Sermon Illustration: What if You Stopped Believing in God?

I recently read this article from Relevant magazine about the Christian music group Gungor. A comment Lisa Gungor made about her husband, Michael, stopped me in my tracks.

In the article, Lisa talks about how her husband stopped believing in God. She proceeded to share how surprised he was about how his life didn’t change after he made his “atheist” declaration. Here’s the quote:

“He didn’t become a different person,” Lisa recalls. “I think there was this idea in my head that once you don’t believe in God, now he’s gonna cheat on me and murder people. What [is he] gonna do? Have sex with everyone? And I was like, Wow, he is still a great father. He’s committed to me. His moral compass didn’t break and disintegrate.”

This is haunting. It makes me wonder: “What if I stopped believing in Jesus? If I did, would my life change?” Or, to put it another way, “What if those closest to me didn’t notice a difference in my life if I stopped believing in Jesus?”

Lisa Gungor was surprised to learn that her husband was still a “great father” and a “committed” husband with an intact “moral compass.”

Why do I follow Jesus? To be a good father? To be a good husband? To have good morals and values? Or do I follow Jesus because He is my life? Does He determine my life? Does He direct everything about me?

Or, do I use Him and my “belief” in Him to get what want?

What about you? If you stopped believing in Jesus, what about your life would change? Would those closest to you notice a difference? Lisa Gungor didn’t notice any change in her husband. It haunts me that the same might ever be said of me.