My father used to say: ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. You can lead a fool to knowledge but you can’t make him think.’
Dave won’t read it…
and I can’t make him think. He has a fundamental problem with God (which may become his never-ending problem) but he doesn’t want to know that.
Satan: holds the power of death [and Jesus came to] free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews chapter 2 verse 15). Does the average man in the street ever think about death and beyond? Can there be fear if there is disinterest and ignorance? Such questions may never be asked.
The huge issue (denied by the unbeliever) is that the long-term consequence of never understanding and positively responding to God’s invitation is that at death that person faces the certainty (again denied) of lonely unending catastrophic destruction. A nanosecond later is too late to try to change one’s mind.
When Jesus sent His followers into the villages to preach His message to the “lost sheep” of Israel (unbelieving Jews valued by - but lost to - God) He issued this instruction:
If anyone will not…listen to your words shake the dust off your feet when you leave. (Matthew chapter 10 verse 14).
Listening is different from hearing. At the restaurant or walking through the shopping mall we hear the background music but generally don’t listen to it. A wife doesn’t say to her husband: Gavin you just don’t hear. She says: Gavin you just don’t listen.
Can’t see it? Won’t believe it
My earlier article entitled as above had upset Dave, a good natured 84 year old Welsh bricklayer with whom I had enjoyed many hours of playing chess. He’s on my email
‘article distribution list’ so he received that article. We now live distantly having lost all social contact. Not having heard from him for many years, out-of-the-blue he emailed me thus.
Hi Gavin. What is going on with you Gavin ?? Leaves blowing in the wind etc. This is not the rational person I used to play chess with, sorry to be so blunt but it's a load of crap…Lacking somewhat in modesty I am beginning to think my education maybe is as good as yours or even better if you keep espousing this rubbish.
We’ve reached an impasse and I doubt further amicable correspondence will be fruitful. He acknowledges not having read anything in the Bible, knows nothing about Christianity and doesn’t want to.
To criticise what you don’t understand whilst refusing to conduct even a basic inquiry is an immature ignorant head-in-the-sand attitude. The negativity of a closed mind (being frustratingly anti-intellectual) stunts and diminishes the man rendering him unattractive to the open-minded.
Nothing new
In subsequent emails Dave raised the oft-repeated arguments about extensive child abuse in religious institutions, female mutilation by circumcision and Arabic women being forbidden to drive cars. All supposedly the fault of Christianity, not acknowledging that each of these shocking wrongs are deliberately committed by human beings. None of them are caused by, are the fault of or are committed by Christianity or Jesus.
He later wrote: Gavin I will give you a couple of wrongs that I and the world should never forgive. The Holocaust and the world wide abuse of children by the catholic church. Guess we will never agree so better let it rest.
Whilst all of his concerns are strongly denounced in Scripture (not specifically) about which there is ultimate responsibility and answerability, Dave just doesn’t want to know. None so blind as those who don’t want to see.
Dave, blame the actual perpetrators and the vile influencer of such evil behaviour. Human beings (who are not robots) do these things strongly influenced by Satan. Won’t believe in God? Need to believe in the existence of His arch enemy and also of mankind’s -> Satan.
To pointedly blame the wrong party is a hackneyed communist debating tactic that regularly comes out of Peking ie blame your enemy for the very thing the complainant does.
Atheism is an appalling alternative ‘belief’ system. Being: free from the control of righteousness (Romans chapter 6 verse 20) its adherents have committed ALL the human evils the world has ever witnessed. Sadly, some Christians have not had clean hands either. But under atheism, unless caught by earthly authorities there is no ultimate responsibility, answerability or justice: contra Christianity.
Why Dave doesn’t know what awaits him is that he has allowed the god of this age [Satan] to blind the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4). There is no fear of God before his eyes. (Psalm 36 verse 1).
Darkness to light
Dave’s self-imposed darkness has blinded him from seeing the truth of the good news of Jesus. The actions of Satan’s victims and servants, including atheists (oftentimes lovely people), drugmakers, importers and dealers, and child molesters all loudly testify to that fact.
Were he to open-mindedly investigate the issue, the veil covering his eyes may fall away in a lightbulb moment (an epiphany) when his darkness would be replaced by a spiritual understanding of who he really is and where he is headed. In the end he will be the author of his own destiny.
Wake up O sleeper, arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. (Ephesians chapter 5 verse 14).
It’s never too late until it’s fatally too late.