It’s hard to convince Christians that friendship with the world is hatred towards God. When I speak too bluntly about atheism, I get comments like this one: “I make a distinction between atheist, some of whom I count among my friends, and anti-theists. Atheist simply don’t believe in a god, but are respectful of religion and the devout. Anti-theists hate religion and despise those who follow God.”
I understand wanting to make a distinction between God-haters you like and God-haters you don’t like. I get it. It’s tempting to separate the unbelievers into two groups based on how nicely they treat those of us who profess faith. I’d love to have scripture that says something like, “And though they rejected God, they were friendly toward His children and it was credit to them as righteousness.”
The Bible does not differentiate between different kinds of unbelievers. A fool is a fool is a fool. Rejecting Jesus separates you from God no matter how polite you are to church people. If you are a non-believer with a lot of Christian friends you need to know this — they can’t save you. Also, rejecting Christ while claiming to ‘respect Christianity’ is bonkers. Your Christians friends may give you a pass on that but God will not.
To be blunt (always my preference) Christians should stop applauding pagans for being ‘respectful’ or ‘tolerant’ of our religion. The Bible never credits pagans with any virtues. It is not our place to give credit where none is due.
“John, you jerk!! Why can’t you be nice??!! The Bible doesn’t tell us we can’t be nice to unbelievers!!!!!”
(James 4:4) “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
6 Responses
You’re no different from a Communist.
I understand where you are coming from, but the Bible makes it clear that everyone is made in the image of God.
From God’s perspective, to the extent we can understand it, all of us are fallen creatures, even those who have been reborn. The Christian differs in the sense that he is striving with the Holy Spirit towards perfection. The non-Christian is still in rebellion. Nevertheless, even among non-Christians there are degrees of rebellion.
Consider.
Matthew 7:6 New American Standard Bible
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
It is pointless to give what is holy to some people. It is pointless to offer some people our pearls. Yet it is not pointless to offer some Atheists what is holy, and it is not pointless to offer some Atheists pearls. Some Atheists have no intention of trampling them under their feet and tearing you to pieces. On the other hand, some Atheists want to trample what is holy and tear us to pieces. That difference is important, especially when we share the Gospel.
I think the Bible allows me to interact with unbelievers for the purpose of evangelism. I don’t know how to tell which atheist is going to be receptive and which will trample me so I can’t make a distinction there.
The Bible forbids me making friends with unbelievers. So I can’t give unbelievers the power to influence me. They shouldn’t be affecting the decisions I make (beyond proclaiming truth to them).
I get your point about “degrees of rebellion” but I am not sure it matters. I can’t tell how far from God anyone is. Plus, scripture seems to indicate that membership in the Kingdom is binary. I’m either in or out. I can’t be 50% Christian.
God commands us to love Hom with all heart soul mind and strength. He commands us to love our neighbor as we love our self.
Who is our neighbor? You know the answer.
Friendship with our neighbor is not friendship with the world. As Christians, God wants us to love the image of God we see in our neighbor. If a neighbor so defiles the image of God that we can no longer perceive it in him, we need to back off.
Should the mere fact that someone says they do not believe in God cause us to back off. I don’t think so. The scoffer is the problem. The militant Atheist is a scoffer.
Our fellow Christians are brothers in Christ. We should seek fellowship with and counsel from other Christians. We should form partnerships only with other Christians, but friendship with an unbeliever is not the same as friendship with the world. The issue is whether we put God first and foremost.
Meanwhile, while we breathe in this world, we must try to live in peace with our neighbors.
Would you make a distinction between different kinds of “friendship”?
That depends. If marriage is a form of “friendship” then my spouse would be distinct from my other friends.