HOW CAN YOU HAVE AN ATHEIST CHURCH?

Sometimes you hear a phrase that catches your attention because the words don't seem to go together. Such is the case with an 'atheist church'. If an atheist is "a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods", then why would he want to go to a "church"?

In USA Today's article, 'Atheist 'mega-churches' look for nonbelievers', you will find the following paragraph as its opening statements... "It looked like a typical Sunday morning at any mega-church. Hundreds packed in for more than an hour of rousing music, an inspirational sermon, a reading and some quiet reflection. The only thing missing was God." 

One of the creators of the idea of an atheist church is a British comedian named Sanderson Jones who got the idea after leaving a Christmas carol concert. This is how he described that event, "There was so much about it that I loved, but it's a shame because at the heart of it, it's something I don't believe in," Jones said. "If you think about church, there's very little that's bad. It's singing awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people — and doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. What part of that is not to like?"

So hundreds of people gathered 'rousing music'... what were they singing about? They heard "an inspirational sermon"... about what? What were they reading? And what were they thinking about? Going back to the article, the motto from Sunday Assembly, one of the atheist churches, is "Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More" which is in total opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ which teaches us that everyone has sinned and we can't fix our sin problem by ourselves. Only God can fix that problem through Jesus Christ.

Going back to the idea of an 'atheist church', it seems so ironic that a group of people who "disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods" would want to be called a "church" since the word "church" means "The whole body of professing Christians throughout the world" [Illustrated Bible Dictionary] and you also would call the local gathering of Christ followers a church body.

But what really struck me as I read that article. How many of our churches already appear to be atheist churches? If a church is trying to have 'rousing music' but the gospel is not displayed in the lyrics, then that song could be sung anywhere. If the "an inspirational sermon" isn't rooted in God's Word, then it would be nothing more than a 'how to be a better person' speech that could be heard anywhere as well. If a nonbeliever attends one of our church services and doesn't get confronted with the gospel through the music and the message, then that gathering could have happened in a school, a park or any other place.

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that makes the church what it is. We must be like the apostle Paul who said "we preach Christ crucified," (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). Let no church ever be labeled as an 'atheist church'. Instead we must sing the word and preach the word so that the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard from wall to wall. We are not entertainers trying to draw a crowd. We are the church of Jesus Christ who has been called make disciples of of all nations (Matthew 28:19).