At the Center of It All

Have you ever noticed that God frequently will bring something to your attention one day and then reinforce it from an entirely different direction the next? Or am I the only one? Didn’t think so.

This morning’s message at church was tied in to the ongoing Truth Project that we’re studing in our small groups. Today’s topic was Theology (Who Is God?). Pastor Del was speaking about our possible responses to God. Many people recognize that there are two extremes: you can be an atheist, denying the existence of God, or a believer.

But there is a middle ground that I hadn’t really considered before today, and that is what Pastor Del calls “practical atheism.” Essentially this is believing that God exists (at least potentially), but living your life as though He didn’t.

Ouch. How many “Christians” are in fact pratical atheists? How much of my life is lived this way? I suspect this is part of the problem I’ve been having with getting the habit of prayer and scripture into my life. If I truly believed in the existence of God and His desire for a relationship with me, wouldn’t I want to spend every possible moment with Him? Wouldn’t I want to hear from the creator of the universe about His plan for me? Wouldn’t I want to read about his system for organizing my life and growing my spirit?

The only conclusion I can draw is that on some level I’ve been a practical atheist all my life. Sixteen years ago I made a decision to follow Christ, but I don’t think my behavior or my attitude have quite caught up with that decision. How far could I have come in these sixteen years if I’d been more receptive and more willing to surrender and grow?

Even when I was behaving as though I didn’t believe in God, the miracle is that He believed—and believes—in me. He has been faithful when I had little faith. He has been true when my life was filled with lies. He will take me where I am, and I can start allowing Him to change me today.

Like I said yesterday, new habits can’t be layered on top of old ones. I have to first do away with the old, let go of the things that aren’t pleasing to God, trust Him, and truly, passionately believe in Him. Everything else has to grow out of that.

Photo Credits: Atheism via Wikipedia, 3/29/07