Today over lunch, I had a conversation with a man on the topic of healthcare reform (he asked me what I thought of the President’s speech last night), and naturally the conversation moved into deeper matters as we explained why we believe what we do on the issue.

The man is an atheist. He does not believe in God. He believes he will rot when he dies, and that’s about it. He believes that government should help fund abortions. He believes that unless a child is developed enough to be born ‘viable’ (capable of surviving successfully), that child is not a human being. He believes that people should not ‘force’ their religious beliefs about abortion onto others by creating legislature that prohibits abortion. I attempted to gain understanding as to why this man believed what he did, what his background was. He was offended that I was standing for what I know to be true. He was even more offended when I attempted to explain who Jesus was, and why he came to die. 

It was a very interesting conversation.

What really broke my heart for this man was as he was leaving, he said, “Don’t pray for me. Please don’t waste your time.”

How unloving would I have to be toward this man to not let him know of the love that has been poured out for him on the Cross of Christ? How unloving would I have to be to not pray for him after he left? 

Penn Jillette, the comedian, illusionist, and ardent atheist, even gets this:

If you believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell, and you believe that people could be going to Hell…and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…uh, how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that? If I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, there is a certain point when I tackle you. And this is more important than that.

You can watch that here.

So after the man left, I prayed for him. I will pray for him tonight. And I hope that God would reveal the truth of the gospel to this man, and in His mercy, save him.