Dear Atheist, Pick a Side and Acknowledge Your Choice

I know, I get it. I frustrate you, tick you off, embarrass you, exasperate you, or at least concern you.

That about covers it right.

But, you have to admit it, at least this one time.

At least I have an opinion. At least I’ve taken up a side. At least I’ve made my camp and decided to defend it.

Some of you could take a lesson in this. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that most people either don’t really give life much thought, or at least they just let it happen to them, rather than being actively involved in making choices. Right or wrong, but a choice just the same.

I am a follower of Christ and though I know I am so very far from perfect and I know I often have made decisions that were less than perfect, at least I took a side. God says in the Bible (which, yes, I do believe that it is the one book we really need to be reading above all others and yes, we need to do what it says) that we are either for Him or against Him.

Folks, this is a no brainer… Stop trying to overthink it… If you follow Christ and call Him your Lord and Savior, then do what He says and you shall show through your obedience that you are His child.

If you otherwise choose to turn your back on Christ and will not do what He says, then you are in fact “an enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ.” An enemy. I did not say it; I am not the one who is your judge. You will stand or fall to Christ alone.

In other words, if you choose to take up a “neutral position,” let me be maybe the only one to tell you, there is no neutral ground when it comes to God. He already tells us that in the Bible. Whether you are an atheist, a humanist, or a “fill in the blank-ist,” I’m telling you, you have taken a side.

But, so many of you who won’t state your side clearly like the examples above, you have inadvertently chosen your side and now you stand on the enemy side of the line. I may be tolerant of you, I may be kind to you, I may even love you, but in God’s eyes you are an enemy. Not a good place to be.

And, I still don’t really get it nor do I actually buy it, when you see these atheist types throwing their weight around to enact laws or in so many ways to outlaw the outward demonstrations of those who do acknowledge their following God, that they don’t believe in God. On the contrary, I think by the very acts of trying to legislate that there is no God, they demonstrate that they actually must believe He exists because if you believe He does not exist, then exactly why are you always so angry at Him and at those who purport to believe in Him.

If God does not exist, then why not just be content to let us make (in your opinion) fools of ourselves?

When you say that you don’t believe in God and that in your opinion He does not exist, you have chosen to be God’s enemy.

I know that probably that does not scare you. And, I am not really trying to scare you per se. But, I hope you will one day reconsider your choice for in fact I do care what happens to you and so does God. I actually do pray in my heart that one day you will hear that still small voice of the Holy Spirit, whispering that God does not hate you, but in fact loves you. He does not want anyone to have to suffer an eternity in Hell (yes, it is a real place, and it will be no party) or have to live apart from Him and all those that we love.

There is no hope for us apart from the redemption offered by Christ’s death on that cross so long ago. None of us has upheld the laws of God and none of us can buy or way into heaven. We must be purified by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. Without this, we would all suffer an eternal punishment.

My love is imperfect and so is my call for you to accept Christ and His message of hope. But, I know that Christ’s love is perfect and His call to your heart can penetrate your defenses. If you seek God out and truly go in search of answers that only He can give, then I know that one day He will lead you to the right conclusions. One day He will lead you home.

It is in this hope that I write this and ask that you at least consider that God exists, that He loves you, and that maybe those of us who keep imperfectly trying to tell you about Him, might actually be trying to lead you a truth that can lead to something beyond this short and challenging mortal life.

May God find you right where you are at. On life’s front lines, or in its margins.

Sincerely,

Mike Meehan