What We Think About God Makes a Difference

I was reading the website of a minister who turned to atheism this weekend and noticed some very disturbing things in his story.  First of all, there was so much profanity on the site that it was hard to get through some of the articles.  Now, I have been in the Army and used that language extensively in my younger days, but nonetheless it was difficult to get past the language and the anger and hatred that it portrayed.  My heart went out to this man who had gotten so frustrated with Christianity and God that he “converted” to atheism.  His story is revealing, and it makes me wonder if he is not just acting out the consequences of what many people in this country actually believe. 

The problem is that I don’t believe that this person was actually a regenerate Christian in the first place.  Now, before everyone starts judging me, and I clearly do not even pretend to know someone’s heart, let me clarify what I mean, generally at first, then specifically.  Faith and believe in the New Testament come from the same root word that means “to trust.”  When we trust something or someone, we basically put our confidence in that person or thing.  We are assured and rely on the character, strength, skill, or truth of that person or thing.  We cannot believe or trust in someone, for instance, if we believe falsely about that person.  I would strongly argue that a person is not a Christian if that person believes in doctrine that is clearly not orthodox.  I would argue that a Mormon is not a Christian, despite what some people state.  We do not have to be theologians to be saved, but there are some basic truths that all Christians must believe in order to be saved.  This is critical, because we can be duped into thinking we are saved when we might not be.  Applying this logic to this minister-turned-atheist, from reading his story, it appears that he might have been confused about the nature of God which caused him to be confused, frustrated, and finally misled.  My fear is that he was not a true Christian, despite his being a minister.  It appears that this person simply followed his mistaken beliefs about God to their logical conclusion.  My other fear is that there may be many people who are on this path.  Many people may think they are Christians, but have a completely erroneous view of God.  If they think hard about what they believe, then these views may also lead them to atheism. 

Ruth 4:13-22, Consummation

 Ruth 4:13 – 22 

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. ¹⁷ And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Genealogy of David

¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ²¹ Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, ²² Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

            In the last chapter we saw Boaz deal shrewdly with the unnamed redeemer, with the ability to redeem Ruth and Naomi, legalize the contract, and make a public declaration of his intention to redeem the land and marry Ruth.  In this last section we see the consummation of God’s plan working throughout the entire book of Ruth.  As readers, we are able to get a bird’s eye view of what God has in store for Boaz and Ruth.

            Boaz made Ruth his wife.  Then he “went to her.”  “Boaz went to Ruth” is a typical Biblical euphemism for sexual intercourse between Boaz and Ruth.  Note the order here in these first few sentences.  Boaz made Ruth his wife, then he had intimate sexual relations with her.  A sexual relationship between a man and a woman has been designed by God to be exercised only within the marriage relationship.  Today, we have made sex as strictly a fulfillment of stimulation and pleasure, with little to no deep commitment or relationship.  It has become a superficial act of pure stimulation in which we attempt to selfishly satisfy our own desires and urges.  What modern man and woman has made sex is much to the contrary of what God designed sex to be.  God intended sex to be the consummation of a close and personal relationship within the marriage covenant.