The rise of unbelief in the west has made me reflect on how believers could respond appropriately. The rise of secularism that wants to push belief away from the public square, and the smug confidence of the new atheists provoke anger in me. However, we know that unbridled anger produces inappropriate responses- demeaning the other or treating the other as an intellectual competitor or just ignoring the issue. These responses push people away and does not grow relationships. 

    If Jesus is our standard, it is appropriate to ask, "How did he respond to unbelief?". Let us examine two responses.

1. To the Saducees who deny the resurrection, Jesus starts by saying that "they don't know the power of God", which is a commentary on their spiritual state. Jesus is going to the heart of the issue, the Sadducees' denial of God's power. He did this before using scriptures to refute them concerning their view that there is no resurrection of the dead. 

2. I have been perplexed about Jesus telling the Pharisees a series of woes that seem to demean them. At first, I saw this passage as Jesus turning away from the Pharisees in Judgment because of their opposition to his mission of reconciling God and his people. He starts off by calling them "Whitewashed thombs- dead bones inside but clean on the outside". This also goes at the heart of the matter but seem to be an angry response. However, there is another way to look at this. In reading a child care book, I saw a list of things not to say to kids because it is ineffective. I respect the advice presented, but also know that what you can say effectively depends on the level of relationship. A statement like "Quit acting like a baby" can be perceived as a lighthearted way to encourage, or an insult if it comes from a person a child does not know.

     Notice that there were Christians who were  pharisees. This seems to indicate that some of the pharisees were ultimately convicted by Jesus' exposure of their hypocrisy, his going to the heart of the matter as he did with the Sadducees. Remember that Jesus also hang out with Pharisees, which at least shows that some Pharisees were open to him. On the other hand, it did push away some of the Pharisees who were intent on opposing Jesus, to the point of killing him. They became close minded to the message of Jesus and his disciples.

     There is one thing in common with Jesus' responses to the two situations above. He goes to the heart of the matter. That is something we can carefully do as we interact with those who want to push faith away. We can point at the anger or the pride, or any other heart issues we perceive, doing it with gentleness and respect. However, this pointing to the heart of the matter should be tempered by an openness to relationship. We must be willing to get to know and care for those who want to push faith away.

     The church is the pillar of truth concerning the story of God and men- God's creation of men, the fall of men due to disobedience to God, God's redemption of men from the power of evil within and without, and God's intention to make everything right. As we respond to those who oppose the true story, let us courageously expose their evil (actions and attitudes) and proclaim God's love for them, despite their hostility to God. We are called to do this with an attitude of openness to relationship.