The Christian Atheists

"Let me ask you, how many atheists are now in this house? Perhaps not a single one of you would accept the title, and yet, if you live from Monday morning to Saturday night in the same way as you would live if there were no God, you are practical atheists." - Charles Spurgeon.

Last night, I was on a Charles Spurgeon kick (I'm always in a Charles Spurgeon kick) and was looking through some of his quotes online. Whenever I get in a bit of a blogging rut, I typically look through some of his quotes because I always manage to get some inspiration from them. My favorite part about reading them is how bold he was. He was blunt, straight to the point. He didn't sugarcoat the gospel with lies to try and get more people to follow him. (the key word would be him, not Christ, if he did that) and I can always get excited to write something based on one of his quotes. This one jumped out at me last night. It's always hard for me to pick a favorite, but that one is most definitely one of them. It rings so true for so many people in the church. Without pointing fingers, I can say that I know a lot of those people that he was talking about, some even in my church every Sunday and Wednesday. It's proof that going to church doesn't make you a Christian, only being born again can make you a new person, and repentance (turning away from your sin) is a huge part of being born again. The title seems odd, I know. How can an Atheist be a Christian? In reality, it's impossible. You can not be an Atheist and a Christian at the same time because being a Christian would mean you believe in and on Jesus Christ, being an Atheist is basically the exact opposite. But so many "Christian's" out there live like Atheists, do they not? They act like a Christian on Sunday's and like an Atheist every day in-between. Well, God does not call us to be part-time Christian's, just like we don't have a part-time God. Being a Christian is an all day, every day kind of thing. You can't choose to be an Atheist for a few hours so you can go out and have fun. You are either a Christian all the time, or dare I say...you aren't truly a Christian. Granted, everyone falls short of the glory of God which means we all sin and we all fall into temptation, but it is how we treat that sin and what we do after we fall that makes the difference. Do we simply give into the temptation and think, "Well, better luck next time!" and continue on, or do we fall on our knees in repentance and beg the Lord for forgiveness and try our hardest to stay away from that sin?

Really, the question is...are you a part-time Church-goer, or are you a full-time Christian?