I feel like many people who identify themselves as atheists are
quick to hide behind one smokescreen or another that they use as the motivation
for their claim that God doesn’t exist. They
are quick to blame apparent contradictions they see with, for example, God’s
character in the Old Testament, or Church history, or between miraculous biblical
events and science.
Not so with Thomas, 21, who was very gracious, open, and
frank about his atheism and the reasons for it.
He mentioned some of these issues, but when it came down to it, he just
honestly said he had made up his mind at an early age that God doesn’t exist
and has really never taken the initiative to examine evidence to the
contrary. He really just doesn’t want to
believe in God.
Despite his honesty, though, I’m not so sure Thomas really
understood his own reasons for not wanting to believe in God. What is at the heart of man’s disinterest in
the things of God? Why did Paul write in
Romans 3 “…there is no one who seeks God”?
Is it really just an intellectual rejection of what they can’t
understand, or does it go deeper, to issues of the heart?
After we talked a while I wanted to help Thomas understand
where he would stand if the Bible is true and he does have to give an account
to his Creator one day. Many atheists
focus on their unbelief as the issue and would feel justified in blaming God
for not giving them enough evidence. They
often come from religious backgrounds, and feel like they have taken a
courageous, bold, and honorable stand in declaring their non-belief. If it turns out that God does exist, many
think that despite their unbelief they are morally superior to believers who
they feel are dishonest about their doubts and hypocrites in their actions.
So, I wanted to help Thomas see that, biblically speaking,
the core problem he would have with God is not his unbelief, but his
disobedience. I asked if he would be
willing to see how he would be judged according to the Bible, rather than by
his own standards or by comparison with other people. I gave him a “good person” test, which is taught
and demonstrated so well by evangelist Ray Comfort and based on Jesus’ example
and the standard of the Ten Commandments.
Thomas was honest in his self-assessment based on God’s
standard, and the conclusion was that by this standard he would be condemned as
a sinner, not rewarded as a saint. He
took this in stride because, after all, he didn’t believe in God in the first
place. But the point that I wanted
Thomas to understand was that because of his sin he had ulterior motives for
not wanting to believe in God and refusing to even consider the evidence.
But God’s existence doesn’t depend on our belief. One can’t wish Him away, just as one can’t
wish away an oncoming truck simply by covering their eyes and claiming not to
believe in trucks. We will be called one day to give an account, but for
believers “…if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not
only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2)
Thomas was candid and open about simply not wanting to
believe in God. May he be cognizant of
his own true motivations and know that Jesus offers a better alternative than
covering his eyes and declaring unbelief.
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