Philip Greenslade is one of those authors of whom I had heard but whose work I have only recently started to read. One of his books - "Songs for all Seasons" - is based on some of the Biblical Psalms, and I have been using it, as part of my private devotions, for a few weeks.
This morning, he quoted a passage from another book, that contained one of those phrases that seem to jump off the page: "... the practical atheism of many 'believers'". My own interpretation of that is that it refers to those who are sometimes named "nominal" Christians, that is, those who pay lip-service to the existence of God, and to His sovereign claim on their lives; whilst living out their lives as if He doesn't exist at all. In other words, for all practical purposes, they are not believers, but atheists!
I guess that this "practical atheism" is seen in a number of different ways. Here are some that immediately spring to mind:
The words that we speak - is our language, in both it's content and its delivery, peppered more with swear-words and blasphemies, than with references to the Lord Jesus?
The places to which we go - is there anywhere that we frequent that would cause us to be concerned, if not ashamed, if the Lord Jesus asked to go along as well?
The things that we watch - does what we view, on television, or on the internet, fill our minds with images that are honouring to the Lord Jesus, and helpful to ourselves?
The activities in which we participate - does what we do draw us closer to the Lord Jesus; encouraging us to grow more like Him?
Now, I'm not even suggesting that the only way in which a Christian may live the life of a true disciple of Jesus is to become some sort of 2nd century hermit. However, I was also conducting the Communon service in a parish church this morning, and was reading, again, those words of Paul from I Corinthians 11:23 ff. In them, is the encouragement to examine ourselves - to do a bit of "spiritual stocktaking". It may well be that some of us need to do that examination on a more regular basis and, depending on His grace, ensure that our practice matches our profession - that we are not, in spite of what we may call ourselves, "practical atheists"!
No comments:
Post a Comment