Long post title. Heh.
So, a few days ago, you read here that I was convicted about begging God for money all the time. Yesterday on my morning prayer/dog walk I prayed that God would use me that day at work. Lo and behold, a conversation about the Al-Qaeda issuing a statement likening President-elect Obama to a “House Negro” twisted into a brief discussion about racism in Arabic cultures, and from thence to a discussion about whether or not all religions are based on punishment avoidance.
This gave us a fantastic jumping off point to talk about the difference between a a capricious god who demands “submission”, and a loving God who sacrificed his Son to restore us to our proper relationship with him as his children. It gave me a chance to teach about a heavenly father who loves us and gave us the freedom to choose to love or not love him, knowing the pain that it would cause him when we do not choose him. But more than that, loving even those who hate him so much that he will ultimately give them what they want, even though he knows that they will not like it. Like the Israelites crying out to God for a king, even after God explained that they would not like the choice, many in this world scream at God, “Go away”, not understanding what that really means. I explained that hell is a place where God is not – that’s what makes it hell. And when you die, God isn’t “punishing you” by sending you to hell, he is, in love, allowing you to choose eternal separation from him. He loves you so much he will not force you to be with him if you spent your life wanting to be away from him.
They (my two atheist friends) still at the end did not grasp this difference – they still viewed separation from God as a punishment inflicted on them for not choosing God. But I can’t change their hearts – only God can. They can think about that and I can pray that they realize how childish that view is – though it is systemic of our political systems these days – that you can make a poor choice, but not suffer the consequences because a “loving” government would protect you from your own stuidity and obstinacy. Apparently, they apply that same understanding to God – that he should allow us to indulge and then when we face the consequences, protect us from them. He does do this, but he only gives us one life to come to him, and choose to repent.
But what I got out of the conversation was when one of them challenged me with the question, “what happens if you’re wrong? You will have missed out on all the fun you could have had in this life.” I said to him, “What will I have missed?” The things that I have given up for Christ are sin – and I challenged him to find one sin in the Bible that does not either hurt myself or others around me. He tried to some up with something but the best he could do was suggest that sins that only affect yourself are ok. And I just said, “Why would it be fun to hurt myself? I don’t feel I am missing that at all.” Perhaps that part of the conversation was the most important part. I really feel blessed to serve Jesus today because of that conversation. I have given up nothing to serve Jesus. What fun is it to hurt myself or others?
If, at the end of my life, I find out this is all a fallacy (I know it isn’t, but hey, we’ll pretend there is an outside chance), I will not feel like I missed a thing, because I know that I will have spent my life doing good for people and myself. There will not be a moment of regret that I didn’t cause someone else pain for my own momentary pleasure. And it is sad that my friends are so lost that they still see someone else’s pain as their gain.
Tags: atheists, evangelism, hell, Islam, punishment
