The Christian Atheist

This message is the first in our new series.

The Christian Atheist, part 1

“When you believe in God but don’t really know Him”

Sunday, September 15^th, 2013

 

Show- That’s my King video-

 

            Well, I’m stoked to begin a brand new sermon series this week; especially after watching that video!

            I’ve been thinking and praying about this sermon series since 2010, and I’m glad that we are finally launching it; I believe that this is the right word at the right time for our church.

            We just concluded a 2 part series looking at “why we do what we do” where we focused on the mission and the vision of our church and why we must peruse both of them.

            (If you missed either message, go to my website, they can be found there)

            This series will help us as we seek to fulfill the mission of our church, which is “to know Christ and to make Him known”

            We’re launching the series called “The Christian Atheist”.

            Now before we get too far into this series, I think we need to have an understanding of some important terminology that will be used throughout this series. 

            The first word is: Atheist. An Atheist is someone who denies the existence of God.  (Kevin Bacon is atheist and so is James Cameron of Titanic fame)

            Here’s another term: Theism. This is the belief in the existence of one God. Wesleyans are Monotheists. We believe in One God, who is Three Persons.

            Some of you might know this term: Christian. A Christian is a person who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

         Many people in this room refer to themselves as Christians.

            If we combine the word “Christian” and the word “Atheist”, we get a new word called Christian Atheist.

A Christian Atheist is someone who believes in God, but lives as if He doesn’t exist.

            When I first heard this definition, I starched my head. “Do I know any Christian Atheists” I wondered? Do Christian Atheists really exist?

            I didn’t have to think about it very long to find an example of a Christian Atheist.

ILLUSTRATION- The year was 2000 and I was living the dream.

I was in my 3^rd year of study at Kingswood University, I was engaged to Elizabeth, I was working on staff at Norton Wesleyan Church and I had a work study in the cafeteria as a cook’s helper.

If you were to look at me then, you’d say I had it all together.  I believed in God…..but I was living as if He didn’t exist.

While I'm not proud of this chapter in my life, I use it to illustrate my point: While I was engaged to Elizabeth, I was simultaneously dating other girls on the side.

            I did my best to cover it all up; but eventually my double life came out, and when it did, it wasn’t pretty.

            I came within inches of losing the love of my life; I was forced to resign my position at Norton Wesleyan, I was removed from the kitchen, and I was kicked out of school for two weeks.

            I believed in God, but I was living as if He didn’t exist. I was a Christian Atheist.

            I believed in God—I believed that He called me into the ministry in 1996, I believed that He loved me and I believed that He died for me; I even believed that He walked with me and talked with me, but believing isn’t the same as personal knowledge.

            And God doesn’t want us just to believe in Him up here, (head) He wants us to Know Him down here (heart)—personally and passionately.

         Let me try and illustrate what I mean.

ILLUSTRATION- Some of you may know that I am a Third Day fan.

         I’ve seen them in concert 5 times; I have their autograph on just about everything imaginable. I have all their albums—even some of the limited edition albums.

            I have photos of Third Day in my office and at home, I follow them on twitter; I’ve got several magazine articles that feature 3D; I’ve met with them 4 times and over half the songs on my iPhone are Third Day songs.  

            I know Third Day… sort of. I have no idea what they like to do when they are not on the road—although I know that Mac Powell shares my love for bacon!

            I don’t know their likes or dislikes; I don’t know the name of the street they live on in Atlanta.

            I don’t know how long the drummer has been married or the names the base player's kids.

            I may know a lot about Third Day, but I don’t really know them—I can’t pick up the phone and call Mac Powell and tell him I’m in need of something and I wonder if he can help me out.

            But I can pick up the phone and call my friend Bill and ask him anything in the world, and I know that he would do it, because he knows me and I know him.

            Don’t miss the difference. Some people know about God, but they don’t know Him intimately.

            Some people know about God, but they don’t know Him as David knew Him. Listen to how he described his relationship with God in Psalm 63:

            “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

² I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. ³ Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!

⁴ I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

⁵ You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.

⁶ I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.

⁷ Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” (Psalm 63:1-8, NLT2)

This sounds like someone who believed in God and lived as if He existed!

It also sounds like someone who knew God intimately.

God was his God, not someone else’s; his body longed for God as much as a person would long for water in the dry desert.

The unfailing love of God was better than life itself, and he committed to praising God for as long as he lived.

David had an experience with God that transformed his entire world. David believed in God, lived as if He existed and knew Him personally.

How about you? Do you know God as I know Third Day; partially and incomplete? OR do you know God as you know your spouse or close friend or relative?

Do you know God personally and passionately?  

Let’s look at what Jesus had to say on this issue, before we fully answer those questions.

Jesus told us to: “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.

¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.

¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” (Matthew 7:15-20, NLT2)

You can tell a lot about a person by their actions, Jesus said, just as you can tell a tree by its fruit.

People who know God personally, will produce fruit that prove they really know Him. (Paul desribes this kind of fruit in Galatians 5)

Jesus then goes on to say: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.

²² On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’

²³ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.” (Matthew 7:21-23, NLT2)

Jesus tells us that only the people who know Him will enter heaven. More specifically: “Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”  (Matthew 7:21, NLT2)

We prove that we know Jesus by obeying His Word.

John picks up the same thought in 1 John chapter 2: “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4, NIV)

Do you really know God? The best way to answer that question is by answering this question: Do you obey His commands?

It’s not enough for us just to believe in God, we must know Him. And we prove that we know Him by obeying His word.

So here’s the acid test to see if you really know God; or if you are living as if He doesn’t exist.

David wrote in Psalm 9:10: “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.” (NLT2)

Ø Do you know the Name of the One who provides for you?

Ø Do you know the Name of the One who will stand by your side?

Ø Do you know the One who wants you to call Him Father?

Ø Can you, as David wrote in Psalm 63, say that God is your God?

Do you believe in God but live as if He doesn’t exist; or do you truly know Him?

ILLUSTRATION- For far too long in my life, I believed in God, but I lived as if He didn’t exist; I knew about God, but didn’t make Him my own. He wasn’t a priority in my life.

            But now that I know Him—in my heart—He is the most important relationship in my life, I talk to Him constantly, I think about Him always and I want to live my life in a way that pleases Him.

            "Has God transformed you? Are you different because of Him?" (Groeschel, 2010, 43)   

            If you know God, but aren’t any different, perhaps you are a Christian Atheist; you believe in God but are living as if He doesn’t exist.

            The Good News is that you can be different! Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come!" (NIV)

        We can be different because of Jesus Christ!

            If you don’t know God at all, you can by calling out to Him and asking Him to save you!

        Paul wrote: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13,NIV)

            If you don’t know God personally and passionately, you can today! Simply call out to Him and ask Him to save you.

            If you knew God at one time—but you have drifted away from Him—you can return.

            God, in Jeremiah 29:13 said: “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” (NLT2)

            If you make knowing God a priority; if you chose to obey His commands, He will begin changing you from who you are into the person He wants you to be.

            We are not called to be Christian Atheists; we’re not called to know God and live as if He doesn’t exist.

We are called: “to Know Christ” and if God has been tugging at your heart, either because your relationship with Him is not what—or where—it should be, I want you to know that God is ready for you to turn back to Him.

            As the band comes to lead us in a time of reflection, I’d like for you to ask God to perform an honest check-up of your soul.

            Do you know Him; or do you live as if He doesn’t exist?

            Remember what Jesus said? You identify people by their actions, and if your actions don’t line up to what God has said, there’s a good chance that you might be a Christian Atheist.

            But friend, we serve a God of second chances, and this morning He is inviting you to come to Him because He wants to change you from what you are into what you should be, so if you need to come to the front to talk to God, please feel the freedom to do so today.