Oct-Testify2

I’m an Athiest… But I guess I’m also a Christian
I know some of you may not believe me, but
this was a real life actual conversation I recently
had with someone I consider a very
good friend of mine. We’d gone out for one
of those dinner-catch up dates and were in
the middle of cutting into the juiciest lamb
I’ve ever tasted in my life (sorry Vegans –
thank you Sarastro Restaurant) and, as always,
the discussion of my work came up
which invariably leads to the greater discussion
of my faith.
After hearing how my day/week/month had
gone my friend uttered words that I am getting
more and more used to hearing, “I’m an
Atheist!” The usual set of questions followed
around, “how can you believe in a God?”
from him and “how can you NOT believe in a
God?” from me. After much discussion and
debate he said the strangest thing; “But I
guess I’m also a Christian!”
Delicious succulent lamb totally forgotten, I
asked him to clarify on what basis he considered
himself both Christian and Atheist?
by Jacqueline Malcolm PES
Confussed! Am I a Christian or an Athiest?
“Well, I follow the same Christian values. I
don’t go to church but I’m good to people.
I work hard. I don’t do anything wrong. I’ve
never stolen a thing in my life…” and so his
resume of “Christian goodness” went on. I
let him speak uninterrupted as I gathered
my thoughts and I was surprised to find that
October 2016 testify
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what he considered to be a “Christian” and
“Christian values” didn’t actually surprise me
at all – especially because that has been the
same message we’ve been sending from
our pulpits.
No, I’m not suggesting that anyone has ever
taken a microphone and declared forget
God, let’s do Church without Him, but at the
same time haven’t we so diluted down the
Word of God that sometimes it’s effectiveness
and influence on our society is outrageously
lacking? Even within the church,
hasn’t there been such a shift of focus from
His “amazing Grace” to our own ability,
achievements and “goodness”? Before we
judge him too harshly, isn’t my friend, “the
atheist” just a product of the effectiveness
of the Church and our communicating of the
Word of God to our communities?
Once he had finished his verbal memoirs of
goodness, I put my fork down and said as
calmly but as plainly as I could so that not
one word could be mistaken, misinterpreted
or forgotten. I said, “You being a good person
has nothing to do whatsoever
with whether or not you’re
a Christian. Muslims are good
people – but they’re not Christians.
To be a Christian means
one thing - you have to believe
in a God! You have to believe
that this God had a Son and that
He loved you so much that He
sent His only Son, Jesus Christ,
to this earth just to die for you.
You then have to accept both the
death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, ask God to forgive your
sins and accept Jesus in your
Jacqueline Malcolm is a Project & Event
Strategist who is dedicated to seeing
the Kingdom of God established in London.
If you have a project or an event that you
would like to discuss, you can contact her
to arrange your free consultation on
jacquie@jacquelinemalcolmpes.com
For more information, please visit
www.jacquelinemalcolmpes.com
heart as your saviour – accept Him as the
person who died to give you eternal life. That
and only that makes you a Christian.”
We both took a moment to let those words
settle and then he simply said, ‘So, I guess
I’m not a Christian then… yet!”
Yet! I like that word…