I've recently drawn what I believe to be a rather interesting paradigm between atheists and rebellious teens.
For those of us who have raised children (or are still in the process of raising our children) we know full well how rebellious our teenagers can sometimes be. It is part of the "growing up" process some will say. They are asserting their independence; their individuality. But if the behavior is allowed to go unchecked, the young person's life is sure to spiral out of control.
The rebellious teen believes that he can run the household better than you can. He questions your authority, and may often even mock your decisions. He rolls his eyes when you tell him to clean his room. He knows better than you, and hard presses himself to stop seeking your advice (because to seek your advice would be to acknowledge that you have wisdom above his).
But all the while, he feels entitled to the amenities that you provide. He wants that warm, dry bed at night (even if it is surrounded by mounds of clothes, books, and junk which he never picks up)... he wants to find the pantry stocked with his favorite foods. He wants the lights to come on whenever he flips the switch...
And in truth, he knows where that food in the 'fridge comes from... he knows that it is dear old dad who pays the electric bill... and the phone bill... and the mortgage.
But this "knowing of the truth" about how the amenities he enjoys are provided is bothersome to him. He doesn't like being under your authority. If he's under your authority, he must obey your rules, right? So what's a rebel to do?
This rebellious teen fosters his sense of entitlement by telling himself that you "owe him." You brought him into this rotten world, and it's all your fault that he is here. You don't know what is best for him, and you don't even know what is best for yourself, he reasons. This is a comforting thought for him, because it assuages his guilt for taking the things you make available to him, while simultaneously defying your authority in every way he can get away with.
Such a teen often stays home well into his adulthood. He likes the security of the parental units, so to speak--but he does not like their authority. The older he gets, the wiser he believes himself to be... and he uses his "wisdom" to reason against your authority, and further to "reason" that it's okay for him to keep free loading because after all, you created him and he is entitled to your support.
Let's look at Romans chapter 1 here...
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (NIV)
Paul is saying a lot here, and there are multiple lessons we can learn from this short passage of scripture, but most pertinent to our discussion here are the following points:
Note that Paul says in verse 19 that God has made His existence plain to even these ungodly people. The word says that they knew God. God has shown us all through His creation that He is real, and is deserving of worship. Should we not wonder how all these wonderful things we find on the earth and in the heavens were really made? If an organism has obviously been designed, does it not follow that there is a designer?
What Paul is saying here is that God has given us the ability to reason, and we should ALL be able to realize that God is our Creator. The word says that if we do not acknowledge God we are without excuse. (An aside... it's impossible to reasonably accept the "total depravity" plank of the Calvinist platform in view of Romans 1:20--this verse proves that we all can and we all should acknowledge and worship God).
Paul points out that these reprobates chose not to worship God, even though they did know Him.
They chose instead to worship created things, rather than the Creator. The modern day equivalents would be the tree huggers and the PETA-types and the global warming alarmists, I would suggest. :)
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
In the same way that a rebellious teen feels entitled rather than grateful as he indulges himself in the amenities provided by the parents, the atheist--to use J. Vernon McGee's phraseology--is "breathing God's air, and drinking God's water, and soaking up God's sunshine"--all the while denying that God even exists.
The atheist is God's rebellious teen who thinks he knows it all. He thinks his heavenly father is not worth acknowledging, but he'll take his father's gifts because he feels justified by birthright. He will then go on to be "greater than his father." By his own wisdom he'll be his own god, he reasons. He will go on to be, as the vilest of all creation once said, "like the most high."
We should always pray that atheists will come to the Knowledge of Truth in Christ.
Dan Newberry
