As I explained in Jesus Now, the beginning of the Christian faith is fairly easy. And so is the last part of the journey.
It’s the middle that’s incredibly difficult.
There are usually two points in a believer’s life where they encounter a crisis of faith. This is especially true if God is using the person in powerful ways.
One is when they are around 30 years old. The other is when they are in their 40s.
I’ve watched many people fall away from the Lord during those two periods, some even becoming atheists.
It’s no accident that the writer of Hebrews says,
“Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.” Hebrews 10:32.
Note that it’s after we receive the light that we have power to endure. That’s the beginning of the journey.
The writer goes on to say,
“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised, For ‘in just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.’ And, ‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.’ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” Hebrews 10:36-39.
In chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews makes this comment about Moses,
“he persevered [endured] because he saw him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27.
The question is not how well you begin. It’s whether or not you endure until the end.
“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
Mark it down: As you go on with the Lord, your faith will be sorely tested.
You will be tempted to “shrink back” into unbelief.
But you — dear child of God — do not belong to those who shrink back.
Learn to see Him who is invisible. And lean into Him.
By this, you will endure until the end.
Hi Frank i am in my mid-40’s now, And I have seen the same in my life. But I wonder about why it should be so? In my late 20’s I was very involved in a “traditional” protestant church where most members were not saved (in their own words, they were not sure of their salvation) and as an elder I tried (mostly in my own strength) to share with them the heart of God. I should probably mention, that when I just came to repentance, I did not like the church very much. It was more of a hindrance to the gospel in my experience than a help. I loved Jesus, but not the church. Slowly my perspective changed as I realized that Jesus loves His church. So I became involved in the church. To little avail and I burnt out. When I was 30 I left, started post-graduate studies and did not want to get involved in any church, even though I did not forsake the Lord. After my studies I did get involved in a congregation again, but one where the word was both preached and lived. But surely, this is uniquely my experience? Why would other people in their 30’s go through something similar?
Currently I am studying again, doing research in the bush, and through circumstances not involved in any church (although I have regular contact with a few Christian friends). Here is what I am experiencing to a large extend: the joy and enthusiasm of my early christian faith have left me, but only because I have compromised in so many ways. God is no longer first in my life all the time and I lack the power of the Holy Spirit in my life to the same extend as I experienced as a young believer. I have learned a lot, and my faith in the Lord is still strong, even if my relationship with Him is not what I (or He) would want. But there is always the danger of disillusionment, the idea that all is for nothing… nobody responds to the gospel anymore (but I also don’t share the gospel as freely as I used to), too many “Christians” pretend and push people away from the Lord (am I one?), there are so much division in the body that I have no idea how to heal it (which reflects badly on our message again… how will all people know that we are disciples of Jesus? By our love for one another?), so many of my friends who had dreams of becoming missionaries have settled down to a life of comfort, etc. And this weariness, more than anything else, pulls me down. But to a large extend it is probably because in my own life I do not experience the power of God as I used to, that all these other things also discourages me?
Thanks in any case for sharing this. I made me think that maybe I am not alone in these struggles? 🙂
Thanks for the comment. I’d encourage you to listen to this podcast episode: http://ptmin.podbean.com/e/things-we-miss-when-reading-the-gospels
Hi Frank. Having just left my 30s behind and looking at the sunrise of my 40s now this article mirrors my testing experiences. I was brought up Christian and made a deep personal decision to follow, and live for, Jesus when I was 18. My crisis came when I was 32, about 15 years after my decision.
I am wondering if crisis has less to do with age (although I recognise there are life situations we face in 30s and 40s which can heavily impact our ‘faith resilience’) and more to do with the length of our faith walk? Is there a similar trend for those who come to faith in their 40s having a faith crisis in their 50s or 60s?
Thanks for writing this Frank – it got me thinking lots. Perhaps this trend was somewhere in Jesus’ mind when he taught the disciples continually to ‘watch and pray’ and to ‘have faith, not fear’.
Blessings to you brother.
Stu
It’s a combination of both. But most people come to the Lord in their teens or 20s. And there is the catch-30 crisis which is universal. I discuss that crisis in my book “Finding Organic Church.” https://www.frankviola.org/books
Cheers for the speedy response frank. Stu 🙂
I had mine roughly 2 years ago. It didn’t make me move away from Christ, but rather drew me closer. I knew there had to be more. I had to go deeper. And here I am today, experiencing Christ in new ways, diving deeper than before, and showing people the deeper things of God. Thank you Frank for your continual help, inspiration, and encouragement through your materials (blogs, books, and podcasts).
Thx. Daniel. Appreciate you, bro.
I can see how there may be a natural cycle of a greater chance of loss of faith during someone’s 40’s going through a midlife crises, but I see something completely new developing: People are abandoning their faith not because they don’t “feel” Jesus like they did in their 20’s, they are abandoning their faith because of…the INTERNET.
If you check out the membership numbers and baptism numbers of most Christian Churches the numbers are drastically down, and not just for one year. The trend is down.
Some may chalk this up to increasing materialism, but I would contend it is due to the massive quantity of data at the fingertips of every person who has a computer. Just 30 years ago, if you wanted to research the evidence for such Christian beliefs, such as the authorship of the Gospels, you would have to go to a library or buy some books. Today, you can obtain the available information in minutes sitting on your sofa sipping a coffee.
Did a first century Jewish apocalyptic prophet really walk out of his grave 2,000 years ago to eat lunch with his friends and then to levitate into outer space? Educated people are no longer accepting this belief as fact just because someone with a divinity degree standing behind a pulpit says so. They are looking up the evidence for themselves.
it is going to be a very interesting next few decades for orthodox/traditional Christianity.
I am not seeing your argument. Simply because for every challenge to the historicity of Jesus, there’s a thorough and compelling rebuttal online. The most recent example is Newsweek’s recent attempt to debunk the reliability of the Bible. Within days after it was posted, Ben Witherington and Dr. Michael Brown shredded the article independently of one another. And so did many others. Their responses were readily available and went viral. I even promoted them both on this blog, and Brown’s article was posted on Newsweek’s site.
//Educated people are no longer accepting this belief as fact just because someone with a divinity degree standing behind a pulpit says so. They are looking up the evidence for themselves.//
This is a complete error from either willful ignorance or a lack of even simple research. There are thousands of very educated and thinking people, some with multiple Ph Ds in the sciences, who believe that Jesus Christ existed, believe him to be the Savior of the world he claimed to be, believe in his bodily resurrection, and his prophesied return in the future.
The issues is not about education or intelligence. Never has been. It’s about morality. The skeptic has all the evidence one needs to be persuaded. But the truth is that he/she does not want to be persuaded. They don’t want to be morally accountable to the Moral Law Giver, so they imagine he doesn’t exist. That doesn’t change the reality that he does exist and that he will judge them some day.
I’m not sure it’s so much about morality as it is what Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 and 2 regarding the two kinds of knowledge.
But to add a p.s. to your comment.
To Gary and others: C.S. Lewis, Timothy Keller, N.T. Wright, Greg Boyd, Leonard Sweet, F.F. Bruce, just to name a few, weren’t/aren’t educated or intelligent?
I’m still waiting for someone to write a compelling rebuttal to Keller’s “The Reason for God” and to Wright’s “The Resurrection of the Son of God” tomb.
btw/ this blog post was not written to skeptics or atheists. That’s not the audience. It’s written to my subscribers – those who have a walk with Christ, thus the writer of Hebrews speaks to all of our hearts.
For those who are outside the faith and looking for evidence, Keller and Wright are a good place to start. I also reviewed my friend Greg Boyd’s book “Benefit of the Doubt” on this blog, which looks at doubt in a positive light. Both perspectives on doubt are rooted in truth. Complimentary models.
Let’s remember, while we shake our fingers at others and chant “God will judge you someday!!”, that we will be judged as well.
Thanks Frank, I see that completely and relate to it entirely. Kinda of a “been there done that” for me as well. Timely words, I needed the reminder and encouragement. Lord bless you brother. JM.
I am in my late 40’s and I am just now beginning to regain my endurance and belief again. This is a timely post. I have also been slowly reading through “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee after I heard you mention it on a podcast.
Thank you for this. I believe my husband is going through this very thing. I sent him the last two scriptures mentioned along with the last few lines. I ended the note saying he is loved abundantly. I have been writing him notes of encouragement about how much God loves him. I focues on love, forgiveness, and leaning on God for everything. I pray for him throughout the day and let him know he is made worthy by the blood of our Lord Jesus.
Thank you, Frank. Very timely, as usual.