Challenging Myself

I consider myself a very patriotic person. I LOVE America, and I thank God for the freedoms we have here. I believe they are God-given, and reading about the history of the founding of our nation, I believe God's hand was in it. I have always thought of America as a Christian nation, and I have had "issues" those who want to make it otherwise. I have even told people I believe we, American Christians, have a responsibility to be good stewards of the blessing God has given us in this Christian nation.

I was shocked when a friend (Stephen, you probably know who you are) suggested that Jesus might not hold this same view. I used some of the above arguments with him. And then I read The Jesus I Never Knew by Phillip Yancey and I was again challenged. Yancey pointed out Jesus never put up "us/them" barriers (a gross over-simplification of what he said, but it's what really hit me). And in my frequent visits to and discussions at Rant and Reason (the Humanist blog), sometimes I find it difficult to maintain some of the "Christian nation" assertions and not put up an "us/them" wall.

So I saw this book, The Myth of a Christian Nation, on sale at Mardel the other day. Here's what I read on the back of the book:

When the kingdom of God is manifested, it will wear the face of Jesus Christ. And that, says author Gregory Boyd, has never been true of any earthly government or power. Through close examination of Scripture and lessons drawn from history, Dr. Boyd argues that evangelical Christians who align themselves too closely with political causes or declare that they want to bring America "back to God" are actually doing harm - both to the body of Christ and society in general.

Boyd shows how Jesus taught us to seek a "power-under" kingdom, where greatness is measured by sacrifice and service. There are no sides or enemies because we are meant to embrace and accept everyone. In The Myth of a Christian nation, Dr. Boyd challenges readers to return to the true love of Calvary and the message of the cross - setting the "power over" politics of worldly government aside.

Wow. These thoughts raise a lot of questions in my mind, but I find it interesting that God seems to keep bringing me back to this issue. So I'm letting myself be challenged and reading the book. I'm pretty sure the book is going to raise more questions for me, but I'm kinda excited because I feel I have begun a journey.

Perhaps a Better Title Would Be...

...I Reasoned Myself Away From God.

I eagerly began reading I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing faith through the eyes of an atheist's eyes about a week ago. You can read here how I found the book and the reviews I read if you did not catch my earlier blog post.

As I read the first part of the book, I thought I would be moving it to the "Good Reads" section along the right hand side of my blog, but then I got into the "critiques" of the churches Mr. Mehta (a.k.a "the Friendly Atheist") visited, and a knot just grew in my stomach.

The first part of the book was quite eye-opening and exactly what I had hoped it would be...an introduction to Hemant Mehta, an explanation of the eBay auction that started this book, a brief history of what led him to be an atheist (a well thought out route) and a glimpse into what it is like to live as an atheist in America. He shared the "challenges" he and other atheists face living in a "Christian nation", the biases he has experienced and a description of how he feels most Christians perceive atheists.

Two thoughts crossed my mind as I read Mr. Mehta's life story (the little bit he shared in the book): 1) he is a person I would enjoy sitting down and talking with and 2) I firmly believe that had he been alive in Jesus' lifetime, he would have sought out Jesus to talk with him. Mr. Mehta seems like the most open-minded atheist I have read or conversed with on the Internet (granted, that is not a huge pool!).

But once he got into the real "purpose" of the book, to share his experiences, insights and thoughts after visiting at least 15 Christian churches, my hopes for the book were crushed. I was pretty sure, based on the fact that this book was touted on the Rant and Reason humanist blog I frequent, that the author was not converted after visiting these churches. But I hoped, obviously against reason, that the author's responses would be different than those of the few atheists/humanists I have chatted with online.

To say I hoped, against reason, is kinda ironic in this case because I believe "reason" or "logic" to be the atheist's "god". And that is what crushed me as I read about Mr. Mehta's visits to various churches. He did make a number of comments that were helpful in understanding the way a non-Christian who has never been in a church would perceive certain things that go on in a church. But much too often, he just missed the point because he funneled everything through the filter of reason and logic.

Please don't get me wrong...I believe my Christian faith to be very reasonable and logical, but the Bible plainly states: Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Those to come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6...and the verse from where I get the root off my email address). The Bible also says in Romans 8:5, For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.

Since I have taken so long to get to this point, I will leave you with just two examples of "missing the point" in this book. The first small example was when he was talking about the different forms or "moves" in Christian worship such as lifting one hand, lifting two hands, holding the hands over the heart, pointing toward heaven, hands raised but elbows to the side, etc. His observation: "were people trying to "out worship" those around them?" I suppose it is possible (I have seen some kooky Christians), but the comment also serves to show he has no understanding of a personal relationship with Christ that would draw one to raise hands in worship or hold one's hand over his/her heart.

The second, and last example I will share was his stressing of the physical to the exclusion of the spiritual (which is only "logical" to an atheist who does not believe in the supernatural). For instance, he stressed many times how he was impressed with churches that met real, physical needs (which we should do). However, he seemed to see no value at all in new churches being planted. His view was that resources should be used to feed people instead of build churches. Obviously the church should meet the physical needs of those we are trying to reach with the Gospel, but Mr. Mehta missed the point...we believe there is value in teaching someone about Christ and saving his/her soul from hell. While we should not preach without meeting needs, he thought the church would be better off meeting needs only. And there is no "logical" way to explain it to him.

I said the latter part of the book left a knot in my stomach. I say that because it was just a repeat of my limited interaction with atheists/humanists. There is no way to "debate somebody into heaven". And yet, those who have thought their way into atheism (that is, who have considered the options and found atheism to be the best answer), seem willing to accept nothing less. Mr. Mehta claims if he saw a miracle in person, that would be enough to cause him to convert to Christianity. Yet I believe everything he says in his book demonstrates that he would find some "natural" way to explain it and would find no need for faith.

And that is what puts a knot in my stomach. I had hoped to better understand people like the author of this book and those who write for Rant and Reason. I think I understand "their world" a little better, but I don't think I gained a thing to help reach them for Christ.

I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing Faith through an Atheist's Eyes (Paperback)

I just ordered this book at Amazon. I read about it on the Rant & Reason atheist blog I follow. This is what Maggie had to say about the book in her post Equivalent to Friendly Atheist?

I feel that Hemant’s book is great for Christians looking to understand atheists better. He expresses his honest opinions with an open mind about his visits to several different churches across the country. And even though he could have used the book to convert readers to atheism or badmouth each church he visited, Hemant takes the high road and remains true to his “friendly” form.

I went to Amazon, and here is the editorial review posted there:

Mehta, an atheist, once held an unusual auction on eBay: the highest bidder could send Mehta to a church of his or her choice. The winner, who paid $504, asked Mehta to attend numerous churches, and this book comprises Mehta's responses to 15 worshipping communities, including such prominent megachurches as Houston's Second Baptist, Ted Haggard's New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Willow Creek in suburban Chicago. (Mehta ranks Willow Creek as the church most likely to draw him back.) Mehta, who grew up Jain, offers some autobiographical context, then discusses nonreligious people's approach to topics such as death and suffering. But all that is just a preamble to Mehta's sketches of the churches he attended. He doesn't find much community in churches; families sit far apart from other families, and people race "out the front doors to their cars" as soon as the service ends. Churches earn high marks for Mehta when they offer great speakers and focus on community outreach, but they also do many things wrong, including singing repetitive songs and alienating non-Christians by ubiquitously proclaiming them to be "lost." Mehta's musings will interest Christians who seek to proselytize others and who want to identify their evangelistic mistakes.

I hope to finish my current book, The Jesus I Never Knew, this weekend. Then I've got to read Communicating for a Change (just got it in this week), and then I'd digging into this book.