The Everyday Club

11/21/11     Mike     about 30
Today I spoke with Mike, a Jewish atheist who works as an environmental scientist and whose Brazilian wife is Catholic with an evangelical Christian father. Whew! I had gone to witness at a nearby deli with Paul - from church - and when I asked Mike if he had time to answer a few questions about his beliefs he said "Funny - my wife and I were just talking about that!" He calls himself an atheist but recent conversations with his wife and father-in-law have got him asking some important questions about religion and God's existence. I began by asking all about his beliefs and went on to talk about how the creation reveals a creator, how God's moral law shows the existence of a lawmaker, and how he would be judged according to that law. Mike failed the "good person test" baased on the Ten Commandments, but when asked if he thought the result would be heaven or hell, he maintained his belief in his own goodness, saying "I'm not perfect, but at least I've never tried to hurt others" At this point, maybe I should have continued to try to convince him of God's existence and his need for forgiveness, but it was getting late and I didn't want to leave him convinced only of the unreasonabless of a God who leaves no way out for sinners. I decided to go ahead and share God's plan of redemption in Christ even though Mike wasn't convinced of the depth of his own guilt. I felt he needed to see the logic of Jesus on an intellectual level before he might receive Him in his heart. I hope I was right.