"The Christian Atheist"

I recently read a very good book by Craig Groeschel titled, The Christian Atheist. In the book Groeschel presents several different areas of life in which a Christian could start living like a "Christian Atheist." He describes "Christian Atheists" as people who call themselves Christians while they live like atheists and even if you do not think that this is a problem that you struggle with I encourage you to read this book because you may be surprised how easy it is to slip into this kind of lifestyle. I was certainly surprised by how much in this book I could see in my own life. Although Groeschel shows numerous different ways a Christian can fall into this lifestyle I thought one of the best parts of the book was in the conclusion.

At the end of the book Groeschel compares the Christian life to three lines that you must cross. The first line is, "I believe in God and the gospel of Christ enough to benefit from it," and the second line is, "I believe in God and Christ’s gospel enough to contribute comfortably." He then points out that the majority of Christians are living behind one of these lines. I completely agree with this and I see this in my own life all the time. The are many times in my life where I seek out the benefits from believing in Christ while ignoring everything else associated with it. And there are other times where I might sacrifice my time or money for the Lord as long as I am able to do it without coming out of my comfort zone. However, Groeschel makes it clear that this is not how the Bible tells Christians to live.

The way that Christians were meant to live involves Groeschel's "Third Line," which is "I believe in God and Christ’s gospel enough to give my life to it." While this could look different for every person the point is that as Christians we should be living our lives for the Lord and not for the things of this earth. This is where we must look at our priorities in life and make sure that God is at the top of the list. If God is not at the top then we must find a way to get Him there. It might not be an easy process and it could take a long time. There are many things of this world that can seem more important than God in a given moment. What we have to remember is that all these things are temporary while the Lord will last forever. I am currently on a mission to rid myself of the things of this earth that are keeping me from crossing the "third line." A lot of the time it is extremely difficult to give some of these things up but the rewards of doing so are so much greater. I encourage you to read this book and reflect on your own life while reading it. Here are some Bible verses that Groeschel gives that support living over the "third line."

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matt. 16:25 – 26).

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel” (Acts 20:24).

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).