Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that associates gummy bears, a punch vs. a hit, hearsay, and “did I read that correctly?” with every civil trial.
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Since I’ve been following the Lord over the last four decades, I’ve watched Christians—some of them being the most faithful and the most zealous of my friends—leave the Lord and veer off into atheism or some other world religion.
Keep in mind that the purpose of this article isn’t to discuss the once-saved-always-saved doctrine nor to speculate on whether or not these folks truly knew the Lord. That’s an entirely different topic and not the one for the present discussion.
Rather, it’s to explore why these people—who in all cases had all the outward marks of being a true follower—decided to serve Jesus divorce papers and turn their backs on God.
Whether you want to call it apostasy or backsliding is irrelevant. I want to stay with one narrow idea:
The reasons why they said they bailed out on the Lord.
As I shuffle these people in my mind—some of whom served the Lord for over 20 years before they pulled the plug on believing in Jesus altogether—each of them said they did so for one of the following seven reasons.
1) The horrible, disgusting, nasty way that Christians treat one another in person and online.
The reason why some Christians want nothing to do with following Jesus is because of the sub-human way that so many of His professing followers treat each other. Ways in which they themselves would never want to be treated, breaking the cardinal commandment of Jesus Himself—which fulfills the Law and the Prophets—in Matthew 7:12.
2) The canned superficial answers they had been given to complicated questions.
Example: An eighteen-year-old is brought up in a Christian home. She is taught that God created the earth in seven literal days and that the earth is young. The eighteen-year-old enters college and she hears this idea ripped to shreds.
She is confused and finally concludes, “If that’s wrong, then I have to throw out everything I’ve been taught in the Bible. Maybe it’s all myth.”
The fact is, this eighteen-year-old has never been exposed to some of the best thinking on the subject.
She’s never been exposed to the sophisticated answers to modernity, to empiricism, to the problem of evil in the world.
Nor has she ever been taught that one can interpret Genesis a number of ways and none of them means doubting the authority, reliability, or inspiration of Scripture.
The canned answers she received is all she knows and they are proving inadequate.
Incidentally, to the fundamentalists who might read this article, I’ve not given my view on Genesis 1 and 2 here, so don’t assume it. (I give my views on those passages in Jesus: A Theography.)
I find too many holes in macro-evolutionary theory (although there is clearly evolution within species, etc.) and I believe that Adam was a living, breathing mortal.
However, I have many friends who take all of this figuratively and they are more faithful to Jesus Christ than some of my fundamentalist friends.
So if N.T. Wright or C.S. Lewis reads Genesis 1 and 2 completely figuratively, that doesn’t make them apostates.
The real test of whether or not you really know Jesus Christ is if you love the brethren—1 John—and walk in Matthew 7:12.
Many so-called “Bible-believing Christians” do not; they are hateful and dishonest people who will be shocked when they face God one day.
3) They met a God who didn’t meet their expectations.
It could be a tragedy they experienced. It could be a painful event. It could be something dark and horrible that they’ve prayed to be saved from for years and God doesn’t seem to care. It could be a “promise” in Scripture that they stood on in faith, but never saw materialize.
(I’ve talked at length about this problem and the solution for it in God’s Favorite Place on Earth.)
Anyways, this is a BIG reason why many abandon the Jesus ship.
4) The stupidity and ignorance of so many Christians.
Regrettably, many Christians believe whatever they read or hear. Those who are wiser and smarter don’t want to be associated with that lot.
So they start thinking, “If Jesus was the Savior of the world, why are so many of His followers so stupid?”…“If Jesus is the head of the church, why is His church so dysfunctional and so toxic in so many cases?” So they start questioning the claims of the Lord Himself.
5) Failure to live up to the gospel of legalism.
I’ve watched Christians leave the Lord because they were taught a gospel of legalism—namely, that God will be upset with them if they don’t live a perfect life.
Despite how hard they tried, they kept failing to keep the standard in various areas of their lives. They prayed, fasted, and sought victory over the problem with no results.
Eventually, they got so weary that they concluded that it’s just not worth it to follow the Lord, so they left Him.
6) They loved the world more than Christ.
Jesus wasn’t enough in their eyes to satisfy their heart’s desires—or what they thought were their real desires. They loved “the pleasures of sin” more than the pleasures of God. Paul said of Demas, a Christian worker who had abandoned him, that “he loved this present world.”
7) The cares of this life choked the (spiritual) life out of them.
In His famous “parable of the sower,” Jesus talked about the seed of God’s word being choked to death because of the cares of this life.
The daily grind of day-to-day life with all of its twists, turns, and problems can be a perpetual distraction to the spiritual person. So much so that it can easily choke the life out of them. The spiritual life, that is.
This article was originally published in There Must Be More.
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Further Talks on the Gospel of the Kingdom
I found this convicting at a time where I am struggling with why I should continue to be a Christian especially in the area of dating and maintaining purity.
I have read Pagan Christianity and it was a good read. Thank you. I am just curious how you define “Christian” here. Are we talking people that are indwelt with the Holy Spirit?
Pagan Christianity is a VERY old book and it’s not a stand alone work. Get updated at https://www.frankviola.org/books – the newer books are far better and more applicable to most believers.
How do I define a “Christian” in this article? Right now, think of the strongest believer you personally know. Imagine them in your head.
That’s exactly who I am talking about. People just like that.
Only time will tell if that person continues to follow the Lord or abandons the faith. No mortal can predict that.
Thank you Frank for consistently revealing the revelation and mystery of the gospel Christ in us.
How can I get a copy of Titan: There Must Be More??
Join the wait list on the site (the link is at the bottom of the article). The book was only printed once, but sometimes used copies become available. And many of those used copies are in mint condition.
Frank your comment about how Christians tear themselves apart on social media really hit home with me. Seven years ago I thought it was a good medium to have open discussions and think about differing opinions but quickly realized it was not that at all. Christians were tearing each other apart without the slightest concern how their words would demoralized people. I quickly jumped off and stayed within my lane of the ecclesia where we can share ideas openly and honestly and consider numerous points of view. For me, social media has years if not decades of maturing to go through before I’ll ever dip my toe in the medium again.