Knowing WHY We Believe in Jesus...and the Joy of Sharing those Reasons with Others

Atheists for Dinner
by Daniel Mann

I attended an atheist-sponsored luncheon this Sunday. After asking some of the diners what they did for a living, they returned the question to me. “I teach theology,” I responded. There was a brief, confused hush.

“Where do you teach?”
“At the New York School of the Bible.”
“Then you must be a Christian?” they asked with some hesitation.
“Completely!” Atheists are not usually strong on formalities, so this question was followed by another, even more probing question:
“So I guess you came here to find out what secular humanists are all about?” Another added, “To see if we have horns?”

I enjoyed every moment of it, even the fierce challenges that followed. However, this wouldn’t have been possible had I not done my apologetics homework. It’s one thing to be confident in Christ. It’s another to be mentally prepared and assured that we have the answers. When we have this assurance, verbal jousting can be pleasant, even appealing and engaging.

When my nephew was 11 years old and half my size, I would wrestle him along with his five-year-old brother. I wasn’t fearful or defensive because I felt no threat and was confident that I had the upper hand. But now my nephew is a 200+ pound bruiser, and I made it very clear to him that this type of combat was a thing of the past, and that it would no longer be fun, especially for me! Fortunately, he respects my boundaries.

So often we become defensive with atheists or gays because we are not knowledgeable or confident regarding the defense of the faith (1 Peter 3:15). We might find ourselves becoming scornful and trying to compensate for our lack of certainty by raising our voices. In exasperation, we might even threaten our “friends” with hell. However, we have to take responsibility for our lack of love, patience and understanding (2 Tim. 2:24-26). All too often, the church has not affirmed what Jesus taught:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:36-37).

We have disregarded this greatest of commands at great cost. Christians have either been co-opted by the prevailing philosophies or, failing to have used our minds faithfully, have alienated ourselves from centers of learning. In his Heresies, written in 1984, Harold Brown warned about this very thing:

Although it was winning the battle for individual hearts in millions of cases throughout Christendom, Christianity was no longer winning the battle for the mind, neither for the mind of society nor for the minds of individuals. Lives were changed, churches were transformed, some major legislative changes were introduced, but the foundations of doctrine were not consolidated. The Christian world and life view was gradually lost and Christianity became, for the first time since Constantine, primarily a private religion. (418)

A religion that only pertains to one’s private life is incapable of answering the big questions and entering into the public forum. We now find ourselves pushed to the margins of society. At the end of the dinner, my main protagonist asked if I’d be open to a dialogue/debate/cook-out that he will be hosting. “We’d welcome hearing from a Christian. We just don’t know any who’d be willing to speak.” They’re probably looking for a Christian to beat-up, but adversity is better than marginalization.

--Daniel Mann
challengingthedarkness@yahoo.com