the practical athiest
“Sure I believe in God. I believe what the Bible says about Him. But that can’t stop me from really living, man.”
The teen across from me slouched in his chair, arms spread across the seat back to either side of him…a picture of relaxation and utter apathy. He stared at me as if demanding that a rebuttal.
For a few moments I let silence reign. My delayed response was not for lack of an answer. After all I had heard this statement all too often before. Despite the frequent number of times I had heard it, there was something strangely obscene about it. To claim that we believe in God—the One who created all that is, embodies all strength, power, and eternal brilliance, holds up the galaxies through a single proclamation, and wrapped human flesh around His glory to cloak Himself in our sinful rubbish so that we could stand in righteous light—and yet deny that as people who have been ransomed from the dominion of darkness we are compelled to live as children of light is to twist the truth and live in a lie. It is to be a practical atheist.
Atheism by definition is to claim the non-existence of god. Though many young people today profess with their lips to be believers in God, and additionally children of His grace, they deny His very existence through their lives. In essence, they live as through He does not truly exist. The affections of their hearts rest on money, popularity, sex, sports, dreams, or achievements.
Are you one of these? Do you live for selfish ambition? Are you a practical atheist?
As those who have been called into eternal intimacy with God Himself, let’s cast off the cancerous philosophy of practical atheism (Col. 2:8). Let’s wrap our hearts and lives around the One who was crushed for our sin and raised to life for our liberty. May we adopt the philosophy of the Apostle Paul who declared, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is even better!” (Phil. 1:21).
~ Aaron Currin
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