The Change

Jane Harmon has pursued a single question. Why do atheists come to faith in Christ?

We conjure up Damascus Road experiences, but that’s not what happens.

She describes a young atheist named Jeffrey.

One day, his mother asks him to pick her up at the home of some Christians who had converted her. He steeled himself for heated arguments. He had honed his own arguments. They protected his emotional and intellectual investment by not believing.

What he found shocked him.

The group received him warmly and showed him hospitality. They asked about him and his life, and they listened.

Over time, the walls cracked and began to crumble. Trust and friendship allowed for deep conversations. Months passed, and his resistance to God melted.

It wasn’t special arguments that won Jeffery. It was people who believed enough to live it.

Peter reminds an audience whose faith was under assault:

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12, NIV)

Shouted arguments and Bible thumping seldom win people. The changed life does.

Will the way you live convert anyone? Has it converted you?