Until last night, I’ve always wondered what makes an Atheist tick. What is it that keeps them from having faith, or being open to the Truth of Christ and the existence of God. Then I saw a television programcalled “The Case for Christ”, which was a story told from the perspective of an Atheist (an investigative reporter) who’s wife became a Christian and his journey into the facts of the Scriptures and discovery that Jesus truly was and is the Son of God.
What impressed me the most was the honesty of this man. While he didn’t believe, he went into this journey with an open mind and vowed to himself that wherever the facts led him, he’d accept. His standpoint was very much an investigative one - in the same way that a crime is investigated. He took all of the evidence and weighed it out before he came to any conclusions. This was a long process that took several years to complete, and he spoke to many experts but at the end he could not deny where the facts were pointing him. He said that finally, after all was said and done and all the facts had been gathered, it would have taken more faith for him to continue his beliefs as an Atheist than it would to just accept that there truly is a God and that Jesus Christ truly was and is His only son.
I think what touched me most of all, was the confession he made of his feelings as an Atheist whose wife had accepted Christ. He said that first and foremost he was very angry, because he simply did not want to be held accountable for his life; but that at the same time he was really scared because he felt like he was losing his wife to this Christian movement. He could see the changes taking place in her since her acceptance of Christ into her heart.
At John 12:35 it is written, “The one who walks in darkness doesn't know where he's going.”
This television show documented this one man’s journey from the darkness into the light and it was an amazing and inspiring story, but I think what touched me most of all is the fact that not only did this man approach his investigation with an open mind, but also with an open heart. For him, a light dawned in the darkness and there is no doubt in my mind that it was the work of the Holy Spiritthat led him, like a light shining over his head in the darkness, down the path that he walked in his journey of discovery.
Job 29:3 “when His lamp shone above my head, and I walked through darkness by His light!”
This man went on to talk about how much his life had changed since he’d accepted Truth into his life and Christ into his heart. So much so, that even his five year old daughter could see the change in him. She went to Bible School and told her teacher that she wanted Christ to make a difference in her life in the same way she had seen him make a difference in her Daddy’s.
Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now [you are] light in the Lord. Walk as children of light -
I write this article not only because I was touched by this man’s story, but also because I feel that because of it I now have more compassion for those who walk in darkness. The emotions of anger and fear can be powerful ones. I understand that there is fear involved with the idea of having to be accountable for our lives. And I understand that there is anger involved with the idea of “losing” a loved one who has accepted Christ into their lives. There is a separation that occurs, because this person changes, from the inside out, and it is evident to all that know them. God’s light then begins to shines through them and it is unmistakable.
What one must do, however, in order to become a part of the light, is to overcome the power of anger and fear that act as chains to the darkness. These are the chains that Satan has become very familiar with and also uses to keep many in captivity. And what we, as believers must do is have love and compassion for those who are chained to the darkness and pray for them diligently, that their minds, eyes and hearts will be exposed to the light that shines from within, so that they too will not be lost for eternity.