Where does the fool say there is no god? In his/her heart.
Quite often we get the idea that we understand the position of someone concerning their relationship with God by what that person says. The person might say they don't believe this or that or they don't believe the Bible or they don't believe that Jesus is God or they don't believe the stories of the Old Testament and we who are more astute, those of us who now very well that there is a God and that that God is Jesus, Jehovah, Yahweh, the I am, that we somehow know what is in the heart of the professed agnostic/atheist simple by accessing their remarks against our +professed faith.
It's really not that easy. I have learned that more times than not people says outwardly what they do not believe inwardly. Emotion or a pressing situation can often make a person say something that they do not believe in their heart. I contend that many people who stand against a solid biblical background and who deny many of the truths of the Bible and who even stand against some of the tenants of faith that you and I have come to understand, well they are just blowing smoke.
You might wonder, why would anybody make light of the fundamental truths of the scripture unless they were absolutely an unbeliever? Pride and ego is the answer. Many people who have not allowed the Holy Spirit a place in their life have done so because of closely watching those who say they have; deceive, lie, cheat, hurt, punish, steal, make false witness, talk Christianity and live like the devil, abuse others, destroy lives, commit crimes and on and on. That's right, many people that go to church and profess one thing live out their life in another manner entirely. Young people grow up watching the so-called holy people do all the things listed above and they begin to question a god with no power over His people, a god that sets rules that do not need to be obeyed, a god that has no expectations of its people, no apparent consequences. The sing hallelujah, they tithe, they lead programs, they play church while making plans to ruin someones life, someone they are close to, someone they go to church with.
I would venture to say that there is not one Christian that has been a Christian for more than ten years that has not seen this happen and in some cases over and over again.
If you were one of those young people growing up in that environment you might be skeptical also. I don't blame those who have come out of church with an attitude about Christians and having their back up about Christianity and even denouncing Christianity sometimes. What they have seen does not line up with what they have learned in their inner man from the Holy Spirit. They have inner conflict about the kind of Christian behavior they have witnessed and the truths that have been revealed to them in their inner man by the Holy spirit. There is a conflict. It is real. It was earned through witnessing the behavior of the leading the way, setting the example, establishing the faith in a less than honorable way.
So what do we do about it? First of all I am suggesting that just because a person verbalizes something negative concerning Christianity or even speaks adversely about what Christianity stands for that the speech alone is not an indicator of the heart.
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