Reject GOD!
Why Do People Reject God?
By Kyle Pope
I
n Acts 13:38-46 we read about Paul and Barnabas’ work in
Pisidian Antioch. After some of the Jews began to oppose them Paul describes the
people as having judged “themselves unworthy of eternal life” (Acts 13:46). This
doesn’t mean that they didn’t want eternal life. Everyone wants eternal life
(if they recognize the need for it). But, they didn’t recognize that Paul
offered the only means to eternal life. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only
way to eternal life (Acts 4:9-12). The Jews in Antioch didn’t like the message
he brought, and in so doing, they made a choice for themselves that they were
unworthy of eternal life. They probably didn’t realize that this was their
choice. They may have thought that they were holding on to the way of eternal
life. Yet, by refusing to accept the only true way to life, they “judged
themselves unworthy of eternal life.”
Today people do this same thing for a number of
reasons. One reason is fear. It is a frightening thing to follow God. It calls
on us to trust the unseen. It calls on us to fight powerful foes. It is easy to
have misplaced fears. This was Israel’s problem. God had delivered them from
Pharaoh. He had conquered oceans and deserts and hunger, but when they were
called on to be conquerors themselves, they didn’t think they could do it (Num.
14:1-11). God describes their reaction as rejecting Him. Fear is rejection. Yet,
sadly this kind of fear ignores what man should truly fear (Luke 12:4-5). We
must hold an awe for the fact that God will judge us. This “fear of God” is a
choice. Yet, men choose to hate knowledge and refuse to choose the fear of the
Lord (Prov. 1:20-29).
Why would anyone do this? Some do so because of ignorance.
That is how Paul describes it to the Ephesians (Eph. 4:17-19). Such souls are
the very souls we should seek the most, because hey do not know the truth. Perhaps,
if they could only learn the truth, their hard heart might melt. Others cling
to tradition. Jesus condemns this and identifies it as a cause of for some
people’s rejection of God (Mark 7:5-9). These kinds of traditions are religious;
people simply do what they have always done. They do what their family has
always done in religion. Our family may or may not be a good measure of truth.
Some traditions have nothing to do with religion. They
are simply what the flesh chooses to do. Following Jesus may demand spending
our time differently than we would choose. It may mean we must deny certain
pleasures. These are traditions which concern what we do with our bodies or put
into our bodies. This kind of tradition leads many to reject God because of the
love of pleasure (2 Tim. 3:1-4). Paul teaches that this is love of self,
focused on the love of pleasure. These people are not just the drug users, the
fornicators, or the alcoholics. Sometimes lovers of pleasure are people that
look very kind and self-controlled. However, they will not follow Christ
because they choose to follow the dictates of their heart (Jer. 13:8-10a). The
heart is fickle. The heart is selfish. The heart is only as sound as the
content it has received within it. The heart is not a reliable standard. Yet,
many follow it. The heart can convince us to accept as true what is in fact a
lie. It leads us to love the lie and to love being deceived (Jer. 9:5-6).
In every individual there may be an infinite number
of reasons, or combination of reasons why people reject God. Yet, when all is
said and done we must recognize that when those around us do this a couple of
things are going on: first, they are failing to truly look and listen (Matt. 13:10-17).
The good and honest heart will not be blinded by its own preconceptions.
Second, the one who rejects God does so by choice. Joshua taught the people that
one must choose for his or her self whether to serve the Lord (Josh. 24:14, 15).
The task of Christians is to do all that we can to help the souls around us
come to obedience to the gospel. However, all we can do is lead them to the
truth; they must listen and make the choice for themselves. Some will—some will
not.
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