Welcome to the Atheist Church

"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be you poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now: for you shall be filled. Blessed are you that weep now: for you shall laugh. Blessed are you, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake" (Luke 6:20-22).

An atheist wrote and said that if I walked into a room and shared what I believed, people would quietly leave. He was right. I saw that happen when I first became a Christian. I screened a surf movie I hade produced back in 1972, to 300 surfers, and then told them that I had a better film to show them. It was a Christian production, and they listened to me talk until I said the name of Jesus. I’m not exaggerating when I say that 150 of them panicked, and left that hall as though they were criminals and I had just mentioned the police. But they were reacting exactly as the Bible says guilty sinners react. Look at this verse:

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (John 3:19-20).

We are like dirty little cockroaches that scatter when the light is switched on. But the Day is coming when the light of God's Law will fall upon all of humanity. On Judgment Day there will be no offer of mercy, and nowhere to hide.

When Jesus said that the poor were "blessed," He was referring to those who are "poor in spirit." They are the ones who acknowledge that they are destitute of any moral goodness, as apposed to those who insist that they are morally good (most of sinful humanity). These are those who unlike this world, hunger for righteousness. They don’t enjoy the sinful pleasures of this world, but rather weep over the wickedness and where it will eventually take this sin-loving world.

The Christian will be hated by this world, but loved by God. Sinners will isolate him and treat him with scorn, but he is comforted by the Holy Spirit. His name will be cast as evil because he belongs to Jesus Christ, but he is accepted in the beloved and by the grace of God, his name is written in the Book of Life. And that's all that really matters in the light of eternity.