If you have not heard of the name Christopher Hitchens, type it into the Google search bar. He was a very out spoken atheist author, debater, essayist, columnist, etc. He was a man that I kind of admired in a way. I disagreed with him on the matters of faith. However as much as I disagreed with him, he never pulled any punches in relating his ideas. He died in December 2011 from cancer.
To get to the meat of this rambling, Mr. Hitchens was asked several times about a deathbed conversion. He was quoted as saying something to the effect of, he found it more and more absurd the closer that he got to death with his illness. What in the world made him so hard against Jesus? It is not that Jesus cannot handle the fact that Hitchens thought Jesus was delusional and egotistical. Jesus could handle people trying to kill His followers until He knocked one of them off of their donkey and used that man to change the world. No, seriously though, what made Hitchens so anti-Christianity?
I don't know at what point he finally said, "Okay, God doesn't exist". I do know, however, that he walked into his mother's hotel room and found her there dead of a self inflicted injury. Furthermore, she and her husband, a clergyman, had made a pact to end their lives that night. That kind of stuff can really mess with someone. Don't you think that there were some physiological signs that showed that he was in pain and suffering over experiencing something like that? Where were the people that carry with them the Light? Was he so far done with God at that point that there was nothing that anyone could do? Let's face it, if you do your research, you'll find that anti Christian literature was all around him as a young man. Then his mother kills herself with her preacher boyfriend. He shuts it all inside and never truly deals with it. (Hitchens talks about it in an interview with Anderson Cooper. The video is on YouTube.) I am telling you that he has been thrown in the perfect storm of driving further and further away from God.
As I have said already, I have studied some of his speaking engagements strictly for the purpose of being able to debunk the view of one of the best atheist debaters that I have ever seen, should the situation ever arise. He knew his facts, but one thing that I found interesting was what he had to say about Christians themselves. (If you feel something by what I am about to say, that is not condemnation from man but conviction from God.) In his own special way, Hitchens spoke about how Christians behaved and how it was so far removed from what was spelled out in Scripture. Everyone is watching us; some are watching for an example, others for the opportunity for us to mess up. We are going to mess up, we are not perfect. It's a proven fact that we cannot live in perfection in this fallen world. So, why are we acting like heathens when we are supposed to be the picture of an attempt at a life following Christ's example?
Here we are at the end of the story. Hitchens died of his cancer and gave his body for medical research. There was not a revelation of Jesus Christ to bring him in right standing with God that we know of. There was nothing but contempt for Jesus up until the day that Hitchens died. Did he go to hell? According to what I know about Scripture, yes. Is that for certain? NO. Why? I am not the judge, Jesus is. I am simply the example of Christ's love to the whole world.
What is my point in all this? Are we missing the point in the lives of those around us that is the crossroads in their walk with God? Do they know of His love and mercy by our actions? All I can really say is this: give to the poor, love all those around you even if they do not deserve it, and be careful of your actions. The world is watching our every move.
Grace and peace be with you Always!
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