Leaving Their Faith?

I have read a number of stories over this past year concerning people leaving their faith or how the Church is loosing people in vast numbers. I can believe churches have seen numbers of people leave or move on to another church. This happens all the time but people losing their faith or leaving Christianity? There is a lot of grey area here and it takes in the old argument, "Can I lose my salvation?" I firmly believe the Bible does not teach us that we can forfeit or lose our salvation.

But, let's look at the claim of Christians walking away from their faith. If the Bible teaches us that when we are saved, we are saved for eternity, then how can one walk away from this or why would they want to, if they are truly saved? If a person has truly and sincerely acknowledged who Jesus is and what he has done for us concerning our salvation and has received Jesus as Lord and savior of his/her life, there is no way salvation is forfeited or lost. I know, to many people, the following scripture examples, defending eternal security, are simply cliché but these words are from Jesus Himself and there is nothing cliché about them.

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  JN 6:37

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.   JN 10:27-28 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  JN 5:24 

Now, I know these verses have been twisted to meet the agenda and teaching of those who would want Christians to believe they can lose what God says He will never take away, your salvation. In the verses, JN 10:27-28,  Jesus tells us nobody can snatch us from His hand and nobody, or anyone, includes us. But this verse is twisted and explained that nobody else but we can take ourselves from His hand. I think, in this verse, that the word, anyone, includes us, we or ourselves. There's no tricky translation here and regardless of the Bible translation, NKJV, NASB, NIV, NLT, the meaning is the same.

So, why bring this up or why make a point of this age old argument? Well, as I mentioned at the start, so many posts and articles about Christians losing their faith and leaving the Church or teens going off to college and losing their faith, when their professor smashes their belief system, could lead some to believe it is actually possible to lose their salvation. Let's take the teens as an example and why or how they 'lose their Christianity' when they attend a secular college or university.

I want to present two boys, Kevin and James, and quickly track their growth, in years, prior to attending college. Both have attended church from the time they were born. Kevin attended church with his parents and progressed from the nursery to the youth group. In Sunday School, he had learned about Jonah and the big fish, Joseph and his coat of many colors and a bunch of other really neat Bible stories.

As he progressed into youth group, the youth leader was a really cool guy who acted and talked like the youth in the group. He was fun to be with and around and he taught them some really cool games and activities when they met twice a week. Kevin really liked youth group and had many friends there. Sometimes, they would go to a local amusement Park on Saturdays and that was really fun.

At home, Kevin's parents both were working hard at their individual careers and were busy with their social life but they made sure the family was in church at least once a week. At home, Kevin kept up with his school work and did well enough to get into a good college. In his spare time, he played the latest popular video games and watched his favorite TV shows. Kevin had a good life but nobody had ever told him about the true meaning of the cross. Nobody had ever explained, thoroughly, the gospel and what it truly means to be saved.

All those years in church programs and youth programs and he never heard the gospel message. Oh, he heard some stuff about Jesus and the other really neat Bible stories but never what God's love letter to us really says. His parents never talked about Jesus or God at home; there were never any discussions about faith or how he was doing in his walk or lack of a walk, with Jesus. There was never any Jesus in that home.

Now, let's look at James. He, too, was in church from the time he was born. He, too, progressed from the nursery to youth group but there was a big difference in what he was taught and what he was learning. His Sunday School classes were filled with the message of the gospel, presented in a way a young person can understand. His advancement into youth group was a continuation of that teaching. The youth leader wasn't the focus of the meetings, Jesus was. By the time he graduated from high school, his faith in Jesus was as solid as a rock and couldn't be moved.

His home life did not lack the gospel. His parents made sure there was always time for family devotions and activities which reflected Jesus in each of them. The learning of the gospel didn't end at the door of the church, it continued in the home in a variety of ways. He was prepared to go out into the world.

Both of these boys went off to college and were actually attending the same school. They had never met and were from different locations but both had been in church all of their lives. There are so many stories, true stories, concerning Christian students having that one professor who is an arrogant atheist and defies any Christian student to prove God is real or alive. Most of the Christian students are afraid to be made a fool of in front of everyone so, they sit quietly and say nothing.

This professor makes it a point, in his lectures, of driving home points which attempt to tear Christianity apart and make it look foolish. He believes the earth is billions of years old, evolution and the Big Bang is how everything came to be. He is very good in articulating these points and soon, Kevin begins to have doubts about what he heard in church or what he thought was true and before long, he knows he has been lied to about Christianity and what it stands for. His 'said faith' has been destroyed and he walks away from everything he was taught or thought he was taught.

James, on the other hand, is not shaken one little bit. He knows that Jesus died for him on the cross and has been with him since the age of nine when he was saved. He totally understands why the professor is doing this and he understands that the professor is actually weak and he prays for him in hope that he would find the truth of the gospel message. He is not shaken in his faith in Jesus and he has not doubted the power of God. He knows that God is real and alive and at work in his life. He's not upset with the professor, he doesn't exchange jabs with him, he prays for him.

By the end of the first year in college, Kevin has walked away from what he thought was his faith. But it was nothing more than a system of religion which had no effect at all on his life other than the time he put in and the fun times he had. James, at the end of the first year, was solid as a rock in his faith in Jesus. His faith had not been moved at all and he actually became stronger as a result of all the attacks by this professor. It drove him into the Bible even more and his studies in the word intensified. He is truly and sincerely saved and has a solid relationship with Jesus.

So, teens going off to college and losing their faith? I would submit the two examples above (both fictitious) as a reason why some think so many are walking away from their faith. Their faith was never real, never a real relationship with Jesus. It was based on some feel good stuff and fun times. When a real faith in Jesus resides within us, we can be rattled, shaken a little, knocked off balance and even knocked down, but we are never broken. As Jesus helps us back up, we dust ourselves off and continue the walk but we never turn back.

I would like to finish with a few scriptures which relate to this.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. MT 7:21

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” LK 6:46-49 

What kind of God will allow us, after He has saved us from sin and eternal death, simply allow us, to walk away. At the end of Romans Chapter 8 (8:35-38), Paul asks what can separate us from Christ and then goes on to provide a long list of things and circumstances which we all might face in this life, and then declares that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. He does mention in that long list, any other created thing, and that includes us. We can not separate ourselves from Christ.

So, when we read articles about the masses leaving their Christianity or faith, we must ask ourselves if they were ever really saved or if they were just playing church for a while. And the reasons for that are lengthy and a topic for another time.