Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Why I Am a Christian”*

*#1: “…and Not an Atheist”*

Pastor Greg Henneman

January 7, 2007

 

Text:          Psalm 53:1

 

Theme:      The Christian faith is more compelling than atheism.

Goal:          To arm us with information and inspiration that will strengthen our faith and enable us to dialogue with skeptics.

*Introduction*

 

For the next four Sundays we’re going to look at atheism, Islam, and Hinduism.

We’re going to reflect on the evidence for our faith.

We’ll ask questions like, “How do we know we’re right?

Maybe we’re all right?

Maybe we’re all wrong?

How tolerant should we be?

How should we treat people of other faiths?”

My goal in this series is to deepen our faith and to equip us to be better salt and light.

Take out your outlines and your Bibles.

Today I want to talk about atheism.

An atheist is a person who says there is no god.

Now you’ll see on your outline…

 

*1.

The Importance of Worldview*

 

Everybody has a worldview.

It might be a sloppy worldview.

It might be a poorly thought-through worldview.

But everybody has basic assumptions about life.

I put on your outline…

 

          A /worldview/ is the way you view the world.

It is an interpretive framework or paradigm by which you make sense of the world and order your life.

Our Christian faith is a worldview.

We believe there is one personal God who is infinite and all powerful and all loving.

We believe that he is our Creator and all of life is sustained by him and accountable to him.

Atheism is also a worldview.

Atheists believe that there is no personal god.

There is no all powerful and all loving infinite being who created.

Life just happened.

The major world religions are also worldviews.

Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, the New Age Movement –they’re all worldviews, in that they are paradigms, they are frameworks that try to explain and make sense of the world.

Now your worldview is very important.

It’s not just an academic exercise for the few people who happen to like philosophy.

Your worldview is important because it impacts how you live.

If you believe that there is a God and that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and calls you live your life a certain way –that worldview will likely impact how you live!

If you believe there is no God and purpose for life –that view will likely impact how you live.

If you believe in karma –like Hindus do – then the reason you were born into the bottom rung of your caste system in your culture is because of your sins in a prior life; and the people who were born into the higher rungs of the caste system are under no obligation to help you because the law of karma says you have to pay off your own sins.

If you’re a radical Muslim who believes that God’s will is to spread Islam to the whole world, even by force, and if you believe that you will go to the highest heaven with the highest rewards if you kill some heathen, then you’re apt to become a terrorist or a suicide bomber!

So you’re worldview is extremely important!

I put on your outline…

 

          *Results of Atheism               Results of Theism*

*          Moral Relativism                Moral Guidance*

*          Devaluing human life         Sanctity of life*

*          Lack of purpose                   Purpose Driven Life*

 

Jean-Paul Sartre, the famous atheistic philosopher, said, “[Without God] all activities are equivalent…Thus it amounts to the same thing whether one gets drunk alone, or is a leader of nations.”

In other words, if you see a lady walking across the street, it doesn’t matter whether you help her across or run over her!

It doesn’t matter if you’re Mother Teresa or Hitler!

If there is no God, all activities are equal.

Who’s to say what’s right and wrong.

(Kennedy, “What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?” 229)

 

Now it’s a fact that many atheists are upright, moral people.

There are many kind, polite, thoughtful atheists; and there are many rude and insensitive Christians!

It’s a fact!

It’s sad; but it’s a fact!

My point here is simply that if there is no god you have no solid basis for morality.

Personally I’m convinced that the major reason our society has legalized abortion and probably before long will legalize gay marriage and various forms of euthanasia is because most people have become moral relativists.

And the reason they have become moral relativists is due to at least a form of practical atheism.

Although most people say they believe in God, when push comes to shove, many people are embarrassed to say that they believe in a real, live, personal God, who has spoken clearly through the Bible, and that some things are wrong and some things are right.

So we have moral relativism and the devaluing of human life.

Likewise, people today are screaming for purpose.

*Illust:* Paleontologist Stephen J. Gould concluded: We are because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; because the earth never froze entirely during an ice age; because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of million years ago, had managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook.

We may yearn for a "higher" answer but none exists.

(BI atheism)

 

We teach our kids that the universe started on accident with a Big Bang, that we have evolved by random chance, that we’re merely the most evolved and intelligent animal on the planet, and that there is no meaning or purpose to life…and then we wonder why many of them act like animals!

Which is all to say: our worldview is very important!

Now let’s talk about…

 

*2.

The Place of Reason*

 

Someone might say: Greg, as Christians we have faith!

We don’t need reason.

We don’t need facts or evidence or arguments.

We just believe –that’s all!

Well, I agree that the heart of Christian faith is /faith/.

But biblical faith is not contrary to reason.

Biblical faith is not a leap into the dark, but a leap into the light!

The Christian faith does not ask you to turn off your mind or to believe in something absurd!

It’s helpful to realize that there’s at least…

(To Everyone an Answer: 32-34; Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics: 14)

 

*          Three Kinds of Faith*

 

*          Emotional faith – assurance (2 Timothy 1:12) READ IT.*

 

*Illust:* I believe in my wife.

When I say, “I believe in my wife”, I’m not saying that I believe she exists in some intellectual sense; I’m saying that I trust her.

I am totally confident and assured that she would never cheat on me.

I have no feelings of jealousy.

I am emotionally secure.

I have faith in my wife.

*          Intellectual faith – belief (1 Peter 3:15) READ IT.*

We should be able to give reasons for the hope that we have.

We should be able to articulate why we have faith in God.

 

*          Volitional faith – commitment (Mat 25:21) READ IT.*

Here is faith in the sense of commitment –faithfulness.

So, to say that I have faith in God means that…

 

·       I believe –intellectually – in him and in his teachings

·       I have assurance –emotionally – that I can trust him

·       I am committed –with my will –to actually obey him