I had an interesting encounter this week. I have a friend I will call Sam. Sam frequently posts articles from atheists on Facebook. Surprising, considering when we worked together he was seeking God and attending church with his wife. I usually ignore them. Responding only gives them life. However, Sam is my friend and I care about him, so from time to time I will read the article and respond to remind him there are other perspectives. This week's exchange did not go well. For every sentence I wrote Sam wrote three paragraphs. Soon others joined his ranks and an assault on God's name and His word commenced.
I am considered intelligent by most who know me. Having viewed the world from outside Christianity I feel I understand the opposing perspective. I was briefly tempted to step up my rhetoric and fire back at every false statement and presumption. I thought of Paul in Athens when he took on the philosophers. I read Ecclesiastes and thought of ways to bring it to bare. Oh let me at 'em, but I felt God restrain me. I knew where the debate would lead. I knew it would not bring Sam into a relationship with God. God does not need my defense. It still felt like defeat. My last reply to the post, which had raged on like a wildfire for several days without me, was one last attempt to share my perspective and let Sam know I love him in a few sentences.
What now? Should I write Sam off? I can find scripture which backs this play, dust off my feet and move on. No, God created my connection with Sam, I do not wish to see him suffer for eternity, I chose to fight. Instead of rebutting Sam, God called me to pray. The following is my prayer, God's response is italicized.
Father I love you. My intelligence and ability to reason, my very faith has been challenged.
You will be ridiculed as I was, mocked as I was, hated for believing in me.
What should I do Lord?
You have done it. You responded in love when you wanted to be clever, the seed has been planted, every man has a choice. Continue to love.
But Paul was so clever.
He stood in my power not his own. You are not Paul and Paul was not you. Trust me.
You are the Christ, I have traveled too far to turn back, the world is foreign to me now, it is not my home.
Find peace Jeffrey, I am with you. Rejection breaks the will of man, be strong, trust in me.
There is no doubt, there is no fear, my confidence is in you.
* Love, you can't fire back, they are not saved, if you fire they may die.
Thank you Lord. Father, will you teach me to pray for the non-believers like Sam?
Why?
Because it is what you would have me do. I want to hold the gap, to intercede. It sounds foolish to offer my life but for some reason my heart returns there. Perhaps I am like the Disciples offering their lives in ignorance, then running away in fear. Father, I do not want to promise something I can not deliver. Teach me to pray, teach me Lord.
What is it you want?
For all men to be my brothers, to stand for what is right, to minister to those in need, to heal the sick, to drive away demons.
What about fame, notoriety, and fortune?
Your eyes are upon me lord, why would I need any others?
See how you have grown? What is your desire for Sam?
Complicated, part of me wants to be there when you are proven, to see him humbled, his arrogance squelched, but beyond that, the thought of a man of such promise and potential suffering eternally for foolishness and pride grieves me. I think of his walks with Carl, his advocacy, his children. Teach me to pray Lord, to impact the spiritual realm and break the enemies hold on this world. Plant a seed in his heart. I was counted dead, now I am alive, do it again Lord for Sam's sake, for his family's sake, for the sake of those he serves, do it again Lord. Do it again Lord, not for my glory or my satisfaction, I accept the ridicule, I find joy in the ridicule. The world laughs, forgive them, forgive their foolishness. Thank you Lord, I trust in you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
* During my prayer God brought to mind a powerful scene from the movie " End of the Spear". The movie tells the true story of a group of missionaries to Ecuador in the '50s. Nate Saint, a pilot and one of the missionaries who would be killed by the tribe they sought to reach, is speaking to his young son Steve. Nate is loading the small plane for the journey. Steve sees his dad's rifle and asks, "if you are attacked will you defend yourself?"
Without a pause Nate replies, "No, I will fire into the air but I will not aim at them, we are saved, they aren't."
It is my natural instinct to push back and defend myself when attacked. I choose to love instead. I am saved, those God has asked me to reach are not. Saved from what? Saved from an eternity away from God, an eternity of unimaginable pain and suffering, the likes this world has never known. Worth holding the gap a little longer for our neighbors, friends, and families? I think so.
17-18He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: "What an airhead!" But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: "That's a new slant on the gods. Tell us more."
19-21These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, "This is a new one on us. We've never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand." Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.
22-23So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. "It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with.
24-29"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
30-31"God overlooks it as long as you don't know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he's calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead."
32-34At the phrase "raising him from the dead," the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, "Let's do this again. We want to hear more." But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris. (Acts 17:18-34, The Message)
16-17 I said to myself, "I know more and I'm wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I've stockpiled wisdom and knowledge." What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless—nothing but spitting into the wind. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17, The Message)
11-12 The more words that are spoken, the more smoke there is in the air. And who is any better off? And who knows what's best for us as we live out our meager smoke-and-shadow lives? And who can tell any of us the next chapter of our lives? (Ecclesiastes 6:11-12, The Message)
9-10 Besides being wise himself, the Quester also taught others knowledge. He weighed, examined, and arranged many proverbs. The Quester did his best to find the right words and write the plain truth.
11 The words of the wise prod us to live well.
They're like nails hammered home, holding life together.
They are given by God, the one Shepherd.
12-13 But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There's no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you're no good for anything else. The last and final word is this:
Fear God.
Do what he tells you.
14 And that's it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, The Message)
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