Traffic Jam Ponderings

I was on my way to work this morning and got stopped behind a car with a lone bumper sticker. The sticker read: God doesn't believe in atheists.Because I knew this would linger in my mind, I strained to see the verse that was apparently referenced. Romans 1:20. Hmm...
Although I was raised in a church-going family, it has been fairly recent since I have come to know the fundamentals behind Christianity. The love of Christ in my life is overwhelming, and when I question everything else, the one constant is knowing that Christ loves us more than can be imagined.
"God doesn't believe in atheists." This is what I know: 1)Atheists are people who do not believe in the existence of God. 2)God wants us to glorify His name and spread the Good News. 3) We are ALL God's children.
In my heart, I felt at odds with the sticker. An atheist's lack of faith in God does not equal God's lack of love in an atheist...does it???
So I immediately looked up the Bible verse on my Blackberry to see what basis the sticker claims to make such a biting statement. This is what I found:

New Living Translation (©2007)
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Okay.

All people have evidence of God right in front of them. The problem, in my mind, is that we live in a society where waking up to blue skies and remarkable anatomies is not enough. People feel that the presence of sadness negates the possibility of God; that a "miracle" is needed for proof. I understand these feelings. I had them for a long time. But the miracles happen everyday- ALL DAY LONG. The Bible says this is proof enough that God exists, therefore it is impossible for one to accurately say "they don't know God." And if we know God, we must glorify His name.

So, let's go back to that darn sticker that started this all. "God doesn't believe in atheists." I find this fundamental flaw. God believes in ALL of his children- bad or good. He loves us and we were created in His image. Just as a mother worries about her wayward child and prays for a safe resolution in his life, so does God for us. Christ asked His Father in heaven to forgive the very non-believers who crucified Him. He loves us despite our failings.

I pray for the atheists, not because I think that God is not in their lives, but because THEY DON'T KNOW IT! But I know, just as a mother would never turn her back on her child, our Savior will forever love all of His children.


I am obviously no learned theologian, and I can not even claim to know for sure the "accepted" explanation for such a claim as the one the sticker makes, but this makes as much sense to me as breathing air.