When I initially asked Mike, about 30, about his spiritual beliefs he described himself as an atheist. But by the time we finished our conversation, he was an agnostic, and at least open to hearing the Gospel for the first time. What happened?
A great shift has occurred in much of American religion in the past decade or two. For generations, the great middle section of people, between the polar opposites of committed Christian and committed atheist, used to identify themselves in the “Christian” camp because it was the socially accepted expectation. In reality they were disinterested, confused, or distracted for various reasons.
In a “Christian” nation, they had heard God’s word preached at various times, but, just as Jesus predicted, the vast majority were not like the seeds of His parable that fell in good soil. Either the “evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart” or “
they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away”, or “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful”. (Matt 13)
One way or another, although they might have called themselves Christians in theory, they were really agnostic in practice. An agnostic is defined as “a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.” They are ignorant by intent or neglect of the things of God. The “Christian” agnostics may claim faith in God, but their actions indicate otherwise. Many attend church, providing support for the popular belief that our churches are full of hypocrites, just going through the motions.
Now, with the hypocrite reputation of churches and the progressive image of science and atheism, many of those “Christian” agnostics are finding it more socially acceptable to identify as atheists. But are they really atheist?
Mike’s claim to atheism quickly fell apart with just a short conversation and a few questions. He was, in fact, agnostic, wise enough to be able to admit that he just doesn’t know, and once he realized he was actually in the agnostic camp he was able to open up at least to the possibility of God’s existence and our accountability to Him. Those who claim atheism foolishly limit themselves to just one possible outcome, which is ironic because that is not a very scientific approach for those who claim to value human science, logic and reason.
I often commend people for their confession of ignorance as agnostics. It can be a very wise and humble place to be, leaving themselves open at least to the possibility of God in their lives. And I’m not even concerned that they no longer call themselves “Christian” as agnostics. That means a lot fewer hypocrites in our churches who are not doers of the word, but hearers only.
The day may come when uncommitted people of the middle section of America can once again come to Christ and identify as Christians without the social stigma that comes with such a proclamation. Whether it does or not, my hope and prayer for Mike is that as an agnostic he will feel the freedom and desire to explore Christianity without the restrictions that labels, both “Christian” and “atheist”, have put on it.
See our conversation at https://youtu.be/tdPRopy5cuU
No comments:
Post a Comment