A female pastor in the comments made an excellent point when she posed, “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in. I probably don’t believe in Him, either.” That’s a big part of it. When you hear atheists talk about God, they often describe Him in childish terms and ways. Either He’s the old man with a flowing beard in the sky or the Santa Claus/magician who didn’t give the atheist what he or she asked Him for. Then there’s the whole “why doesn’t God jump in and stop tragedy and suffering” question.

I must say, though, that these are definitely times that are trying people’s faith. There is so much violence, brutality, anger, and hate in the world these days. I must admit to wondering when Jesus is going to come and put this world out of its misery.

And I think that the Christian Church can seem far removed from the suffering and pain of ordinary people because we don’t present the Lord as we should. Sometimes we get so caught up in platitudes and ceremony that we don’t adequately express the Gospel in its most basic and true form—we are sometimes keen to fast-forward through the Passion and proclaim Easter. Jesus is the God that this world could understand and desperately needs but we need to do a better job of teaching about Him and living as He commanded.