We were in a home recently visiting with friends. We spent the night in the room they fixed up for their grandchildren when they visited. Along with a variety of things to play with and things to create with, they had what I would term "recommended reading" -- things they want their grandchildren to read. Atheist Christopher Hitchens wrote a book titled, God is Not Great. That was one of the books on the shelf, cued up for the kids to read. On the refrigerator they had a magnet with a quote from atheist Richard Dawkins. "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction." These grandparents had a mission. They had a message for their grandkids. And I thought it was sad. Then I noticed a print up on the wall. It said, "Hope." Below was a verse. "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God" (Psa 146:5). Strange, right? Is hope found in the Lord, or is there no God at all?
People are strange. They'll tell you it's wrong for Christians to say, "Well, there are just things we can't understand, but we trust God" and then they will tell you, "I know there are things we can't understand, but it's okay." They'll tell you, "We need to love our neighbors" and never meet their neighbors. They'll say, "We need to be more embracing and forgiving of things we aren't comfortable with" and then refuse to embrace or forgive things they're uncomfortable with. They say, "I know that God works all things together for good" and then complain about how God is working things.
Christians, unbelievers, all humans ... we are inconsistent. And, well, why wouldn't we be? "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer 17:9) We live in a world hostile to God (Rom 8:7). Even Christians have a sin nature (Rom 7:17). Why we are inconsistent isn't a necessary question. Why don't we know it? That's a good one. Do you examine yourself? Does your life reflect what you think you believe? Or are you simply sending mixed messages?
4 comments:
I can see wanting your children to read the great opponents of the faith to understand their arguments and how to refute them, but that doesn't seem to be what you're describing. My wife's family is all into choirs and join a couple non-church-affiliated choirs. So I must assume there are unbelievers in those groups. But a majority of choral music is Christian, and I often wonder how those people rationalize the contradiction. But then I think to my youth and how I saw nothing wrong with listening to secular music, without thinking it would have any effect on me. We are all guilty of suppressing the Truth, even after receiving a new heart.
It is interesting that if you look closely at Atheism, you'll notice that they borrow a number of concepts from Christianity without realizing that those concepts are not necessarily supported by their worldview. Especially when it comes to the intrinsic value of humans, or any notion of sacrificing self for others.
David,
The most popular counter to reading the opponents of the faith, is the Secret Service example. When the Secret Service agents train on counterfeit money, they don't study the fake money they study real bills. That way they are so familiar with the real think that they can spot a fake easily. I'm not saying we shouldn't read the work of our opponents, but it does seem like our goal should be intimate familiarity with scripture.
I've had the same thought about Christmas music. It seems like the theology of many traditional carols is so up front that it would be hard for secular singers not to absorb it to some degree.
Yeah, thought that went without saying. If they don't have the foundation of Scripture, then it is dangerous to study opposing ideology. But with the undergirding of Scripture, it is important for us to study opposing teachings so we can be ready to give them an answer without putting up strawmen. We frequently see people putting forth strawman arguments against Christianity because they haven't actually looked at what is taught.
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