“God doesn’t exist.” Most Christians who actually display their love and faith in Christ have heard this said to them before. I know I have. I used to hate this statement. It would fill me with rage, irritation and frustration. Rage because how dare someone say that? God does exist! Are they blind? Are they ignorant? Irritation because most times they’d say it to me in public or via social media and I would wonder why they felt the need to come up to me with such an outlandish statement. Frustration because most of the time I didn’t know exactly what to say to win the debate that was about to begin.
PAUSE. Okay, let’s go ahead and point out some things, especially my flaws in the paragraph above.
“God does exist! Are they blind? Are they ignorant?” Yes they are blind and are ignorant to the fact that God does exist...the Word tells us that satan (the god of this world) has blinded the unbeliever so that they can’t see the Truth (2 Corinthians 4:4). God exists…most absolutely! He proves His existence, every second of every day…but the unbeliever is blind to this. They are ignorant to the truth of God. People mistake His divine ordinance for coincidence, His Presence for “a feeling” and His guidance for “something”…Ever hear someone say, “Something told me not to go home with that boy”?
“I would wonder why they felt the need to come up to me with such an outlandish statement.” Wow Rochelle (that’s me). Really? I should have been ecstatic that a non-believer wanted to confront me about my belief in Jesus Christ. God just led a lost soul to me so that I could minister to them and I’m irritated by it? Really?
“I didn’t know exactly what to say to win the debate that was about to begin.” Okay, now we are getting to the main flaw I wanted to discuss. This is the purpose of this blog post. I didn’t know what to say to win the debate smh...SPREADING THE GOSPEL AND GIVING OUR TESTIMONY IS NOT A DEBATE. WE ARE NOT WINNING ARGUMENTS WE ARE WINNING WIN SOULS.
I am so grateful to God that He has changed my mindset and spirit on this. I feel like popping the old me in the forehead for that foolishness. We Christians have got to stop trying to win arguments/debates on our TLs and in face to face contact. When we aim to win debates, we lose the soul because we just became prideful and selfish. We end up taking the focus off of Christ and putting it on ourselves…how many scriptures we have memorized...what facts we know.
When we stop being so defensive when asked about our faith in Jesus Christ and instead actually give an account for our belief in Him, we will see more ears and eyes opened and experience more hearts changed. We will be able to sow seeds of spiritual wisdom, pour Living Water and shed light into a dead and darkened heart that has grown cold.
-Sowfull
When we defend our belief by going into a debate heated, trying to prove that we are right, we automatically shut the other person down and they, in turn, shut us out. At that moment, we both lose. They lose because they miss a chance to have their soul ministered to (by the leading of the Holy Spirit) and we lose because we miss an opportunity to be used by Christ and minister to that lost soul. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks for a reason for our faith. It tells us to do so with gentleness and respect. We don’t have to put others down for their lack of faith and/or their faith in false gods. Yes, they are misguided but belittling them for it won’t bring them to the realization of Christ. You never know if/why someone has doubts about Christ and hearing your testimony as to why you have unwavering faith in Him may help to eliminate their doubts. We should be honored that God led them to us to hear our testimony and speak of His Son, Love and Grace.
I want to encourage everyone reading…
Next time someone comes to you and says, “God doesn’t exist”, don’t start coming hard at them with facts proving that He does. According to Romans 1, man knows that God exists, He proves Himself and reveals Himself… man just chooses to ignore the fact. Someone’s claim that they don’t believe God exists is really a sign of a deeper problem, an underlining issue. They just made themselves vulnerable by showing you that there is an empty, hurt, broken place within them that only Christ can fill and heal. There’s always a reason behind why someone ignores God’s existence whether it be anger, pain, etc.
When someone says that, “God doesn’t exist”, reply by asking them, “why/what makes you feel this way?” By doing so, you aren’t agreeing with them, but you are opening the door for discussion. You are showing that you are willing to hear them and see from their point of view (not agreeing, just seeing)…not put them down in a debate. Once you understand why someone ignores God’s existence, you are better able to pray for and minister to that person. When they see that you care to hear their reasons for not believing, they’ll be more open to hearing why you do.
And when asked why you believe in Christ, please don’t get all deep and holier than thou with a theological disposition. Keep it simple. Just tell them exactly why you believe. Simply share your testimony…testimonies are powerful.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Rev. 12:11 KJV
Comments