There is something worse than atheism. It’s an attitude which I think is worse than any doubting or agnostic uncertainty about God; even worse than the denial that there is a God. It’s the idea of an irrelevant God. A God who exists all right, but only for the kiddies and grandma.

God is in place for tribal acts like weddings – when in many cases God is about as important as the church flower arrangements – or at christenings, where God is a kind of vaccination – a sterile dose given to baby against the real thing getting into him later.

God is acceptable at funerals, where it doesn’t seem right unless you have some words about God at the end of life – after all it wouldn’t be right to take a coffin into the working men’s club or hold a ceremony at the local pub. But why not? If God is not a real, personal life-force, a vital motivating power, the one who is our judge and our master, then, let’s forget the whole thing.

It’s worse than rejection to pretend that you believe
in God, and occasionally throw in a religious act or two, but leave no room for Him – in short, treat God like an ornament.

Real things like making money, the dog-eat-dog world of commerce, the serious business of making love, or ruling a country, or decorating your home, or watching TV, these are the real things that occupy us. God? We are too busy for God.

Either He is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all and don’t say nobody ever told you.