Jen says "I am my own god"

Four of us headed out to Old Town in Fort Collins at about 2 PM on Saturday 3-6-10. It was a fairly nice day with some sunshine and not much wind. I guess we missed the Gay-marriage rally that took place about a hour and half earlier. Caleb and I paired up and started handing out some tracts (Giant 100-Dollar bills and Ten Commandment Coin Cards). We handed out about 18-20 each without much in the way of conversations starting. Towards the end Caleb was handing out celebrity millions and a couple walking by said that they had already received one earlier so I asked if they had had the chance to read the back yet. The girl, Jen, said yes so I asked what she thought of the message. She responded by saying, “I am my own god”. I was not really sure how to respond to what Jen said about being her own god so I asked her for some clarification. She basically said that she decided for herself what was right and wrong and felt no need for an external deity in her life. I told her that at least she was willing to admit it. Many people want to be their own god but most are not so willing to articulate it. Her friend Luke said that he was spiritual not religious and did not believe in any particular god or deity. He did say though that his great-grandmother had died in the last couple of weeks and he felt that she was in a better place. Caleb talked to them about the origin of the universe and how we must rationally reject either a self-created or an eternal universe. We talked a bit about evolution, gay marriage, and men’s and women’s roles before I moved to the conscience. I asked, "Would you consider yourselves to be good people?" They both readily affirmed that they felt themselves to be good people. Luke said that he did not hurt anyone. Jen said that her main goal in life is to stop cruelty to animals. I have been quite struck the last few days at how true it is that people must in many ways live as though God actually exists even though they try to suppress the knowledge of Him. They have to appeal to the universal laws of logic for instance to try to prove that there are no such things as universal laws. Morality is another area where you see much inconsistency. People who claim some form of atheism or agnosticism are often quick to point out that they are living good lives. Jen and Luke were no different. They both agreed that it was important to live moral lives but said that they didn't need God to do it. We pointed out that a subjective view of truth and morality cannot rise above what is to what ought to be. We explained that in the Christian worldview our reason for existing is to love God for His own sake and people for God’s sake as St. Augustine said. We talked about how we should love God with our whole heart mind and strength because He made us and He is the Supreme Being of the universe. We did not get as far as I would have liked before they were ready to go but hopefully we were able to plant some seeds that will come to life in the future. We gave them some Ten Commandments coin cards that have a Law-Gospel message on them as well as contact information. Please pray for Jen and Luke.