10/5/15 Diana early 20’s
“How is it that a
church could have an atheist on its board of deacons?” I asked Diana, whom we
reached out to in a sidewalk conversation today along with her boyfriend. We had asked about their beliefs and
spiritual background and found out that as an atheist she was a deacon at a
Lutheran Church nearby, so I had to ask how her atheism could have been
compatible with the church’s beliefs. “Well,
we both believe strongly in social justice issues…” she said, “…so we have a
lot in common,”
She went on to express
her disdain for people’s concern about life after death when there is so much
suffering to be concerned about here and now.
Like so many people, she had two assumptions about heaven. 1.) She assumed
that the desire for heaven is ultimately selfish, and any good deed done for
selfish reasons negates the positive impact of that good deed. But is heaven a selfish desire? What if heaven is simply the joy of being in
the presence of our Heavenly Father? Isn’t
it more selfish to want to be left on our own?
2.) The other assumption I think she was making is that if God does
exist, then we must earn His acceptance by being good enough. For Diana, this means caring about social
justice issues with no concern about the reward of heaven or the punishment of
hell. She actually feels morally
superior to religious people whom she believes are working their way to heaven
through religious activities.
I wanted
to emphasize God’s grace while not negating the value of good works, so I
talked about Ephesians 2:8-10 – “For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by
works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” An atheist can only try to glorify their own
goodness through their good deeds; but as Christians we have the awesome privilege
of glorifying our heavenly Father, who gives us the ability to do good works
for that very purpose.
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