World Religions in a Nutshell (23 page)

You:
Why are you an atheist?

April:
Because there’s no proof that God exists.

You:
Let me ask you a question. When you look at a building, how do you know that there was a builder?

April:
The building exists.

You:
Right. When you look at a painting, how can you know
that there was a painter?

April:
Because the painting exists.

You:
Right. The paint
ing
is proof that there was a paint
er
. Paintings don’t happen by themselves, and creation is proof that there is a Creator. Think of all the things that surround us—flowers, birds, trees, the sun, the moon, the stars, the seasons. Think of the marvels of the human body—your eyes, for instance. Man has never invented a camera lens anywhere near as intricate as the human eye, with its 137 million light-sensitive cells. Does that make sense?

April:
Nope. I don’t buy it. You can’t relate a painting and a building to creation. There’s a big difference between the two. Creation is alive. It came about through evolution over millions of years. There’s no proof that God exists. Besides, who made God?

You:
He is eternal. He dwells outside the dimension of time
—with no beginning or end.

April:
No. There’s no proof that God exists. You guys are just anti-science and you use religion and the fear of Hell to get simple people to do what you want. Besides, I know an atheist named Dan Parker who was a Christian preacher for 19 years. But he saw the light back in 1984, and became an atheist. How do you answer that?

You:
Dan never knew the Lord. He was a false convert, what the Bible calls a “stony-ground” or “thorny-ground” hearer, who fell away from Christianity when temptation exposed him as being a fraud. Judas only lasted three years, but Dan faked it for an amazing 19 years.

[It’s vital to understand the principles of true and false conversion when dealing with atheists, as many of them are bitter products of Catholicism, or of the unbiblical methods of modern evangelism. You can freely listen to “True and False Conversion” on www.livingwaters.com.]

[Notice that you have been speaking to April in the realm of her intellect. You’ve started there to build a relationship with her, and are showing her respect by gracefully letting her give her opinions. Now it’s time to swing to her conscience.]

You:
April, let’s suppose that there is a Heaven, just for a moment. Do you think you are good enough to go there? Are you a good person?

[Because you are just asking her to suppose (imagine) that Heaven exists, she doesn’t feel threatened. Besides, she is convinced that she is morally a good person, so there’s no threat if she goes along with you.]

April:
Of course. I’m a very good person.

You:
How many lies do you think you have told, in your whole life? Not “white” lies, but real lies.

[There has been no mention of her moral responsibility to God, so she will have no problem boasting about her sins.]

April:
A bundle.

You:
Real
lies?

April:
Yeah, real lies.

You:
How many? Ten? Hundreds?

April:
Hundreds?

You:
What do you call someone who tells lies?

April:
They are human—everyone lies.

You:
Yes. But what would you call
me
if I told lies?

April:
A liar.

You:
Have you ever stolen anything, in your whole life, even if it was small?

April:
Yes. But they were only small things, and it was in the past, when I was younger.

You:
What do you call someone who steals things?

April:
A thief. I see where you are going with this. You think I’m going to Hell.

You:
I didn’t say that. Stay with me, April. I know that you don’t believe in God, but have you ever used His name in vain?

April:
All the time. So what? It’s just a word.

You:
Let me explain what you are doing. I know you aren’t convinced of the fact that God gave you life, but He did. He gave you eyes to see the beauty of this incredible creation, ears to listen to good music, and taste buds to enjoy all the wonderful foods. He lavished His kindness upon you, then you have taken His holy name and used it as a cuss word to express disgust. That’s a very serious crime in His eyes—it’s called “blasphemy.”

April:
I don’t buy it.

You:
That doesn’t matter. One to go. Jesus said that whoever looks with lust has already committed adultery in the heart. Have you ever lusted?

April:
Plenty of times.

You:
So, April, here’s a summation of what we have found about you. You are not a good person at all. You’ve admitted that (and I’m not judging you) you are a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer at heart; and you have to face God on Judgment Day whether you believe in Him or not. You were right about going to Hell. The Bible says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire, and that no thief, blasphemer, or adulterer will enter Heaven.

April:
I don’t believe Hell exists.

You:
Would you bet your life on it?

April:
Yep.

You:
Well, you are. If I stood in front of a judge and said, “Judge, I know that I am guilty of murder, but I don’t believe in the electric chair,” it’s not going to change anything. My unbelief doesn’t change reality. So, does it concern you that if you died right now and God gave you justice, you would end up in Hell forever?

April:
Not much.

You:
Have you ever been in a dentist’s chair when he hits a raw nerve in your tooth?

April:
Yes.

You:
Did you like it?

April:
No.

You:
Imagine what Hell will be like. It is a place of terrible, unending pain and torment. April, it’s got to concern you. You love life, don’t you?

April:
Of course I do.

You:
Do you know what God did for us, so that we could avoid Hell?

April:
No. What did He do?

You:
He became a morally perfect human being—Jesus of Nazareth—and gave His life as a sacrifice for the sin of the world. We broke God’s Law (the Ten Commandments) but because Jesus paid our fine on the cross 2,000 years ago, God can dismiss our case. He can commute our death sentence. The Bible says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God proved His great love for you through the cross. Then Jesus rose from the dead, and defeated the power of the grave. April, if you repent and trust the Savior, God will forgive your sins and grant you everlasting life. Does that make sense?

[You are not preaching about “intelligent design” to an atheist. You are preaching about an Intelligent Designer: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).]

April:
Yes, it does.

You:
So where would you go, according to the Bible, if you died right now?

April:
I would probably go to Hell.

You:
What are you going to do about it?

April:
I will think about what you have said.

You:
Please do that. There’s nothing more important than where you will spend eternity. Thanks for listening. May I give you a Bible?

April:
Okay, but I may not read it.