live according to His Word and grow our own knowledge of Him. Christ
said, "Let your light shine before men…" (Matthew 5:16). This means
that we should live and act in a way that supports the gospel. We
should also arm ourselves with knowledge, both of the gospel
(Ephesians 6:10-17) and of the world around us. First Peter 3:15 says,
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to
give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the
hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." All we
can do is live and teach as Christ would and let Him take care of the
rest.
Critics of Christianity have become more vocal recently. This is
partly because there are many people who do not believe in God or
understand the truth about Him at all. Yet the apparent increase of
anti-Christians is also due to perception. As with many topics, those
who truly despise Christianity are the loudest and most vocal of the
non-believers. The vast majority of those who do not believe don't
care enough to bother believers. The few angry, vocal, bitter
unbelievers make enough noise to seem more numerous than they are.
The typical insult from the non-religious crowd is to refer to
believers as "ignorant," "stupid," "brainwashed," or to otherwise
suggest that those who have faith are less intelligent than those who
do not. When a Christian stands up intelligently for his faith, the
terms change to "bigot," "extremist," or "zealot." When people who
know that the believer is kind and loving hear this, the atheist
starts to look like the fool that he or she is (Psalm 53:1). Most
non-believers have no personal reason to see Christians negatively,
but they sometimes hear so much from the loud anti-Christians that
they just assume it is so. They need examples of Christ-like living to
see the truth.
Of course, when someone claiming to be a Christian says or does
something that is not Christ-like, the angry, loud crowd is there to
identify him as a typical religious hypocrite. This is something we
have been warned to expect (Romans 1:28-30; Matthew 5:11). The best
thing to do is to cite a passage of the Bible that speaks against what
the person did. And remind the atheists that just because a person
says he is a Christian, and even if he thinks he is a Christian, that
does not mean that he is. Matthew 7:16,20 tell us that true Christians
will be known by their actions, not merely by their profession. And
remind critics that absolutely no one lives without sinning at all
(Romans 3:23).
An important thing to remember is that no one, no matter how
persuasive, can force anyone to believe anything he doesn't want to
believe. No matter what the evidence, no matter what the argument,
people will believe what they want to believe (Luke 12:54-56).
Conviction is not a Christian's job. The Holy Spirit convicts people
(John 14:16-17), and they choose whether or not to believe. What we
can do is present ourselves in a way that is as Christ-like as
possible. It is sad that there are many atheists who have read the
entire Bible looking for ammunition against Christians, and that there
are many Christians who have hardly read the Bible at all.
It's hard for the angry crowd to accuse a Christian of being a
hateful, cruel bigot when that person demonstrates a life of kindness,
humility, and compassion. When a Christian can discuss, debate or
debunk secular arguments accurately, the label of "ignorant" no longer
fits. A Christian who has read the secular arguments and can politely
expose their flaws helps to deflate the stereotypes advanced by
atheists. Knowledge is the weapon, and it is invincible when we let
Christ direct us in how to use it.
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