Then He said to me, "Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house." Ezekiel 3:4-9
What do you notice about this passage? When people will not listen to you, Christian, whether they be secular or religious, it is because they will not listen to God. When they hate you, it is because they hate God. You are not the object of their hatred, Christian; you are merely the channel through which they direct their hatred toward God. Jesus even said that, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).
What does God say about the Israelites He had sent Ezekiel to? He says they are "stubborn and obstinate." How does God deal with their stubbornness and obstinance? "Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead." Because of Israel's stubbornness and obstinance, God made Ezekiel's approach and disposition commensurate with their obstinance and rebellion.
What does this mean for the Christian? It means that when you are speaking to someone, whether to secular or religious, within reason, however they deal with you is how you need to deal with them. Again, within reason. If they are cursing and swearing, it does not mean you curse and swear (Eph. 4:26; 5:4; Col. 3:8). If you are speaking with an Atheist or an Evolutionist who wants to resort to mocking rather than having a mature, rational, intellectual conversation, then you need to respond to his mockery by mocking his position and demonstrating the irrationality thereof. Your response must be commensurate to them—within reason. Our goal is not to be jerks and to belittle and ridicule them. Remember, our battle is against their beliefs and world view, not against their person. Our goal is to grab their attention and make them listen, and quite often that requires you speaking with them in a manner that is commensurate with the manner in which they choose to speak with you. Especially the religious!
Christian, you need to be harder and sharper than the thing you are going up against. Do you think a marshmallow Christian is going to have any effect against a granite Secularist? No! You need a diamond Christian in order to cut through the granite Secularist. Why do so many Christians end up being canon fodder and meals for secularists and religious elite? Because they are not educated, they are not prepared, and they are not honed. In a workplace, I once overheard an Atheist claim that he could destroy any Christian within minutes. I asked him a simple question in order for him to open the door further and invite me in. Then I asked him question after question that he could not answer. Even after going to his girlfriend's university science teacher, he still could not answer me. Yet in many websites I see baby Christians and amateur apologists getting devoured because they do not know anything.
For more on this issue, and to see what biblical love looks like in the Person of Christ Jesus, read my article True Love.