What is the best way to witness to an atheist? Live your Christianity, don't debate it.
Here are some of the Christians who ultimately made a positive impression on me.
BOB -
I worked with this mild mannered, soft-spoken man for ten years. My co-workers and I were in the habit of making snide comments about his participation in anti-abortion marches and his belief in God. He wasn't overly pushy about his beliefs, but we were ready to call the ACLU if he said, "God bless you," when one of us sneezed.
When lay-offs came in the mid 90's, the company we worked for devised a unique way to avoid potential lawsuits. It demanded that the employees vote on a few select co-workers who would then compare and rate the workforce that voted for them. In other words, we were to be judged by our peers. Bob and I and two others were voted out and subsequently lost our jobs right before Christmas. While I deserved to lose my position because my apathy and boredom had compromised my job performance, Bob's only crime was that of being unpopular. It wasn't that he had any glaring personality faults; on the contrary, I couldn't recall him ever saying anything negative about anyone. It wasn't that his work was inadequate; he plugged away at every task he was given. But he stood for an offensive standard and because of that, he wasn't one of us and he paid the price.
Unable to admit to my own shortcomings, I became very bitter and very hateful toward the people who I felt had caused me to lose my job. I kept only one friend and we stayed in contact with each other in the months following my dismissal. It was during one of our talks that she mentioned going to a Christmas party at Bob's house right after the lay-offs. "Bob had a party?" I asked. "Why were you invited?" She then told me that Bob had invited everyone from the lab.
I couldn't believe it! This guy was in his 60's and he wasn't going to bounce back into any comparable employment. He had to know that the only reason he had lost his job was because his co-workers had despised him. I couldn't imagine him wanting to look at any of them let alone have a party for them. For years, every time that resentment welled up in me, I thought about Bob. How could he forgive them? How?
His action of forgiveness was a source of irritation to me, but eventually it became one piece in the puzzle of Jesus Christ.
A.S.A. Jones
