It is not through the eloquence of our words, or through how well we present the evidence for the existence of God, but rather it is through the Holy Spirit doing the work of regeneration in the heart of man. Second, Paul encourages us to be kind, able to teach and gentle, while avoiding being quarrelsome and resentful while talking. This will come easily when we recognize the fact that they are captive to the devil and that we are powerless to help them escape. It is simply not up to us or even them, it is only up to the mercy of God, so, it is silly to be anything but kind and gentle.
A couple weeks ago, my kids saw a man and his son out in the park, so they quickly asked if they could go outside. It was a great chance for my kids to play with someone and for me to get to know a neighbor. It turned out to be a great Gospel opportunity.
He was a guy who grew up in Peru, currently working for an airline company. He gets to fly all over the world for free, and he told me that he can’t wait to make it to Italy one day, specifically Rome. When I informed him that I grew up in Rome, we were practically best friends. Then he asked me what I do. When I informed him that I worked at a church, he played it cool like he was ok with it. He had already told me that he grew up with Catholic grandparents, as well as a Jewish grandpa, all practicing in their respective religions. He never mentioned anything negative about them, nor about religion at all. And then he told me that he was an atheist. As we continued our conversation, it was very pleasant. He couldn’t understand why there are so many religions, so I explained to him the differences between what I believe and most other religions. He had many questions about the Bible’s reliability which I did my best to answer, and then I got the chance to encourage him to read his Bible. He confessed to a fear of death, as well as some doubts about atheism. Right before we went home, we took out our phones and became Facebook friends. All in all, a wonderful conversation, and one which I was very thankful for.
And then I looked at his Facebook.
He was a particular fan of a Facebook page that was entitled, “WE –CURSEWORD- LOVE ATHEISM.” And not too long before our conversation, he had shared a cartoon of a man getting kicked out of a car for changing the music station to Christian music. At first, I was a little shocked and a little discouraged, feeling a little weird about our conversation, but that feeling went away pretty quickly. I started becoming thankful and encouraged by our conversation. I thought about how cool it was that our conversation went so well. Perhaps he acted more with a mob mentality when he was with a group of online friends than he did in person. Of course, I don’t want to minimize his hatred for God or his sinfulness, but it was a reminder of the fact that we don’t need to be afraid to share the Gospel with anyone despite their outward appearance or of what we know about their beliefs. Many Christians can be very intimidated when talking to atheists, but if we trust in God’s Sovereignty and His Word, we don’t need to fear anyone. Here are five confidence-inducing reasons why you don’t need to fear to share the Gospel with an atheist.
They do believe in God
Perhaps the scariest part of talking with an atheist is the fact that they say that they don’t believe God exists. And Christians can have a hard time, or better yet, an impossible time proving that He does. So often, Christians forget what the Bible says about those who deny God. The Bible is clear that many people do deny God, but Romans 1 gives us the reason why. Paul says in Romans 1:18
,
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
The Bible clearly says that men know that God exists, but that they suppress that knowledge with unrighteousness. In other words, they love their sin so much that they choose to suppress the knowledge of God. This doesn’t mean that we won’t find people who genuinely think that God doesn’t exist, but we know, ultimately, that this suppression comes as a result of loving sin. Therefore, in our evangelism, we must do our best to help them see their sin and understand how it blinds them from the Truth.
The post Why Talking With Atheists Isn’t as Scary as You Think appeared first on The Aquila Report.
