Wonderful Atheists

We were in Santa Monica, Southern California, looking for colorful interviews for the Third Season of our television program, especially for the opening four episodes. One program was called “Joe Average.” It opened with a man named Joe getting out of bed, making some toast and honey, drinking a glass of milk, then going outside in the early morning sunlight and checking his garden and the day’s weather. The script says, “Joe is a typical man. He doesn’t think much about the creation that surrounds him, let alone the Creator. Even though God gave him life itself, if you asked Joe if God had ever done anything for him, he probably couldn’t think of one thing. It’s just another average day for Joe Average. Not quite. There is nothing 'average' about Joe or what he has done that morning. He’s actually a miracle machine that no man-made mechanism could ever begin to even imitate.” Then the program talks of the marvel of his body, and where his milk, toast, and honey came from. It’s a wonderful and unique episode.

I stopped a couple on rollerblades and asked if they would like to be on television, talking about what they believe happens after someone dies. They looked at each other and said, “We’re atheists!” It told them how much I love atheists, and they gave their consent to be on the program.

First question: “Has God ever done anything for you?” Their answer was a predictable “Nothing.” I said, “He gave you life.” Again, a predictable “Our parents gave us life.” I said, “That's right. And their parents gave them life, right back to Adam.” He agreed, then said, “No!!!!,” He laughed, and added “You got me!” That set a relaxed tone for the interview.

I said, “I have a task for you. Make me some milk, from nothing.” He looked a bit puzzled and said, “We would need a cow.” “Okay then, make me a cow, from nothing.” He said he couldn’t do it. His wife agreed. So I asked where the first cow came from. “Evolution.” How did evolution create the cow? A predictable “The big bang.” Where did the materials come from for the big bang to happen? He didn’t know.

When I asked them both to make me some honey, from nothing, they went back to the bee, and ended up with the same dilemma. They had no idea what happened “in the beginning.”

I asked them to surmise that there was a God in the beginning, and a Heaven and a Hell. Were they good enough to go to Heaven? A predictable, of course they were . . . that is, until they saw the perfect righteousness of God's Law--they were guilty of lying, stealing, blasphemy and adultery of the heart (lust). If there was a Hell, they both admitted that they were going there when they died. Did that concern them? It did. I then explained that 2,000 years ago, a legal transaction took place between God and man.

When Jesus of Nazareth suffered and died on the cross, He was paying the fine for the moral Law that each of us has transgressed. Because of His suffering death and resurrection, God can now legally dismiss our case. We can leave the courtroom. He can commute our death sentence and let us live.

I explained the necessity of repentance and faith, and how (if the husband cared about his wife and five kids) he needed to get right with God. He looked at me with wide-eyes and said, “I have never had anyone explain that to me before . . .” It was a wonderful interview with a couple of very nice people. It was also just what we needed for the program. It wasn’t the first time atheists turned out to be a God-send.