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| Bring It On!! |
Some how "Oi Vey!" just does not cover it. I had a chance to speak last night at Sunday evening service. The message was on God's family, baptism and advent. Afterwards a man came up to me and told me about an ad campaign he'd seen on TV put on by "humanists" which quoted a verse from Timothy where Paul says, "I do not allow a woman to have authority over a man." I had seen that commercial, but when I went to look for their website I couldn't find it. The gentleman from church sent me this news article from ABC News's website discussing the Ad Campaign Promoting Atheism. Evidently the American Humanist Organization have paid for advertisements on buses which are 2.5' x 12' long. Local churches are reacting by boycotting the buses to send a message to the city about this kind of advertisement. After I recover from smacking myself in the head, and push the civics lesson concerning freedom of speech out of my mind I consider what my response would be if I were a pastor in that city. My first instinct is to say to the atheists, "Bring It On!" The gospel has been attacked by much better organized groups that y'all, and can handle whatever criticism you bring against the Word. Then I pause to realize that kind of response is about me proving I'm right, or being afraid that if someone finds some fault in Scripture my faith will be harmed. A combative response is not helpful in this instance. As I think some more about the Atheists feeling of being alone and living in the closet I realize these are the very people we are to be reaching out to in Christian love. When Jesus is asked if he is the Messiah by disciples of John the Baptist this is what Jesus tells them.
"Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:(I) the blind receive their sight, the lame walk,(J) lepers[a] are cleansed, and(K) the deaf hear,(L) the dead are raised up,(M) the poor have good news preached to them. 23And blessed is the one who is(N) not offended by me."
If this is Jesus' response to those who doubted Him, shouldn't this be our response to those who doubt and question Christ? How will the atheists know Christ is king if we do not live lives which show Christ's love and sovereignty in our lives? Let me challenge you during this season of Advent. When you go to church instead of just sitting with your friends take your family over to sit with one of the ChrEasters who probably haven't been to church since Easter. Invite them to lunch. Invite them to your Christmas party with friends and family. If we do a better job of sharing the love of Christ as a community of believers then our atheist friends won't feel so alone. Come to think of it, if we share Christ's love effectively they may feel comfortable discussing their rejection of Christ. And if we share Christ really well they may just see Jesus's acceptance in the face of their doubt.
