Pastor Lets Atheist Explain to Church How Best to Reach Others Like Him

Teresa Neumann-Commentary : Jul 19, 2013
Melissa Barnhart – The Christian Post

The atheist, famous for having "sold his soul on e-bay" was touched by Pastor Randy Frazee's friendship with him. He told the congregation he discovered Christians do "an amazing job of charity" and that it's now hard to tell fellow atheists that Christianity is "evil" after what he's witnessed. He also cautions Christians against treating non-believers like projects instead of human beings.

(San Antonio, TX)—It's not every day that a pastor invites an atheist — especially one like Hemant Mehta who made headlines when he "sold his soul on e-bay"—to speak to their congregation. But that's exactly what Rev. Randy Frezee of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, did recently.

According to a Christian Post report, Frazee became acquainted with Mehta—a high school teacher who writes the "Friendly Atheist" blog—after Mehta fulfilled an unusual promise. The promise was the result of a former pastor who was the winner in the atheist's soul-buying stunt; he asked Mehta to visit ten churches and write about his experiences. It was when Mehta heard Frazee as a guest speaker at Willow Creek Community in South Barrington, Illinois, that the two struck up a friendship.

To date, Mehta—raised in the Jain religion—is still an atheist, albeit an atheist with a softening heart towards Christians.

Speaking to Frazee's congregation, Mehta said, "Christians do an amazing job of charity. They have a habit of giving …[of] being part of this community—praying for people, making people dinner when they're sick, providing financial assistance to people who've lost their job. That total strangers could care for other people like that …that's awesome to see. It's very hard to go to atheists and say, 'religion is bad and Christianity is evil,' when that's what I'm seeing."

The flip side of that, contends Mehta. is that Christians need to remember to "treat a person as a human being, and reach out and get to know them," rather than treating those who don't share their beliefs as "projects."

That—and because of his own experience not being able to ask his Jain-practicing parents about issues in their faith that he didn't understand or doubted—Mehta contends Christians should also nurture a trusting atmosphere for family and friends, both Believers and non-believers alike, to ask questions without fear of rejection or reprisal.

Do you agree, or disagree, with Mehta's assertion and do you think Pastor Frazee was right in letting him speak to his church?

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