more importantly the next?

  There’s no question that Richard Dawkins, famed British biologist and atheist, is a genius. Jeff Bezos of Amazon is a brilliant entrepreneur. Usain Bolt is one of today’s greatest athletes. But in a mere fifty years, will it matter? In eternity, none of that will even be on the level of the importance of navel lint. How can we make our lives matter? How can we be people of wisdom? Wonderfully, it’s not a secret for the elite few.

  Study and apply God’s Word to your life. Americans prize knowledge. It’s not enough to know truth. We must practice it. We must apply it to life. Wisdom only begins with knowledge. Every believer should spend time in God’s Word nearly every day. Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) to understand what you read. Ask the Spirit to apply God’s truth to your life.

  Please don’t attend church…come to worship. Sitting in a geography class wouldn’t have helped these three women unless they listened, learned and applied it to life. Sitting in a church service physically without engaging mentally and most of all, spiritually can get you stranded in life.

  Participate in a group Bible study. Too many of us too highly esteem our own counsel. Just read Facebook, opinions on a blog, or listen to talk radio. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 17:28, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”

  Currently, I’m reading The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. It’s amazing how much outside counsel those two brothers sought out. Their success in flying literally came from soaring on the wings of others.

  The same is true spiritually. As we engage with others, as we study and work through God’s Word, we all grow. We’re all stretched.

  Some of the most ignorant individuals you’ll meet are those who only listen to their own counsel. Many a married couple blunders along because they’ve just talked to each other, rather than seeking outside godly advice. Christianity is not a solo sport. Each of us needs to surround ourselves with godly friends who will “speak the truth in love” in our lives.   

  God has called us to an upper path of spiritual progress – sanctification. It happens as we’re in the Word, under biblical teaching, interacting with other brothers and sisters, and obediently applying His truth to our daily lives. Far too many of us are satisfied with just going in circles.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.