So... I have some atheist friends, but I don't know them very well.
I realised that a main factor was that when they were free (e.g. weekends), I would be either at church or doing church related activities.
I felt that to reach out effectively to those around us, sometimes we need to take a "pilgrim" mentality (in the world, but not of the world - as opposed to outside of the world and not of the world).
So I decided at the beginning of this year to spend more time with my atheist friends. I wanted to build better relationships with them, because I know people's hearts are usually not won over by the force of intellectual arguments.
As a result, I attempted to participate in a little more of their activities. Just last week, I went to a collectables fair, where action figures, comics, etc. are sold (because they are into those kinds of things as well).
To do this, I had to skip church (as the fair occurs once every three months, always on a sunday). I was wondering if I should have done this, but in the end I felt it was the right thing to do, because although I was unable to have any deep conversations with them, they did welcome me as a fellow "fan" of action figures, etc. Knowing that they were atheists, a few of them being pretty anti-religious and anti-Christian, and yet still accepting me despite knowing that I was a Christian, I felt I was being given an opportunity by God.
I also discovered that one of them was a fellow Christian who went to another church, so we had some good conversations.
Interestingly, at the fair I also bumped into a few guys that I used to draw comics with, and I was glad because they were my other atheist friends. Again, I was reminded that one of them was a fellow Christian, so I felt God was telling me that I wasn't alone.
I really hope that in the days to come I can get to know them better, and that they can see something of Christ through our friendship.
