By the Way: Is it important to believe in God?
By Medicine Hat News on September 1, 2018.
Given that it is socially awkward to talk about religion, we don’t often tell others exactly what we believe about God. Because of this we don’t really know what people believe and what they don’t. Yet we understand that most of us believe in some sort of God. At least that is what many surveys and census have lead us to believe. For some God is personal and active in our world Others believe that God is distant and detached. Some see God as more of a force or a power. Yet most people have an awareness that God is there and God is beyond themselves. But does it make a difference? Does believing in God change anything? Do people that believe in God act or think any differently than those who don’t? As a person who teaches the Christian faith, I want to say “YES!” The Christian belief about God does affect how we live. It informs everything in our lives, everything from thought to action. At least that is what is supposed to happen. This past Sunday we talked about the idea of practical atheism in our Sunday service. A practical atheist is a person who has some kind of belief about God but lives as if there were no God. This person feels no obligation to conform their life to any particular way of living or thinking. They believe in the idea of God, but in all things practical they make their own choices and set their own standards. I wonder, if we had a category on the census that listed practical atheism how many of us would check it off? From the Christian perspective practical atheism doesn’t work. If God created us, is greater than us and cares about us, that changes things. It means that I am no longer alone and it also means that I am not God. And if I am not God then there is someone who directs my steps. So as you sit in your lawn chair and watch summer slip into autumn, think about the One who is greater than you, the One who made all things and who cares about you. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature.” Romans 1:20 NLT Lila de Waal is diaconal minister at Victory Lutheran Church. 11-10
