Sid just emailed me an interesting link to a story ABC News recently covered concerning the "Blasphemy Challenge (check it out yourself at http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2833103&page=1)
Apparently this group of athiests, who feel as though they are the "last group that it's OK to hate"...oh the martyrdom. They are a group of people that see their job as being to fight God. They have started what they call the "Blasphemy Challenge", encouraging athiests to come out of the closet and show that they are not scared of the unforgivable sin (Mark 3:29).
I YouTubed some of the videos, and its pretty sad. What are all these people doing??!! And what is the appropriate Christian response. Im not really thinking this is going to be a major movement or even really make much of a mark on the Christian community in general...my concern is for these people. How as a child of God should I pray? Obviously that others don't fall for Satan's ploys, but what of those who have already blasphemed? And what is the unforgivable sin all about?
My mind wonders if this is true blasphemy, of if most of it is simply a cry for attention. Perhaps a rebellion against authority (they do seem to be targeting young teens, as most of their advertising is done on websites catering to that age-group, the most given to rebellion). It is interesting to me the number of Christians who recant on their faith as well. Very strange.
So again I ask...how are we to pray for those who have taken the challenge. Are they done? Are they beyond hope? And what should be our response. I find myself wanting to make a YouTube video simply stating how much I love Jesus and believe in the reality of his life, death and resurrection.
And I don't really think thats what the creators of the Blasphemy Challenge had in mind.
Grace and Peace to you all
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8 comments:
in my humble opinion...people who try and prove God is not real are closer to Him that they'd like to think. if they were truly confident that God didn't exist, then they wouldn't need to argue the point...just go on with their lives without any reason to fear that which doesn't exist. but they apparently are not so confident...and we should show and share with them the love of Christ sensitively and creatively (like a movie!).
as for the unforgivable sin...i believe it is not giving credit to God for what He's done. someone who goes to the grave without embracing what God has done in their lives is essentially saying to God, "I can do this on my own...i'm taking the credit." this is, i believe, a lifetime sin, not a one-time sin.
just my thoughts.
Yeah Paul...I can dig that thought on the unforgiveable sin. I have never really thought of it in that light before. Good thoughts, thanks bro. I really appreciate you and the way that crazy ol'brain of yers works.
Yo Dude,
Nice Blog! Some good thoughts, and I'm not talking about the athiests. Later Bro
Russ
if atheists arguing/defending their belief that God does not exist means that they aren't super confident in their belief, what does it mean when Christians argue/defend their beliefs?
in response to jerlight's comment...
the temptation of too many beleivers is to make defending their faith more important than living it out...and people notice it more clearly than we do!
as well, defense is more closely attributed and connected to fear than it is confidence and joy. i've began a conversation about this at: http://prpostulator.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/07/faith_founded_o.html
faith founded on fear tends toward defensiveness. i like what Lee Strobel has to offer, but honestly, we can't intellectualize or convince people that God is who He is...it's a faith thing...there is mystery and unkowns involved.
so, those people who are fearful that their beliefs may be questioned tend to become very defensive (as do atheists!) when potential for "holes" or "misunderstandings" are at hand.
i am not attempting to corelate defensiveness and apologetics; however, i am saying that the response to people questioning my faith should be one of love and concern, not defensiveness and "i'm-smarter-than-you-because-i-believe-in-God-and-you-don't-because-you're-stupid"ness.
as far as pseudo religious piety or false teachings within the church go...that's another matter.
The unforgivable sin: in the context of which Jesus talks about it, it goes even beyond not giving credit to God for what he has done but attributing the work of God to Satan. Or is that too narrow?
Scott, missing your interaction on 1 Timothy.
Jerlight...
in context, yes, Jesus does include the crediting of God's work to Satan. Making the unforgivable sin directly corelated to giving credit to Satan may be secondary, because even some who proclaim "'Lord, Lord', will not enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the WILL of my Father in heaven."
perhaps CS Lewis said it well (and i poorly paraphrase) that Satan isn't interested in people giving credit to him, but rather, as long as they don't give credit to God that is well enough, for by not giving credit to God they are by nature following Satan.
hey scotty
looking forward to your next post.
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