Monday Message

Yesterday, I got into a long drawn out Facebook battle with an atheist.  I know, I know, but it didn't start out on that topic.  A fellow blogger was making mention of Obama saying to the effect that we were not at war with Islam, to which I commented that they had declared war on us, and it was stupid to ignore that.  Being a good liberal (the dude claims he wasn't, but if it sounds like a duck, etc, etc), he fought me all the way back to the Ayatollah and finally as much as said that the Muslims had an excuse for attacking us because we "propped up Israel".  At this point, I shoulda just washed my hands of it. (Keep in mind, when I told him earlier I had to leave to take care of a couple of burning burgers, he said:

 "Translation: "Holy shit, I'm being swamped by unassailable logic, I need to make an excuse so I don't embarrass myself any more." Got it. Enjoy lunch.")

But no, and as his comments got ever more insulting of God, I made the decision to stand up for God, particularly on comments such as:

 "I'm letting him know he can wave off, because I got no use for him if he should happen to exist. An omnipotent being with the capacity to prevent evil who refuses to do so is sociopathic."


So am I posting this to bash him?  No, actually I wasted far too much time on him yesterday.  I'm here to bash myself.

It took me a while- and well after the fact- to realize what I was doing.  And it was a lesson God decided to teach me after I quoted Isaiah 6:

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused;    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

 

The problem is, that applied to Israel, not to atheists.  You see, there's a different set of rules that God explained to me about atheists.  Not your "I don't think I believe in God, but I respect your faith" person, but the hardened, vocal, "I neither respect you nor your faith" person like this one and his ilk at the FFRF.  And God had to teach me it in steps.

 

First step:  Their hearts have been closed for a reason.  That reason I'll get to later; but because of this, to argue faith with them is not fighting man, it's fighting God.  The dude was right, he has this unassailable wall between him and God.    God let it be put there, and nothing I say or do is ever gonna break it down.  I cannot win here.

 

Second step:  This upset me because of many things-  I thought God wanted everyone to be saved; I thought, everyone had a chance at salvation;  I thought the only unforgivable sin was dying without having accepted Christ.

 

“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.” — Mark 3:28-29

 

 

Third step:  The fallacy in the way I took this is believing that the sin being unforgivable required death as a final condition.  God explained to me through much prayer and debate, that Satan is a copier.  Just like we make a decision FOR Christ, and are forever sealed, people like this make a decision AGAINST Christ, against God.  That doesn't have to involve getting on one's knees and giving your heart for Satan;  just making the conscious decision that the concept of God stands in the way of what I want to believe is enough.  And while they are not exactly "saved" as a Christian is, the are..

 

Fourth step:  ...SEALED by Satan against any hope of change.  Thus you end up with someone who thinks like:

 

 "If I'm wrong, and your God *IS* omnipotent and capable of eliminating evil, pestilence, famine, and chooses not to? Then I will deny him to his face and want nothing to do with him, for he is not worthy of either respect or adoration."

 

 

The problem, I tried to explain to him, is that to assign God the same motive and purposes as man, makes man an equal with God... GOD=MAN, MAN=GOD.  Just what Satan wants.  But that doesn't matter to him.  He is sealed against God.  Not by choice of God, nor act of Satan... but by his own damned choice.

 

Fifth step:  Acceptance that I am only bashing my head here.  Despite my heart that says I have to do everything in my power to reach out to him, this is not what God calls me to do.  Encourage, call, learn and teach with... but don't waste time.  I cannot say that I understand why some of the ground sown on is hard-packed- that is God's to know.   I cannot say I will know peace in this life over people like this who are sealed away from God's touch.  But for us to come to God as He wants, it has to be a free-will choice.  Which means there has to be a choice... and choices inevitably come with consequences.