Not one of them is a Christian believer. None of them go to church. None really seem interested in doing so any time soon. Why? What objections do they have to Christianity? Are they strident atheists dogmatically opposed to any form of belief? Are they perhaps members of another religion? Have they just never come across the gospel before?
Let’s start with James.
James has no big hang-up about suffering. (We looked at this subject 3 weeks ago). You won’t find James puzzling over why a God of love allows cancer and war and child abuse and tsunamis.
He doesn’t understand it but he doesn’t lose sleep over it either. No, for James the problem of suffering is not the reason that he is not a Christian.
Here’s why James is not a Christian. James is a friend who says ‘It’s OK for you that you believe - but it’s just not for me.’ Do you know someone like James? Hands up if you have ever heard that kind of remark, ‘It’s OK for you - but it’s not my sort of thing’?
OK, what about Hannah?
Hannah has no big objection about evolution and creation (which is what we looked at last week). She can understand that if there is a God, he could make the universe and, to be honest, complex life forms spontaneously evolving from nonliving matter requires a certain degree of faith too. The truth is that Hannah doesn’t really have an opinion about science and faith either way. No, for Hannah the debate about science and faith is not the reason that she is not a Christian. Here’s why Hannah is not a Christian.
Hannah is a friend who says “I just don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.” Now, again, have you have ever heard anyone say something like along those lines? Personally, I think it is much more common than things like
· “What about suffering?”
· “What about other religions?” and
· “What about science?”
All right, now for Bill.
Bill is not one of those people who say that all Christians are hypocrites and that church is boring. He won’t go on about being forced to attend church as a boy. He doesn’t say that Christians are always anti gay or anti women…
In fact, he might be quite open to mixing with Christians. He might encourage his children to go to a church school or youth group. He thinks the church does good work. He even got married in one many years ago. But he wouldn’t really call himself a believer in Jesus and he never prays.
Bill is a friend who says “I’ve just got too much going on in my life to bother about faith.”
James, Hannah and Bill put things slightly differently but they are all basically saying the same thing. None has a principled objection to Christianity, they just can’t see the answer to this question: What’s in it for me?
James says ‘It’s fine for you - but it’s just not my kind of thing.’ Hannah says ‘I don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.’ Bill says I’m too busy for all that.’
I have two questions that I would like you to discuss in groups.
In Colossians 4.3 it says “Pray for us, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.”
So here’s the first question:
How would you pray for friends like James, Hannah and Bill? What kind of things would you ask God to do in their lives?
The second question is this: How would you share your faith with them? What approach would you take to interesting them in the good news about Jesus? What sort of things would you say to them?
We’re going to take about 10 minutes and then we’ll come back together again...
...Feedback on flipchart...
Let me tell you how I pray for people like James, Hannah and Bill.
It says in Acts 16 when Paul, Timothy and Silas were in Philippi, “The Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Until the Lord opened Lydia’s heart she was unable to respond to the gospel that demands a response. It demands repentance for sins. It demands trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It demands obedience in baptism and a life of following Christ. All this is possible once the Lord opens someone’s heart. It was not just Paul's eloquence or persuasiveness that was having such a transforming influence in Lydia’s life. It was the Lord opening the heart. First of all then, for people like James who say “It’s OK for you that you believe - but it’s just not for me” I ask God to open hearts.
Secondly, I pray that God will bring to their consciousness their need of a saviour. This is what I pray for people like Hannah who say “I just don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.” People will never believe that they need to be saved until they really feel lost and that is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Madonna once said “I was what you would call at the top of my world. I’d won a Golden Globe for Evita, I was pregnant, I had fame, I had fortune, everything that you would perceive a person would want in life. But I’m sure everyone’s had that out-of-body experience where you say to yourself, and it might happen at 28 or 38 or 68, why am I here? Why am I inside of this body? What am I doing?”
The third thing I pray for is that people like Bill will have an encounter with God. That is what most needs to happen for people who say “I’ve got too much going on in my life to bother about faith.” In the book the Grace Outpouring that Julia mentioned last week there is a story of a couple of atheist ramblers who wandered past this Christian centre in Wales where there is a revival style awakening going on.
They come under the conviction of sin, fall to the ground and ask “What is going on here? We feel different. We feel like this is what we’ve always wanted.”When people encounter the presence of God they never say “I haven’t got time for this.”
So much for prayer then. How should we share our faith with the likes of James, Hannah and Bill? Or, put it another way, why do we think it would be better for them if they become Christians?
A former vicar of this church, David Osman, was once asked why he believes in Christianity and he replied “Because it’s true.”
On one level what James says seems reasonable. Remember what he said? “It’s OK for you that you believe - but it’s just not for me.”
But the point is that if Christianity is true it is true for everyone. To say, “That’s fine for you but it’s not for me” is illogical. If it’s true then it is true for me, and it’s also true for everyone else. If it’s not true then it’s not true for me, and it’s not fine at all that I believe in it because that would mean I’m deluded and wasting my life.
So I would gently challenge James and say to him “If Christianity is not true then no one should believe it, including me. If it is true then everyone should believe it, including you. How sure are you that Christianity is not true?”
The second reason James, Hannah and Bill should become Christians is this; It works.
Talk about the change that came into your life when you first believed in Christ. Talk about times when you have seen amazing healings or when God has lifted you in times of sadness and tragedy. Talk about walking miracles like Gram Seed.
Hannah says “I just don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.” But everybody has a Madonna moment from time to time. That’s when the illusion of self-sufficiency is lifted and you get to see the real state of the soul without God. Testimony is really powerful – and the greatest testimony is not in what you say but in how you live.
The final reason why should James, Hannah and Bill become Christians is this; It is urgent.
I read a book by a guy called Scot McKnight last week. He talks about how he became a Christian when he was 6 years old. He said to his mother, “Mum, I want to accept Jesus into my heart so I can be forgiven of my sins.” He had heard the gospel, understood that God loved him and had sent his Son for him to die so he could be forgiven. All that was left was his decision. His mother said slightly hesitatingly, “Don’t you think you should wait till your father gets home?” He replied that he was afraid he might die before she got home.”
For people like Bill who say “I’ve got too much going on in my life to bother about faith at the moment” we need to get to a point where we can say (and you have to find the right moment to say this kind of thing) “If you were to get run over by a bus tonight, Bill – and honestly I hope you don’t – but if you did, would you be sure of going to heaven?”
I have a friend who thinks they are fine without God. If only they knew how much better off they’d be with him.
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 28th December 2010
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