The Danger of Practical Atheism
Atheists don’t believe in God—at least, that is what they tell us, but sometimes it seems as if they protest too much. But Christians are not atheists – or are they?
There was a time when the early Christians were called atheists! Why? Because they refused to worship the many gods of the day, all of which were represented by statues, fancy temples and elaborate myths. These so encapsulated the spirit of the state that to deny “the gods” was to be called an “atheist”. Thus on one occasion of persecution, when an elderly Christian man called Germanicus had shown great courage in the arena and refused to recant his faith, the crowd became enraged, and called out, “Away with the atheists, let Polycarp be called!” Polycarp was the the bishop of Smyrna, and one who had been taught by the apostle John. He was recognised as the regional leader and the assumption was that if they could kill him, then the cause of Christianity would be greatly set back. To reduce the story, after a few days Polycarp was arrested and placed in the arena.
The proconsul tried to persuade him to deny Christ, saying, “Have respect to your old age.” All he had to do was, “swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, ‘Away with the Atheists’,” by which the proconsul meant Christianity. In response, Polycarp gazed around the stadium, gestured to the mob with his hand, looked up to heaven and called out, “Away with the Atheists.” The proconsul urged him again and said, “Swear, and I will set you at liberty! Reproach Christ!” In reply Polycarp declared, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”
Polycarp was put to death, though not as easily as the mob had hoped and without giving them the satisfaction of seeing any fear. He knew there was a price to pay for faithfulness to Jesus, and was willing to pay it when called. He was NOT a practical atheist.
These days, sadly, it is very easy for Christians to live as “practical atheists”. What do we mean? How can this be? Christians believe in God!
Well yes, but if someone’s Christianity never makes any practical difference to their everyday life and work, and they keep their faith hidden, then for all intents and purposes they might as well not be. Yes, they may be honest, diligent, hardworking staff or honest, fair minded employers, but by virtue of God’s common grace, many non-Christians can be described in this way too.
A Christian who is a “practical atheist” sets their priorities by the world’s values so that their goals and measures of success are indistinguishable from anyone else’s – money, promotion and reputation. A “practical atheist” keeps silent about their faith even when presented with a safe conversational opportunity to express it. He or she does not take time to think about Christian things on holidays, happily planning without bothering to even consider whether it might be possible to break a Sunday trip in order to join a congregation for worship somewhere. And so on …
Most Christians who live as practical atheists don’t usually set out to live that way – they just drift into it because it is easy. It avoids hassles. Therein is the danger: drifting, and so becoming easy prey for the devil’s mischief. Perhaps the saddest aspect of Christian “practical atheism” is that unless God graciously intervenes, it often turns the next generation into “real” atheists. May the Lord preserve each one of us from such a deadly error, and use us to humbly exhort and rouse others.