Recently a magazine sent me excellent questions for an interview. Below are some of their inquiries and my responses.

Q1. There's so much to talk about, but first let's start with how you encountered Christ. You say that He 'interrupted your existence'. Can you tell us a bit about what your life was like then and how He stopped you in your tracks?

Alicia: Truth for me was dead. God had never lived. Life was filled with pain. Death was the end of life. These four beliefs formed my worldview. I sincerely believed that there was no God.

The day of the encounter, I was neither seeking God nor on a noble truth pilgrimage. I was neither high nor drunk nor in the pit of despair. 

Q2. Were you an atheist by choice or simply because no one had ever told you the gospel?

Alicia: Atheism was a distinct decision. My parents tease me that the first word out of my mouth wasn’t “Ma” or “Da” but “WHY?” Evidently I’ve been asking questions since I could speak. Unanswerable questions led me to the belief that there was no God. Over the years I encountered several streams of Christianity and also Spiritualism, Hinduism, and Buddhist thought. Faith seemed a construct of mankind to stuff in the gaps and calm fears or explain the unexplainable. As a young Atheist, I considered myself a realist who preferred unanswered questions over fairy tales.

Q3. Why do you think so many Christians are afraid of speaking with those who say they don't believe?

Alicia: Reasons abound, but perhaps almost all of the reasons are rooted in either fear or deception. Some fear rejection or embarrassment. Some fear not knowing what to say. And perhaps some privately fear that their faith isn’t sound enough to withstand critique.

Fear married to deception keeps the Church caged. In our day, “one way—Jesus” is cultural blasphemy. The world’s deceptive message is deafening: “Move beyond the narrow elitism of one-way and enter into the enlightened inclusion of all ways. Affirm equally everyone’s respective truth or keep your mouth shut.”

Q4. Do you think modern Christian culture has in some ways made it more difficult for atheists to come to the church?

Alicia: Perhaps it’s our lack of sharing life shoulder-to-shoulder outside of church that makes it difficult for people (Atheist or otherwise) to want to come inside a church. We give our gifts (money, talent) gladly but our lives (time, touch) little. Our lives are so full. Yet it would be life-giving, if we said “no” to one time-eater in order to say “yes” to some consistent activity (city league ball, PTA…) that would place us in proximity with others who wrote mental resignation letters to the church long ago.

(to be continued)