I just came across an article entitled,
"It is our fault they don't believe." The author explains his reasoning about why Christians are responsible for atheists' disbelief. He presents this argument far better than I can, so here's what he has to say:
“If I am not doing the works (performing the deeds) of my Father, then do not believe me.” (John 10:37)
It is the job of the church to give people an encounter with God, not an argument. I don't blame atheists for not believing in God, because those of us who do believe have done a poor job of representing Jesus.
Jesus said, "Don't believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."
If Jesus didn't expect people to believe without seeing a demonstration of God’s love and power, how can we expect any different today? Jesus argued with the religious types and shared the good news with the unbeliever. He was a friend of the lost and He understood it was His responsibility to get them saved by telling and SHOWING them the gospel of the Kingdom, not accusing and arguing with them.
It is time for the church to stop making excuses for a lack of power, stop blaming atheists for not believing, accept our commission to preserve and illuminate (be salt and light to) the world, and get to work.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one…As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:15,18)
I couldn't agree more with the writer of this article. Atheists need to see a
living demonstration of what it means to be Christian. Yes, words are important -- even arguments are important -- but it's
essential for atheists to see Christ's love emanating from us. They need to know that our belief in Christ has made a visible difference in our lives. My view on this subject is further elaborated on in my first post, entitled
Don't Settle for Words When Preaching the Gospel.Do you think we as Christians hold some responsibility for atheists' disbelief? Do you think that we need to do a better job of "representing Jesus" in the world?
Comments (102)
If you're being good just to impress, recruit and make a point, then it's of no use anyways. You should do good works from the heart, not because you fear a holy police club beating you down. Works mean nothing if they don't come from the heart.
The reason why many atheists don't believe is because what they are seeing or hearing doesn't make sense to them.
Yes, we bear some responsibility for this. One problem I'm not seeing explored here is that most of the people who call themselves "Christian" aren't Christian at all. To be a Christian is to accept everything that Christ says. Unfortunately, over nearly 2000 years, a culture of arbitrary and humanly devised practices have crept into what is called Christianity today, to the point that Christ's message is unrecognizable.
Among the foreign and unbiblical symbols that have crept into Christianity are eggs, rabbits, Christmas trees, and yule logs. We must ask ourselves, do these unbiblical symbols make any sense? We as Christians have to struggle to justify them, so even the atheist will find little sense in them.
Christianity in it's purest and truest is Christianity at it's most believable. Therefore, let us answer our callings in the manner in which Christ truly intended, and allow our Bibles to interpret themselves rather than draw our own conclusions into them.
@Pcgecko85@xanga - I used to think along the same lines you do, although I was raised in an extremely conservative church setting. What helped me come to the conclusion was seeing over and over how the Bible is written by who knows how many men??? over how many centuries??? and that it still makes sense. I've learned to love God.....lol when I got saved, this is what I said. It captures my hatred pretty good. "God, I hate Your guts. You know I hate Your guts. But I'm broke (inside)..........I do need you."
I see way too many examples of Christians being hateful, spiteful, ignorant, and rude. I know that not all Christians are like that, but your poster children suck.
Jesus was constantly being confronted with false arguments and people trying to box Him in with stupid questions, where the answers "no" and "yes" would both bring negative consequences. How is it not Christlike to refute those arguments? I'm not saying to do it in a way that's boorish and runs down the other person's self esteem, but Jesus didn't react passively to false teachings.
What I find interesting is that, one of the reasons atheists or agnostics claim to believe is "lack of evidence." The Bible (which is a huge piece of evidence in and of itself) never says that people disbelieve due to lack of evidence, does it? Most of what I read in the New Testament has to do with people already knowing the truth and making up lies to suppress that truth.
@fugita@xanga - I think a Muslim would respectfully disagree with you, and say that no, Allah is the exclusive "God," and only Muslims know the truth. Just like how the Koran is the revelation from "God," but only people who speak ancient Arabic can hope to understand it.
There was a Hindu thinker (Shankara?) who said that you need to be born into the Brahma cast to even understand the Hindu vedas.
Just from those two arguments alone, you can see that people of different faiths aren't talking about the same God, because it would violate the law of non-contradiction. Then you throw in atheists, who clearly aren't talking about the same God, since "everyone knows" there is no such thing.
Nah, things wouldn't be better with more tolerance. We'd just have problems that are 1,000 times worse, because nobody would have a firm grip on what is true or false. Just chill, man. Nothing is illegal or immoral. It's all relative. Count me out if that ever does happen.
I don't know if I would blame Christians for my disbelief or the people who claim to be Christians and condemn everything everyone does that they don't agree with. I don't know a lot about Christianity, but one thing I do know is that Jesus taught people not to judge and I see a lot of Christians, here and everywhere else too. I don't like the idea of being judged, when I try my damndest to not judge anybody. Especially when I've first met them.
i could probably blame my agnosticism on Christians. it wasn't the doctrine itself that made me leave the faith, but the apparent inability of Christians to follow it.
@fugita@xanga - (R)Amen!
@computerguyw@xanga - I know Jews who say Christians are wrong and Christians who disagree with different Christian views. But God has many names... period! He has been called Mano, The Spirit, The One, Zeus, Thor, The Enlightened One, God, and so many other names. Everything thinks their God is right but I bet if your God came down and talked to you face to face God would say... "let them worship how they see fit... and leave them be".... God is love and tolerance not hate. I don't care what you believe, believe it and leave others to believe and worships as they want. It is the people who try to force their views on others that upset me. They feel they MUST convert everyone to their views. Everyone is right and everyone is wrong. No one has it right 100%.
Do you believe a mystical unseen being passed his words on to someone in secret and they wrote down his words to share with the world? Cause not only does that sound like every religious book out there, even Scientology! So think about... what is so different about any religion... they all believe in an unseen God who rules over all and judges us. Atheists just don't think anyone is watching over us and judging us. So be it. I think something is watching but not doing anything to influence us at all. Good or bad... you live your life as you want and if some God or spirit or whatever wants to judge or not judge later... then fine!
@XDaemonessX@xanga - well put!
@Faerie_In_Combat_Boots@xanga - thanks
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga - I am agnostic now because of the Catholic Church and the people who were in my last one who were being hypocrites. It is why i don't believe in Organized Religion anymore but I still believe in God.
I think that we do need to do alot better in representing Jesus Christ. Most Christians don't really acte like Christians. If you know what i mean. We need to change our ways in order to be able to let Christ shine through us. I mean I as a Christian have had to change alot of things that I do.
Although I grew up Catholic, I no longer practice any religion nor do I believe in God. However, I HATE the word atheist.
I do NOT think Christians are to blame for my disbelief. I don't think people need religion to be a "good human" ... to know the difference between right and wrong is innate.
...and what about people of other beliefs? Is that the fault of the Christians too?
Good article though.
yes, although, ultimately the responsibility is with the individual. Nonetheless, having exchanged the power of God for a lie, Christians have become the reason why Gods name is blasphemed.
No offense, but you give yourself entirely too much credit. It's great to be a good person and I love meeting Christians (or other religious folks) who don't force their beliefs on me, but believe me, this isn't about you, this isn't about your church, this isn't about what you believe. I simply believe that it isn't true. It has nothing to do with you as a Christian.
While some Christians aren't the epitome of Christ, it was reading the Bible that lead me away.
As an atheist I would like to assure you that nothing, short of introducing me personally- face to face with god, would convince me that he/she/it exists. You can't make someone else think something is plausible just but acting like you really really think it is. It's not your fault :) I promise.
i think it's partly - but only partly - the fault of christians in my experience. i was actually raised in catholic school but rejected the religion because its practitioners in my view were susceptible to hypocrisy, intolerance, and poltroonery. for instance, one of our priests was a pedophile. thus began my fruitless search for something else - i don't believe in any religion.
being a christian also means that you've effectively shot yourself in the foot when you do perform good actions. i can't help thinking - rather cynically - would this person be doing this if he/she didn't believe in heaven and his/her divine reward? true-believer christians have inadvertently cheapened goodness because it can never, if heaven exists and god rewards the good, be done for truly nothing in return. it's partly why atheists/atheism is so attractive - as far as i can tell, they're not just following orders or being good as a result of expecting an eternity of pleasure for themselves.
no, i think it's just how the person thinks. speaking for myself, i'm an atheist because religion just doesn't make sense. science makes sense for me. (who created God?) but i don't think it's Christians' fault. it's like saying it's the chef's fault the customer didn't choose the chocolate cake because he doesn't like chocolate.
I despise the fact that many Christians emphasize certain passages of the bible yet disregard other passages. If someone is going to preach to me that gay marriages is a sin, he/she better scream at me for eating clams and how it's an ABOMINATION!! OH NO!! YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!!!!!
I dont beleive because there are litterally at least 20 other historical figures that all are the same as Jesus's life... all different variations but stick to the basics of "born of a virgin, 12 disples, performed mircles, called many name" Faith is a feeling like love or hate, many people of different and same religions have them or spins off them. "Excorsisms, prayer,..."
I don't entirely blame Christians for my lack of belief in God, however it certainly doesn't help when they start to argue with me and attempt to force me to believe.
Not that I'm saying something no one's ever said before, but I just choose to be an atheist because I feel I should be the only person that is ultimately in control of my own life. It's no one's fault, just my own set of beliefs and my own free will put to use. I respect anyone of any religion as long as they don't try to force their beliefs onto me and do no harm to others in the name of that religion.
If someone doesn't want to believe in Jesus it's their choice. The world needs more diversity anyway sheesh.
Short answer:
Each individual must make their own choice. Thus, it is not the fault of Christians if an atheist disbelieves.
HOWEVER
The nature of our human existence is that we are influenced by our environment and by each other, and the Bible specifically instructs Christians to go and be an influence that promotes Christ. Which is the same as what the article excerpt says: "It is the job of the church to give people an encounter with God, not an argument."
An argument can have life-changing influence, but not by itself. The Bible makes clear that the Holy Spirit appeals to the spirit of each human, and few humans have spirits that are purely intellectual/rational.
We are indeed all called to testify of Jesus' love, deity, and awesomeness, but our methods for doing so should not be limited to arguing, debating and preaching. Thus, I agree with the article's suggestion that our actions are vital as well.
But I want to give some specific examples of ways we Christians can be a better influence upon the non-Christian world. What are some of the "works of the Father" that the article says we must do? What are some of the miracles and demonstrations that we can perform to display the irresistible love of God?
In John 13: 34-35, Jesus says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
In other words, the way Christians treat other people is already an act of evangelism. By loving one another with Christ's self-sacrificial love, we are already declaring to the world that we are His disciples.
Moreover, in Acts, we can see that whenever "a great multitude was added to the church" one of two things is described first:
1. The apostles were preaching in public.
2. The Christians were in one accord, eating and studying together, and sharing with all that had need among them.
So, the most successful Biblical evangelistic strategy is composed not of an individual saying the right stuff. It is a Christian community that loves one another, and sacrifices for one another and works together to spread the word, explaining how their ideal family/community is made possible ONLY by the love and transformative power of Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Through such a church can the love of God be displayed in the relationships within the church. And where God's love resides, there is always an excess of love to be shared with neighbors, be they Christian or not.
Basically, those Christians that want to convert people must not forget that their relationships and Christian community/family are perhaps the most fundamental acts of evangelism. We must not get so preoccupied with engaging the secular world, that we neglect the church family.