A Serious Look at Commitment

For many years, I've been dealing with a nagging concern over the question, “Why do some 'Christians' fall away?” Time and time again, I have been confronted with believers who appear to fall away from the faith. Many of these people were active in the church for years before they lost their faith.

What makes this matter all the more puzzling is the reaction it gets from the church. The subject of “Christians” abandoning their faith is about as pleasant as talking about rectal cancer at the dinner table. The typical reaction by Christians is to ignore that it ever happens.

I recently spoke with a well-known evangelical leader who has spent decades as a Christian counselor. I asked him to tell me about the experiences he had with people who had deserted the faith. He surprised me by saying he didn't know of any such cases. When I pressed the issue, I found that he had a mental block about the idea of sheep wandering from the herd.

Some Christians seem to think salvation is based on the power of positive thinking. The Bible warns that becoming a believer is a difficult decision--one few people will make. If the professed faith of someone turns out to be in vain, people need to be made aware of this information. We'd all drive on the road in a more reckless fashion if there were a conspiracy to hide the carnage that results from auto accidents.

A lot of the debate centers on conditional security vs. eternal security. We used to have a section on the site that gave both views, but I removed it because I found it to be nonproductive. On one end of the scale, some people think we can lose our salvation several times a day. On the other end, some people believe that Adolf Hitler might have been saved if he once had mouthed some pledge about Christ being his savior.

I think a better way to approach this problem is with the question, "Where are you now?" People need to examine themselves to see if they believe in the tenets of the faith. If people admit they no longer believe in a God and the validity of the Bible, we have to take them at their word. If someone rejects Christ, it's pointless to argue over any previous confessions of faith.

We live in time when it's hard to tell the difference between believers and non-believers. Society doesn't require us to make any sacrifices for our spiritual convictions. The freedom from religious persecution can create some stunning examples of people appearing to be believers for a long time before eventually renouncing their faith. Over the years, I've witnessed several such cases here at Rapture Ready.

We once had an administrator on the message board go through a process of remission. She eventually told me, "I can't stand being around you Christians." Not only did she quit working on our board, but she also closed down an apologetics site that dispensed information about various cults. Another moderator left after he decided he was gay and wanted everyone to know it. Yet another guy who helped write to several rules for the board walked away from Christian fellowship.

The only sure test of your faith is what enduring works you do for the Creator. We can make all kinds of verbal commitments, but our willingness to labor for Christ is the only litmus test for true faith. James said, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).

I've noticed something very interesting about the people who contribute in some way to RR. Several times I've had people commit to financially supporting the site, only to quickly develop a problem with their pledge. They suddenly become uneasy about trivial things on the site. Many of them leave the site all together.

The most telling area is the personal testimonies we have in three key sections. I've had some people submit testimonies who, weeks later, came back asking me to remove them. When I inquired about the reason, nearly all of them told me they had recanted their faith and didn't want their testimonies posted on RR. One guy told me that the same day he sent me his article, he began to be mentally bombarded by thoughts that called for him to rescind his testimony.

I think the source of this strange behavior is demonic. The devil effectively came to these people and said, “You're still my child. What are you doing putting a testimony on a Christian site? You tell them to remove it!” It can take weeks, months, or even years, but eventually Satan will force people to revert to their true nature.

The act of doing good works causes people realize they are lukewarm in their commitment. If it wasn't for their involvement, they would have been perfectly happy living as Christians in name only. It's better to know the truth than to live a lie. Jesus said the worst state one could be in is that of a lukewarm Christian: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).

With over a quarter million people visiting this site each month, I realize many of you folks have a commitment that you never bothered to verify. If people who claim to have faith can fall away, I have far less hope for individuals who feel no obligation to serve the kingdom of God. I challenge you to put your faith to the test.