I'm killing some time sitting in front of the Apple Store, so I might as well blog. I was texting and e-mailing a number of iPhanatics, and I saw an add on my GMail account.
I'm no Athiestic expert, mind you. But if something is "godforsaken" doesn't that mean that God has left it, or turned His back on it? Isn't this ad for a pro-athiest website admitting that God exists?
Don't really have a "point" here. I just thought it was funny.
At what point did Christians become one of the most hated groups in America? What did we do to become despised? What is it about us?
I watched some of Nightline's coverage of the "Face Off" between Christians and Athiest. In the Christian corner, Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort. Without going into specifics come to your own conclusions on the debacle debate.
Did you see the woman who asked about the cancer issue? The fire in her eyes as Ray addressed the larger issue of "suffering"? That was hatred. Where does that come from?
What did we do? Did we force our beliefs on them? Did we not show them love? How have we offended them?
The other day I blogged on how evangelicals are viewed on the college campus. If you didn't catch it, I'll give you the snapshot. Profs hate us more than Freshman 101 classes.
We live in a world of acceptance. Of tolerance. Society applauds itself at every point. It feeds on change, on rebellion against the establishment. How did we end up on the outside?
I'm 29 years old. In the grand scheme of Christianity in America I haven't experienced that much of the big picture. But in my short time I've become aware of pieces of the smaller picture.
Our job is to bring healing to the hatred. We suck at it.
I had lunch the other day with a person who described himself as a "3.5 to 4.5 point Calvinist". The reason it fluctuates, he would tell me, is dependent upon how much he wanted to anger the person he was talking to. This is what I call Theological Arrogance. This is what is wrong with Christians today.
Can I be honest? Calvin was a man. He lived. He died. He is responsible for leading a lot of people to the Lord. But that's just it. It's "other people". Jesus spent very little time dealing with the "religious". He got his hands dirty. He was not pious. He was holy. But He did it in a way that made those that didn't believe comfortable around Him. Can the same be said about us?
When did we start treating church like a country club?
When did we become so calloused to the world?
When did we stop opening our arms to those that believe differently?
When did we turn our back on the ones we should be reaching out to?
When did we decide to fight more amongst ourselves (instead of helping others)?
We turned our backs on them.
We isolated ourselves.
We ridicule them, insult them, ignore them.
We tell them that their life choices are wrong.
We hold up signs and wear T-Shirts.
We despise them.
Can you blame them for hating us? We've been doing it to them for years.
Can I be honest? I'd hate us too.
I have always been fascinated with the way people think. My favorite class in college was Philosophy (I actually considered being a philosophy minor in college). The class was enthralling to me because there were so many different views being shared. In this Philosophy class there were 3 profs.
One was a Southern Baptist Preachers Kid.
One was an Agnostic.
One was an Atheist.
And the Graduate Assistant was openly lesbian; her philosophy was a hodge-podge of every textbook...at times I don't think she even really knew what she believed.
I just loved to sit in the room and talk. I soaked up the insight of the people. Took notes. Even though I was attending a "Chrisian" college, the room was 90% people who God did not have an active role in their daily lives. I gained insight and understanding, and began to see people for who they were (and I loved seeing what made them tick).
With the "coming out" of Pete Stark as America's first acknowledged Atheist Congressman, Atheism and Humanistic beliefs are certainly the buzz. What that being said, I think there's an article that we as Christians should be aware of.
This is taken from About.com "Coming Out to Your Family: Should You Reveal Your Atheism to your Family and Parents?"
What if Your Family Wants You to Keep Going to Church?: If you are young and living at home, there probably isn’t much you can do no matter what your family’s motivations are. If there is no way you can reasonably get out of going to church, the most you can do is try using the trips as a learning experience. If, on the other hand, you are independent, you’ll have to decide which is more important: going to church services you hate, or maintaining some measure of family harmony. (Read More...)
What If Your Family Tries To Reconvert You?: If you are young and living at home, your options will be limited and you may have to put up with a certain amount of such proselytizing from your family. If you are an adult and independent, however, you may have to choose between putting up with your family’s behavior and causing the rift between you to grow wider. You may, for example, be faced with the possibility of simply walking away from your family, at least temporarily, if they refuse to respect you. (Read More...)For us as Christians to reach the lost, we need to understand the lost. We cannot cram the gospel into people that don't believe, that won't believe. It literally is a square peg and a round hole. And forcing the gospel on people that don't want to hear it, well, that may do more damage than good? And I've heard the argument of "well, they're lost now. How can they be more lost?" If the About.com articles are indicative of the way an athiest would feel, they would rather "simply walk away from [a] family" if their religious beliefs were not accepted. And what chance do we ever have of reaching the lost if they are not in our lives?
Seems to me the "church" forgets where it came from, and how we are as guilty in the eyes of God as the lost are. Thanks be to His Grace for forgiving us. Lord, let us be forgiving of others. Let us see in them what You see in us. Let us show You, and not religious, judgmental culture to others.
Colossians 2:8 NIV - See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
I don't know if you've heard of this guy, "The Friendly Atheist". His story/blog can be found online, and you can read an article about him at Christianity Today. Rather than focus on his story (as great as it is) I want to share some of his thoughts... (as reported by InternetMonk.com):
Clearly, most churches have aligned themselves against non-religious people. By adopting this stance, Christians have turned off the people I would think they want to connect with. The combative stance I’ve observed is an approach that causes people to become apathetic—and even antagonistic—toward religion as a whole. Many evangelical pastors seem to perceive just about everything to be a threat against Christianity. Evolution is a threat. Gay marriage is a threat. A swear word uttered accidentally on television is a threat. Democrats are a threat. I don’t see how any of these things pose a threat against Christianity. If someone disagrees with you about politics or social issues or the matter of origins, isn’t that just democracy and free speech in action? Why do Christians feel so threatened?
You need to spread the message of Christianity—the message being what Christianity stands for—loving each other, helping the people around you. Those are things everyone can get on board with.
I am looking forward to reading Hemant Mehta's book, I Sold My Soul on eBay. I can guarantee there will be a bookstore in Miami stocking it (wink wink). And yes, the title is ironic because Atheists do not believe in souls.
PS - I feel like I should clarify something. I am in no way endorsing any of the views expressed my Mr. Mehta. I am, however, extremely happy that he is sharing his thoughts openly. How can we understand how to reach the lost if we don't listen to the lost? What hope do we have to change lives if we are not investing in them?
Recent Comments