I’ve been seeing a few articles online and in the papers about Christopher Hitchens. I had no clue who this guy was until I started reading about him. It turns out he’s an “outspoken atheist” who is currently suffering from esophageal cancer. What makes him any different than any other atheist out there? I’m not actually sure. But I do know that yesterday was declared “Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day.” Here is what Christopher Hitchens thought about that day:
The way the English-born Hitchens sees it, the people praying for him break down into three basic groups: those who seem genuinely glad he’s suffering and dying from cancer; those who want him to become a believer in their religious faith; and those who are asking God to heal him.
Hitchens has no use for that first group. “‘To hell with you’ is the response to the ones who pray for me to go to hell,” Hitchens told AP.
He’s ruling out the idea of a deathbed change of heart: “‘Thanks but no thanks’ is the reply to those who want me to convert and recognize a divinity or deity.”
It’s that third group — people who are asking God for Hitchens’ healing — that causes Hitchens to choose his words even more carefully than normal. Are those prayers OK? Are they helpful?
“I say it’s fine by me, I think of it as a nice gesture. And it may well make them feel better, which is a good thing in itself,” says Hitchens.
But prayers for his healing don’t make him feel better.
You know what? This whole thing just makes me sad. It makes me sad on so many different levels, I’m not even sure where to begin.
I can’t judge the guy for being an atheist. There was a time when I questioned God and beliefs in a higher power. So I can understand how Hitchens could not understand about the power of prayer, even though there are hundreds if not thousands of testimonials proving that prayer can heal. As an atheist, he could attribute those healings to science or the human will or to coincidence – never to a God.
What really stands out to me though is how he perceives Christians and prayer. According to his statement, he thinks that Christians either 1) judge him and condemn him to hell; 2) don’t care about him, they just want him to believe what they believe; or 3) want him healed. What does it say about Christianity as a whole if those are the impressions that Christians are giving people?
In my walk, I’ve been learning that the most important things about Christianity are God’s Love and God’s will. And sadly, Hitchens doesn’t see any of those things as reasons why people might pray for him. He doesn’t think that people could pray for him to ask God’s will be done. He doesn’t think that people could pray for him that he could receive God’s Love.
Faith and belief in God isn’t something that we can force onto people. You know the phrase “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink?” That’s how it is with belief in God. You can put forth all of the truths about what we’ve learned and experienced with Christ, but ultimately, it is up to the Lord to water the seeds that have been planted.
I’m not sure why Hitchens believes what he does about prayer. I would guess that as an atheist, he’s come across all sorts of people who proclaim Christianity yet don’t practice it. Condemnation from any Christian is clearly against how we, as Christians, should act – Judge not lest ye be judged (Matthew 7:1.) And praying that Hitchens believes what I believe is glorifying my own beliefs instead of glorifying God.
We need to remember that it’s the Lord’s will be done. Someone can believe, love, and follow the Lord without being part of an “organized” religion. A church is any place where two or more people come together to proclaim a love of the Lord (Matthew 18:20) …and that place does not have to have a permit, registration, a website, or even walls and a door.
Fortunately, the last category he gives for people who could be praying for him, one where people want him to be healed doesn’t require any faith on his part. Get this, Hitchens can be healed by prayer without him believing in God or the power of prayer AT ALL. How can I say that? Read Mark 2:1-12. It is the story about how four friends lowered their paralyzed friend down in front of Jesus through the ceiling. Jesus saw THEIR faith and the paralytic was healed. The faith of the friends healed the paralyzed man. It’s the belief in the prayer, belief in the name of Jesus that has the power.
My faith in my prayer, my faith in my Lord, and my faith in Jesus’s name has power. The same is true for all Christians. I guess what I’m trying to say is….let’s not give God a bad name by our own pre-conceived ideas of how other people should act. If we simply pray that God’s will be done, that the Lord has a presence in other people’s lives, and then have faith in our prayers, then God’s will WILL be done, and He WILL be present in their lives, regardless of what they want!
I leave you with these lyrics from “Pray Until Something Happens” by Dottie Peoples:
If there’s a problem that you can not solve
and The more you try – you get deeper involved
if in your mind there is no peace – And you want to put your mind at ease
here’s the solution and what you should do –
get on your knees and pray til you get through
You just pray (Pray) Pray (Pray)
Until something happens that’s what you’ve got to do
Prayer is the keys to the kingdom, your faith unlocks the door
If you pray and nothing has happened,
then you might need to pray you some more,
Just Pray to the father, Jesus the son
The Holy Ghost will show you how prayer should be done
You just pray (Pray) Pray (Pray)
Until something happens that’s what you’ve got to do
This is truly a needed post. I know a lot of people lump Chrisitian’s into categories, but I’d like to point out to them, that once you become a Christian you are not immediately mature in your faith. It is a growing experience, but only if the person truly wants to grow in their walk with God. I pray that for all Christian’s that they become mature in their walk with God. How quickly that happens depends on how much time and effort the Christian is willing to put into it. I know so many Christian’s, well people who claim to be Christian’s that believe in astrology, in reincarnation and such. If you know the true Christian religion those are included parts.
So I really pray for these Christian’s to become mature in those areas of their walk with God.
I wish this gentleman no illness, I hope the combined prayers do in fact cure him, so he has longer to live. If he chooses to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, then we know the Holy Spirit was working in his life, since mere mortals can never truly change another’s soul. We can pray for that souls salvation, but we don’t save, only Jesus Christ does.
Sorry I meant to type
If you know the true Christian religion those are not included parts. I said it in my brain, but my hands didn’t type the word not.