What kind of Atheist are You?

Yesterday evening I read an article by Brian McClaren, an Emergent leader, which made perfect sense to me. Now there, I mused to myself, is an article I can fully agree with. It sounds good.

He discussed the fact that many atheists aren't that at all. They just don't believe in a certain type of God, maybe the God represented by a family member they dislike or a God conception they have known since childhood. He asserts that the key to bringing them into faith or relationship with God, is finding out what God they don't believe in and changing that idea.

I quote:

"So, if you could find a way to believe in God the way some of us do, and not the way your sister does, maybe it would be OK?"

"Wow, that really helps me," he said. A few months later, he did come to a deep faith in God, which continues to grow today. A lot of pastors have learned from similar experiences to ask people, when they say they are atheists, "Tell me about the God you don't believe in." More often than not, we can say, "I don't believe in that kind of God either. I can't blame you for being an atheist if that's the understanding of God that you're rejecting."

Of course, many people are more "orthodox" atheists of the naturalistic sort, refusing to believe in anything beyond physics and mathematics. But according to the Pew data, there are a significant number out there who at first seem to be simply illogical by claiming both atheism and belief in some sort of deity ... but with further conversation, it turns out they have an interesting spiritual story full of unresolved tensions, and that story isn't finished yet. Which is true of us all.

This morning, however, I awoke with a cautionary thought: We need to be careful that we don't tailor God to fit what people like, so they will believe in Him. God is revealed in the scripture as a God of both mercy and judgment. People like the mercy part; they don't want to accept the judgment. If we tell them "God is just a happy, free-spirited, dancing, best friend who doesn't really care how you live as long as you are reaching your full potential, believing in yourself, thinking good thoughts, and loving your neighbor." we are giving them a tailor made god, but where is truth in that? Man has always made his own gods...some pleasant to serve, some terrible. Our job is to help man find the real God, not make one he can't possibly find offensive.