CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

One of the reasons I feel compelled to stay at my full-time job at a retail store for the short-term is due to how many encounters I have with people holding a variety of spiritually ambiguous beliefs, who seem intrigued by what I have to say about the Christian faith. 

MISLEADING, UNBIBLICAL BELIEFS ABOUT GOD

There are people who come from churches where the biblical God is taught to be purely “energy,” but not a spiritual entity self-existing as an uncaused first Cause. Or there are others who simply view God as the act of people loving people with an unassuming, nonjudgmental attitude. Neither of those are biblically accurate views, might I add, but that is where these people are coming from. I’m blessed that the Lord slows them enough to listen to me say things they aren’t expecting to hear.

TWO DIRECTIONS OF SPIRITUAL AMBIGUITY

Many, many people who don’t know what they believe, it seems, also don’t care about the nature of their unsureness. They aren’t disturbed by their lack of spiritual assurance. This only proceeds to the conclusion that the enemy (the devil) has been hard at work, keeping them clueless to the truth of God (in Christ) by gradually and consistently preventing them from giving in to the desire to learn more about what they don’t understand about the Bible, God, and Jesus.

Agnosticism, in other words, doesn’t always lead every lost soul to search for answers. For some, confusion and doubt only lead to the conclusion that the work required to discover answers is too exhaustive; or more intricately, the mere idea that the answers themselves might require them to turn from certain tempting lifestyle choices makes the quest too daunting or costly to even consider. 

TO BE WRONG ISN’T WORTH THE RISK

We must pray for these people who continue to live without answers. Our prayers must be centered on God’s softening of their hearts; that His grace would enable them to sense the need to have closure and certainty over their eternity.

To be right about agnosticism or unbelief is one thing, but it is infinitely overpowered by opposition; to even chance being wrong about disbelief that there is a hell, or that each person who hasn’t declared in their heart that Jesus is Lord over their life will undoubtedly find themselves there after their last breath here—isn’t even worth the argument.

PURE, ETERNAL PRESENCE OF GOD

No rational, spiritually open person who’s suffered in this life should miss realizing that the purpose of suffering here is two-fold in that it is actually reflective of real (eternal) suffering, which is the complete absence of God in hell.

The second half of that two-fold purpose is that the rational, spiritually in-tune person will also come to understand that the suffering here is an incentive to understand the complete non-absence of God—the pure, eternal presence of our Lord—is the complete absence of all pain, suffering, and death. To be wrong about the former (reality of hell) is to dismissively live as though the argument for God’s nonexistence is more plausible than the chance that being wrong could cost an eternity of suffering, torment, and agony. 

Again, why be wrong about this when we’re already suffering here in the finite realm?

FACE-TO-FACE WITH A SCARY TRUTH

This is why I love working at a place where I am blessed with several opportunities to share about faith with people who are willing to listen for a few seconds or minutes. These are people who may not have the answers to everything according to their own belief system, but some are humbled enough to admit they don’t want all the answers just yet even while they realize they’re missing something—even if the reason they don’t want the answers is because they suspect they may be too scared of the cost of those very answers.

They’re scared of coming face-to-face with the truth of God’s glory shining His pure light directly onto their sin because they’ve misunderstood—or missed altogether—the critical relevance of God’s grace, and that God does not despise the humble and contrite of hearts (Psalm 51:17). 

THE IMPORTANCE OF GRACE

These folks are already suffering and still viewing a hurting, hostile world from a lens where God lands judgment on us without any hesitation. But that same God first has grace for those who are willing to admit their sins, repent of them, and turn towards His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 31:34). 

WE DON’T EARN IT

We are to pray God’s voice would be louder and louder in these people’s lives; that more and more Christ-followers speak to them about faith in the hope that God’s truth would truly sink in that He has more grace, mercy, love, and compassion than wrath. His wrath is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime (Psalm 30:5).

God’s wrath isn’t to be minimized, but it isn’t to be misunderstood as the larger part of God’s character to eradicate the sin in us through discipline and justice any more than parents desire to discipline the bad behavior of their children through consequences. 

We’d rather smother them with affection and love than send them to their room, no? And just like a child cannot earn a parent’s overwhelmingly natural love for them, so we can’t ever earn God’s infinitely more unconditional love for us, but we can receive it in Jesus’ name. 

A CHANGE OF HEART

If you see these people misunderstanding the character of God, love on them. Tell them of God’s truth. Remind them of Christ’s love for them, and the blessing of God’s forgiveness for those who repent. Encourage them towards the Bible, prayer, and a community of Christ-centered people seeking God above all else. Be ready to share your testimony if they ask so that they may hear of the goodness of the Lord working in your life (1 Peter 3:15). Always reflect the God we serve and allow Him to move through you.

Eventually, these same people who talk to me at my work may also listen to others who follow the Lord, and eventually, these people will be able to hear God, Himself. 

CONNECT WITH ME

If this article spoke to you, please write about it in the comments below, or tell me about it through my contact page. You can also subscribe to my blog, and/or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Threads if you’re interested in reading more newly published articles. Please tell me if there’s a topic any of you would like me to write an article about that would help you on your faith journey. This blog exists for the glory of God, for the sake of inspiring people towards faith in Jesus Christ, and the renewal of our souls so we can be uplifted towards the higher calling and purpose God has appointed for us all. My hope is that this serves that very purpose. Thanks for reading!

Image by Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay