“I’m just not that interested in God.”
Just in case you forgot that not everyone thinks or believes like you…
"I’m not religious. I don’t think much about God, except when I am in a
pinch and need some special favors. I have no particular reason to
think he’ll deliver, but I sometimes take a shot anyway. Other than
that, I’m just not that interested in God."
The quote comes from Steven Levitt’s recent blog post. Levitt is one of the authors of Freakonomics (which, by the way, was a great book).
I’m fascinated that Levitt would be vulnerable like that with his thoughts about God and religion. Not many people have the courage to offer statements like that. Based on what he said, we know:
- He’s not looking for religion. (And, I don’t blame him.)
- Though he doesn’t have a relationship with God, his comments suggest he believes there is a God.
- There are times when he even practices the discipline of prayer even though he doesn’t have faith that those prayers will be answered.
I wonder how many more people there are like Levitt. I’m guessing there are a bunch. What would happen if there was a church that didn’t attack people like him, but rather designed their ministries to help nonreligious people connect with God…especially in those times when folks are "in a pinch?"
It’s quite possible someone like Levitt may never experience what a healthy relationship with Jesus looks like. But, rather than attacking guys like him, I’d sure like to pour my life into creating a church that tries to minister to guys like him.
Tony,
Thanks for the post. You are right on.
This is the converstation we should be having, because people are hungry for the truth.
If you truly believe in the raw power of the gospel, then all we have to do is communicate it in a way that the Steven Levitt’s of the world.
One of the hurdles we have to get over is that many of the objections about the shallow nature of religion they have, we have too.
Our glad task to let Jesus be Jesus. Even Thomas Jefferson confessed that he embraced the “Jesus kind of spirituality.”
David Foster
Excellent thought.
Here’s a wild idea though. What if (just go with me here …) we didn’t create a church specifically to minister to folks like this. But (yeah, I know… wacky!), instead submitted ourselves to and mimicked the pattern of the Senior Pastor of the one true church (that’d be Jesus Christ) and actually reached to be folks like this as a matter of course in all local churches.
May God forgive me for acting so much like the Pharisees of Scripture and attacking folks like this (“thank God, I’m not one of those …” unfortunately sounds way too familiar)instead of loving them like Christ did.
Great Post Tony! You definitely hit it right on!
I recently came across your blog, great stuff. By the way thanks for the facebook add.
Hi Tony.
Surely the church is already tasked for this?
Reaching the ‘non-religious’ has already been modeled by the Lord.
For example, the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. Speaking into the lives of those who need to hear the ‘gospel’ with relevance to them and their needs.
Surely this is why the people wondered at Christ’s great authority and knowledge with, and of, the scriptures.
Paul as well, following dutifuly in Christ’s well tried and tested steps. All things to all men!
I have posted a mid-week word on thoughts surrounding this over at my ‘Without Walls’ site. Link on my blogs.
Just Passing Through.
God Bless.
I really appreciate that you see the good in this situation and can see where this guy is coming from. It is so good to see hope instead of being critical of other people! I commend you for your sense of hope and love!
There are many many like Steven Levitt. I know several personally. They are very vulernable in saying to me, “Camey, I know you believe in God but right now I’m trying to figure out about today. I’ll deal with God another time.” These conversations have taken place on the street, in hotel rooms, outside a women’s shelter, and even while inside my class at our church. I am a women’s minister and our church has opened its doors to a ministry that reaches out to pregnant teens and single moms ages 15 to 25. I am beyond grateful… There are individuals who can look me straight in the eye and say, “I don’t need God. I don’t want God.” They just know that they can always contact me or our church should they want/need to. While there is much to be said for spending time with other believers …… it is easy to love others who love God too. What takes real love – that can truly only come from His Spirit…. is loving those who don’t. Real love is knowing they could turn and walk away. May we all be found loving others with His love.
This is a profound question that for some reason I was never asking myself until my pastor, Timmy Gibson, stated “seekers aren’t really seeking many times.” We often classify all non-Christians as seekers but that is often incorrect as shown in Steven Levitt’s blog post.
I would assume the next logical question would be is: In addition to praying for our non-Christian friends, what can I do to move a person from “don’t care about Christianity” to “tell me more about Christianity?”
I just had two separate conversations exactly like this last week. They stated they were totally turned off from any type of church/religion, because of how others have presented it. It convicted and motivated me to want to share Jesus, not just religion and to share how He has changed my life, not how a ‘specific church’ has.
There are so many ‘Steven Levitts’ out there–we need to step back and look at why we believe and what we know—and that is Jesus!