Why Do People Fall Away COMMON REASONS WHY

Why Do People Fall Away?

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • A lack of commitment and conversion from the start: – The rocky soil in the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13: 5 -6, 20 -21) • Think in gardening terms – Seeds planted in shallow ground • Some are like this spiritually – Obey & some growth, but short lived. Why? Growth was almost all superficial… no depth. • Haven’t counted the cost? Haven’t developed a faith of their own? Have ulterior motives? Not taking time to grow personally? • Some stimulus sparks departure from God – Jesus spoke of tribulation and persecution. Without depth, they have no strength to endure – Jesus saw this when people’s shallow discipleship was shown by their walking away amidst difficult teaching (John 6: 60 ff, 66) • Jesus doesn’t water down His teaching, but increases the difficulty! • Those without depth were frustrated and walked away not getting it, those with depth may not have got it at first, but stayed to learn • To disciples: “Do you want to leave too? ” – Make sure there are in it for the right reasons. Be sure their faith & devotion was real!

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • A lack of commitment and conversion from the start: – Hebrew’s message: “Don’t give up… Don’t look back!” Shows growth is essential. There is a time when spiritual infancy is inexcusable. Connects growth & falling away (Heb 5: 12 -6: 1) – What can we do to help build or rebuilt faithfulness? • In some ways, nothing – We cannot expect to fix people who don’t want to be fixed. It’s part of the problem… It has to be from them • Since part of the issue is a lack of depth, we can provide teaching. Study, challenge, encourage personal growth (Matt. 28: 20) • Some may have never been committed in the first place. It may be time to start over with discipleship and developing faith. • Don’t water down the gospel, but don’t make it unnecessarily difficult.

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Discouragement that results from difficulties in life: – Some fall away after a period of suffering (James 1: 2 -3) • Loss of spouse, child, or parent… financial difficulties… health fails… etc. At first they seem strong, but in time something changes. • A Process: Spiritual interest wanes, distancing from brethren, attendance falls, blame to God and others… Discouragement deepens. • A big danger for the introverted and personally reclusive in nature • Suffering is strange – The thing that draws some people closer to God is the same thing that pulls some people away from God. – Devil understands destruction of discouragement (Job 2: 3 -8) • Satan’s goal was not to kill Job… He’s not really interested in injuring Job for the sake of pain. He attacks Job’s faith with deep losses • Job lost a lot – Family died, possessions gone, wealth lost, health gone • Satan knows that discouragement keeps you from experiencing & seeing what you know is true – God is good, God loves me, God is faithful • Job had a “gritty” faith – Kept what he knew in front of him (Job 19: 25)

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Discouragement that results from difficulties in life: – Hebrews warns about developing a heart of unbelief… Compares it to trials in the wilderness (Hebrews 3: 12 -15) – What can we do to help prevent this wandering from God: • As Hebrews suggests – Encourage one another DAILY! Takes a lot of time and personal involvement. Builds confidence in them and us! • Remember that in the moment people have trouble seeing what they normally know is true. Speak words of faith! (James 1: 3, 12) • Watch out for discouraged people… We often are too busy or we assume people are too strong to be overcome (1 Thess. 5: 14) • Relieve any physical needs we can. Often time together is needed most. Simple words give support, strength, & keeps from feeling alone

Why Do People Fall Away?

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Worldliness has stolen their hearts away from Christ: – Jesus showed spoke to this problem in the Parable of the Sower with the thorny ground illustration (Mt 13: 7; Mark 4: 18 -19) • Picture an immaculate garden overrun by kudzu or English ivy

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Worldliness has stolen their hearts away from Christ: – Jesus showed spoke to this problem in the Parable of the Sower with the thorny ground illustration (Mt 13: 7; Mark 4: 18 -19) • Picture an immaculate garden overrun by kudzu or English ivy • Some are like this spiritually – Initially things look good with obedience, growth, and some fruit. Worldliness consumes & spirituality dies • “Weeds” or “Thorns” choke us – Robs our hearts & souls of the spiritual nourishment God’s word, spiritual activity, & obedience provides • These may be sinful things, but they don’t have to be – Cares, riches, and other things aren’t inherently wrong. It’s the place we give them and how we express them. • Notice how the thorns “grew up” – Initially its barely visible if there at all. • What happens? A person allows more and more of the influence of the world into their heart and life. They give physical things more of a place than spiritual. Priorities, values, activity… away from God.

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Worldliness has stolen their hearts away from Christ: – Paul experienced this as Demas fell in love with the world and out of love with the Lord (Col. 4: 14, Phm 1: 24; 2 Tim. 4: 10) • A fellow worker of Paul – Traveled, worked, & likely suffered together • During Paul’s most difficult days, Demas deserted him. What caused a person so spiritually involved to walk away? Love for the world! • Demas’ heart got too attached to temporary pleasures – Whether it was sinful by nature or not, it became sinful when it took over • Personally impacted Paul – “Demas has forsaken me” – Ultimately it was about him deserting Christ, but Paul felt the pain. So, when a person falls away they are hurting more than just themselves! – John writes about being assured about our salvation. What can keep us from having that assurance? Loving this world. When assurance fades, faithfulness goes too! (1 John 2: 15 -17)

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Worldliness has stolen their hearts away from Christ: – What can we do to help stop the straying? (Gal. 6: 1 -2) • Honesty is important. Be loving, but be blunt. Often the person doesn’t see the problem in their life. Honesty about the problem of worldliness in their life and where it is taking them. • Since often there is misplaced priorities and focus, we can invite them to be involved in spiritual activity together. Fight against it! • Remind them of the value of what they are giving up and contrast it to the value of what they are pursuing. (Heb. 11: 26)

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Discouragement and hurt from Christians not acting like Christians: – Our own brethren should be the last source of disappointment in life, but that is sometimes not the case (James 4: 1 -2) • Christians are not perfect people – Things are sometimes said and done that are hurtful. We are to build up, but sometimes we tear down • Not everyone in a local church is right with God… some are hypocrites and some are wolves in sheep’s clothing. • Some are sincere, but spiritually weak & immature and still fighting intense battles with worldliness in their own hearts • Could be conflict – An ugly church split, infighting, spreading of rumors, a physical wrong goes uncorrected, jealousy & bitterness brewing • Pain is real! It hurts so much partly because it is family! We expect the world to hurt us, but when it is family, the pain runs extra deep – The Hebrew writer recognized this bitterness as a reason why many would become defiled (Heb. 12: 14 -15)

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Discouragement and hurt from Christians not acting like Christians: – Divisiveness among brethren is so serious, Paul gave it as a reason to “withdraw fellowship” (Titus 3: 10) – Corinth was a church plagued by discord, discouragement, and disappointment… (1 Cor. 1: 9 -13, 3: 15 -17) • Rivalry – Aligning themselves taking sides. An atmosphere of division, not unity. Going to church was draining… always something • Issues of morality among members… Immorality that went unchallenged • A rumor mill for hurtful and false information about Paul… so frustrating • Worship services turned into a competition arena… It was all about who had the best gift. People not waiting on each other, disorderly • Some were spiritually chewed up and spit out at Corinth… They were burned up. Other Christians were saved in this environment despite seeing “their work” burned… loss & fire took its toll!

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Discouragement and hurt from Christians not acting like Christians: – Many who fall away use this to excuse their own unfaithfulness to God and soothe their consciences (Gal. 6: 4 -5, 9) • This is not the real reason they have fallen away and STAYED away – They have chosen to depart from God. Once real pain is now a copout • Maybe they didn’t have strong faith to begin with, the world got a hold of their heart, quit growing, sin entered, grew weary, lost 1 st love • Heard saying, “I just can’t get over what happened…” or “I just can’t forget what I saw…” Sometimes this dates back many years! • Often the person knows they are wrong, not right with God, and what they need to do. Staying away & excusing it has become easier

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • Discouragement and hurt from Christians not acting like Christians: – So what can be done in this situation? (Rev. 2: 24 -25) • Act like a true Christian! We will make mistakes with each other, but it will be forgiven and not become a stumbling block. Be committed to not being able to be the excuse another uses for giving up! • Remind people that other people’s unfaithfulness does not exempt us from God’s judgment! If we give up because of another’s unfaithfulness, Satan has won two souls not just one! • We can’t undo the wrong of others, but we can work against it through good of our own. Show them Christ in us. Get involved! • If its happening now, get involved to stop the problem – Takes courage and boldness. You will make some enemies. You will rock the boat. You may find yourself standing up against those who were once good friends. But souls are at stake! (Gal. 2: 11 -14) • Remember and remind… Paul didn’t write off the Corinthians because of their deep issues and didn’t give up on his own walk with God!

Hebrews 6: 9 -12 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live… Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful… What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people… I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 116)

Do This In Remembrance Of Me

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!“ And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews. " And with him they crucified

two robbers, one on his right and one on his left… And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!" So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe. " Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, lema sabachthani? " which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? " And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah. " And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. " And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. (Mark 15)

Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sov’reign die; Would He devote that sacred head for such a one as I? But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe: Here , Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do! At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, And the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight, And now I am happy all the day!

Why Do People Fall Away?

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • They become weary in serving God and doing right: – Realistic view of the nature of Christianity (Gal. 6: 9; 2 Thess 3: 13) • The Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint – A life long journey. • Our spiritual service and faith can become repetitive to us – We do many of the same things over & over with little to no change. Meaning? • Repetition becomes monotonous and mundane to us – Some get tired of doing what is right and good and give up on serving the Lord. • Weariness sets in from fighting battles both personally and in relation to others. These can be physical or spiritual in nature. • Weariness from not seeing results – Small struggling church? No response to our teaching? Our light makes little difference in dark world

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • They become weary in serving God and doing right: – A warning against becoming sluggish (Heb. 6: 9 -12) • Weariness causes a person to forget that God sees them, remembers their works, and will reward. Exhaustion gets our head out of it! • Importance of continuing strong to the end… Finish well. Christians have to be purposeful about maintaining full assurance of hope to end • Sluggishness sets in because assurance of hope diminishes… There is usually some other factor that attacks our confidence and trust. • Remember those who inherited the promises – Like Abraham, Joseph, and Moses… Promises delayed but they were fulfilled. Promises came after tough circumstances, but were fulfilled. – Like with Job… need a gritty and relentless faith. Determined not to give up even when time, exhaustion, or circumstances hides the foundations of our faith from us (Rev. 2: 2 -3)

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • They become weary in serving God and doing right: – How do we help a person who is falling or has fallen because of growing weary in their service and faith? (Heb 12: 12 -13) • Remind them of their hope (Heb. 6: 13 -20) – GOD IS FAITHFUL! We have a promise of rest & eternal life. A hope anchored in His faithfulness! • Feeling spiritually faint and weary will happen. Strength and excellence comes through perseverance… Another promise (Isaiah 40: 28 -31) • Weak people need support. Maybe its words… intervention driving them to stay with it… assistance with a specific problem… get involved doing something spiritual that is different together… Be creative!

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • The continued presence of sin in their lives: – Another warning… People fall away from God because they allow personal sin to go unchecked (Heb. 10: 26 -31) • Tense is important – “Go on sinning willfully” – Not an occasional fall or a sincere person who struggles… It’s one who lets sin abide in them • Danger of falling so far from God we won’t return – Desensitized to God’s grace… Jesus’ death & the Spirit don’t prick the heart… If this won’t move a person, what will? What sacrifice will they turn to? • To harbor sin in our lives we have to remove some spirituality… we become hardened to the very things that save us & keep us saved • Another issue: The longer we let sin stay the more callous we become to the sin and what it does to us. Seared conscious (Eph. 4: 19)

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • The continued presence of sin in their lives: – More warnings: Sin prevents us from being able to run the race of faith with endurance (Heb. 12: 1 -2) • Picture a great runner with a ball and chain… That’s us with sin in our life! • The distance of our race requires everything that hinders being set aside. Sin destroys our focus, determination, and discipline. • See verse 2 – To keep sin in our life we have to stop keeping our eyes on Jesus. The cross shows us the cost of our sin and the love of Jesus • Today many fall away because they are trying to keep sin and spirituality in their life simultaneously. Weighed down until they can’t run.

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • The continued presence of sin in their lives: – When sin goes w/o challenge, confession, & repentance, it destroys our joy and fulfillment (Romans 7: 22 -24) • Sin blocks our fellowship with God… we cannot continue with God while continuing with sin. We cannot walk in light and darkness. A Christian knows this… know they aren’t right. Guilt & no hope! • Paul was miserable while trying to pursue serving God and righteousness without Christ. He was a walking contradiction and knew it. • We know who we are… We know when we aren’t right with God… we know when we’re playing the hypocrite. How can we be joyous and satisfied in our faith if this is the case? • If you stop enjoying being a Christian, you will stop being a Christian. The JOY of the Lord is your strength. Sin destroys our strength!

COMMON REASONS WHY PEOPLE FALL A WAY • The continued presence of sin in their lives: – How can we help those in this situation? • Some need blunt but loving honesty. Too often we dismiss harbored sin as weakness or struggles when it’s really become a PET that is being nurtured and fed and so it sticks around (Prov. 27: 5 -6) • We need to remind people of the dangerous ground they tread… At the time it may seem like no big deal or that there’s plenty of time. • Hebrew’s idea – Remind people of their past… Their conversion, battles against temptation, sacrifice, attitude toward sin in the past, hope and love in Jesus – Don’t throw it away! (Heb. 10: 32 ff) • We need to hold each other accountable for righteousness… Check up on them, pray together, encourage each other. See a pattern of sin? Do whatever you can to interfere with it (James 5: 16)