Lately, I’ve made a habit of browsing the sites of atheists, just to try to understand their point of view, common arguments, etc. Recently I stumbled across the following blog: http://principlesofparsimony.blogspot.com/2007/09/meaning-of-life-or-do-theists-ever-even.html
It’s worth a read. A couple of the comments in response to this post were made by me. I’m trying to engage this particular atheist in a friendly conversation about our beliefs. I hope to challenge both him and myself in what we assume to be true. It was actually very good for me to read what he has to say. Some of his points reflect an attitude that self-professed Christians often have, one of them being that death doesn’t matter or isn’t sad because we have eternity for which to look forward. Granted we do have hope of the resurrection, and that is something to rejoice over, but death is never something for which we ought to rejoice. It is a sad event.
Never tell a friend not to be sad over the death of their loved one. Comfort them with the hope of the resurrection, but encourage them to mourn as well. We have to look no further than to Jesus himself who wept when his friend Lazarus died. Jesus, the one who ultimately showed he has power over the grave in his own body, the one who moments later would raise Lazarus from the dead, the one who, as part of the Trinity, had a part in creating the world itself…wept. This shortest verse in the Bible (John 11:35…”Jesus wept.”) at first glance is just part of the story. We are given no specifics as to why Jesus wept, but I suspect it is because he understood how awful death was and what it was eventually going to cost for death to be defeated (his own life). Deeper thought about the concept of Jesus weeping can lead to a number of possible conclusion (which I will not get into…other than my brief guess above), but at the very least it isn’t insignificant to note that Jesus wept over something he had the power to change.
In any case, I think my new atheist friend is off-base in many of the things that he says, but a lot of what he says holds some truth as well. Life for the Christian should be treated as though it were precious. It is a gift and we are to be good stewards of that gift. Certainly our life is to be viewed as though we are just passing through, because we are, but that does not mean we can do whatever we please because this life does not matter. Even an atheist holds the truth that life is worth living to its fullest. Although his ultimate conclusion as to why we should make every minute count and to treasure every moment is wrong, we can learn from him.
Living with eternity in view means we live it as though our next moment will be the beginning of eternity. Living life in this way should inspire us to obey everything that Christ commanded us, because our next moment might be spent In his presence. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to stand (or fall down) before him and be able to say that I truly value(d) the life that he gave me and that I obeyed him with more vigor every day of my life in him.
My next post I intend to think through the concept that the same blogger brings up…that we alone decide what our life in the future will look like. Is that true? Can it be true? How much of life is actually under our control, if we indeed assume control of it? Check back in the coming days for that post, but be thinking about those questions. In the meantime, give the above link a read.
I have very mixed emotions this evening. Earlier today I received an email from one of the leaders of a ministry in Fort Worth, TX called Intentional Gatherings (www.myspace.com/intentionalgatherings). The intro to the email was the following: “Hello sweet family! As I was driving this morning with my windows down and coffee within hands reach, I began to beg that each of you would experience the Spirit of the Lord through every day things. Things like taking a sip of coffee, or hearing a good song. Seeing some kids riding their bikes or that perfect feeling of not-too-cold but not-too-hot! Lately the Lord has wooed me to himself through these little, everyday things. It’s beautiful and I want the same for you! Jesus, would you force us into worship in the midst of our busy days!?”
The essence of the intro, along with the rest of the email, was to not only be mindful of God, but to worship him throughout the day and not forget him while experiencing the simple pleasures of life. The simple pleasures of life ought to remind us to worship God. Unfortunately, we often forget to worship him when life is good. So, I found the above reminder a good one.
Later in the day I read John Piper’s blog “Desiring God” which gets forwarded to my email account through a feed. Normally the posts are very uplifting and often joyous. Today’s blew me away. Basically, Piper was asking for his readers to pray for his family. His son, Abraham, and wife Molly lost their child before she was even born. You can read the article yourself here: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/829_felicity_margaret_piper/
The article left me weeping. I have a daughter who will be 16 months old in a couple of weeks. My wife and I hope to have more children, so I can’t imagine what they are going through. Not too many things make me shed a tear anymore…let alone weep. I don’t know what to feel. I feel great sorrow for the family. I feel grateful that God has spared my family, to this point, from such a tragedy. In a way I also felt a little angry. Why would God allow this to happen to such a godly family. John Piper addresses this a little in his article, so again I encourage you to read it.
There are no easy answers here. The scriptures that Piper points to, especially 2 Samuel 12:15-23, give great perspective. It is great to know that we have hope of seeing loved ones again in eternity, but that is little comfort in the present. I think it is important to morn, because death sucks. Death is the enemy. It is difficult to see what God’s purpose is in allowing something like this to happen, but he is still just in doing so. We must praise him because he has provided hope through the resurrection life of his Son Jesus Christ.
God is to be worshipped both through the simple pleasures of life and through the awful tragedies. The question I’m asking myself today is, “Will I worship God when something like this happens to me?” Stuff like this will eventually happen to all of us. We live in a fallen world. The question is, what will our response be? Will we worship God like David did and Piper is today? Or will the pain destroy us?
Yes, sometimes worship is painful…and sometimes we are left with more questions than answers. Will you remember to worship him during the simple pleasures of life? Will I? How about when it hurts?
Weakness is not ordinarily equated with strength. In the game of basketball it is profitable to identify and attack the weakness(es) of the opposing team. If your team’s center is Yao Ming and the opposing center is Calvin Booth, it would make sense to keep feeding the ball to Yao. Booth doesn’t stand a chance. Likewise, if Booth is your starting center and you are facing Yao, it would be prudent to avoid giving the ball to Booth. That’s almost a guaranteed turnover every time!
Just as in the game of basketball we are forced to make decisions about our weaknesses in everyday life. Often we tend to engage in activities that cater to our strengths just because it is the most comfortable and natural thing to do. It makes us look our best. Conversely, we tend to avoid our weaknesses because they make us feel uncomfortable and have an excellent chance of making us look something much less than our best. Our culture is geared toward focusing on our strengths and attacking other’s weaknesses. It is how one gets ahead in life.
I’m going to make the jump to the Christian life where things are not always as they appear. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 hit me this morning. Verse 10, in particular, stood out to me. It says, “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (NET) How often are we able to say that we are content with any of the above? These are the kinds of things from which we run on a daily basis. Whatever makes us uncomfortable leads us to run for comfort. Whatever makes us appear less than our best sends us running for what makes us look our best. Paul turns this idea upside-down, saying that our weakness is our strength. From a human perspective this seems like a foolish statement. Our strength in weakness actually doesn’t even come from ourselves. It comes from God. He makes us strong in our weakness. He does this so that he is glorified.
When our weakness is a strength, then it is clearly God who is working. He is strong in every area. His strength is most evident in areas that we are weak. Today I am challenged to think about things from which I run. From what important activities do I typically shy away due to weakness? If I’m running from things that God has commanded me to do, chances are I’m relying on my own strength. Certainly, I can ask God to take away my weakness, but God does not guarantee that he will. Paul did this very thing. He asked God to rid him of his weakness (12:8). God said, “my grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (12:9)
Because of this, Paul goes so far as to say, “I will boast most gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may reside in me.” (12:9) Who boasts about their weaknesses? Only one who trusts that God is strong enough for the task. This is foolish thought for those who do not believe in Christ. To return to our NBA example, no team ever broadcasts (boasts) their weaknesses. They hope that the weaknesses go unnoticed and unexploited. They train endlessly to fix their weaknesses and turn them into strengths. They leave the discovery of their weaknesses up to brilliant coaches and players who pour over hours of game film. As Christians we can do what seems absurd and boast in our weakness, because we have a strength that comes not from willpower or self-reliance, but from God’s grace. I would much rather rely on that strength than my own. The tricky part is to identify the areas of weakness from which I should not be running. By now I have probably become masterful at disguising them.
