Rev. David Holwick F
Bristol Congregational Church
Bristol, Maine
September 19, 2021
2 Timothy 2:11-13
THE DECONVERTED
I. It has a long history.
Step back in time almost 2,000 years.
Pliny was a new governor in the Roman Empire and Trajan was
the Emperor. The year was A.D. 112.
Pliny needed help on how to handle a problem he had not
encountered before, so he wrote Trajan a letter.
The problem Pliny had was Christians.
It is the earliest contemporary reference to Christianity
outside of the New Testament.
Bear in mind this is only 80 years after Jesus was crucified.
Even 200 years later, when Constantine became the first
Christian emperor, Christians probably made up less than 10%
of the Roman Empire.
Yet Pliny says in his area the pagan temples had become deserted
and animal sacrifices were no longer being made.
Instead, Christians had their own way of worshipping.
In a brief but fascinating description, Pliny says Christians
meet on a fixed day before dawn, sing a hymn to Christ as
to a god, and bind themselves not to commit theft,
fraud or adultery.
Then they meet later in the day to have a special meal together.
It is amazing that in this early period, even pagans knew that
Christians believed in the deity of Jesus.
This is not something that was invented hundreds of years later
by the Church hierarchy.
The meal the Christians ate was probably communion but a special
kind called a Love Feast that included a full meal.
Pliny says the meal was ordinary and innocent - other pagan
sources later claimed the Christians were cannibals.
But there was something else the Christians did, or rather did
NOT do, that could not be tolerated.
The Christians would not offer sacrifices for the health of
Emperor Trajan.
Pliny wanted to know what to do.
Should he execute all of them?
What about those who were accused of believing but denied it?
His policy had been to execute only those who would not
sacrifice to the emperor, and would not deny Jesus.
We all have images of those early Christians bravely facing the
lions in an arena.
But guess what - plenty of them chickened out.
Some of those brought before Pliny told him they had been
Christians but had ceased to be.
Some of them had abandoned their faith a few years previously,
but some had done it as much as 25 years before.
This means they had lost their faith when the apostles still
lived.
They had DECONVERTED.
#66417
II. Where is faith today?
A. You can begin with your own faith...
1) Do you believe like you did 10 years ago, 25 years ago?
2) Has your faith diminished, or even disappeared, but you
can't get up the courage to admit it?
(There are even pastors in Canada and Europe who openly
admit they are atheists, but still lead churches.)
B. Recently, some notable Christians have abandoned their faith.
1) Joshua Harris ignited the purity movement by writing the
bestseller "Why I Gave Up Dating," then led a megachurch
for many years.
Now he has repudiated his book and its teachings, left his
wife, and has announced he is no longer a Christian.
2) Marty Sampson, who was a worship leader and song writer
for the very influential Hillsong movement, wrote this
on Instagram, the preferred place to apostatize:
"I'm genuinely losing my faith, and it doesn't bother me.
I'm not in any more. I want genuine truth.
Not the 'I just believe it' kind of truth.
Science keeps piercing the truth of every religion." [1]
3) Bart Ehrman, one of the world's leading scholars of the
New Testament, went to Moody Bible Institute and
Wheaton College.
I actually took a Greek class with him at Wheaton in 1978.
Today Ehrman says he no longer believes in God.
He couldn't reconcile the existence of pain with the
existence of a good God, so he left the faith.
-- Though he still teaches classes on the New Testament.
III. Apostasy is nothing new.
A. It is discouraging when people turn away, but they always have.
1) Jesus and the parable of the Sower of the Seeds. Matt 13
a) Three out of four fail to make it.
b) The first rejects it outright, the second abandons it
when persecution comes, and the third is waylaid
by worries and wealth. Matt 13:20-23
c) Only one sticks to it and produces fruit.
2) Concrete examples in the New Testament: Judas who betrayed
Jesus, and Hymenaeus and Philetus in 2 Timothy 2:17.
3) The Apostle John warns about members who used to belong
to the church but no longer do. 1 Jn 2:18-19
a) He calls them antichrists.
b) He also says their leaving shows they never really
belonged to begin with.
B. The Bible contains many warnings about abandoning the faith.
1) A classic passage is Hebrews 6, which says those who fall
away are crucifying Jesus all over again. Heb 6:6
2) But James 5:19-20 gives a glimmer of hope. It says if
someone wanders from the truth and you can bring them
back, you have saved them from death.
IV. Why do people abandon their faith?
A. They find Christianity too hard.
1) The strict sexual standard of the New Testament no longer
seems valid to them.
2) They are bothered by issues like the problem of suffering,
or concepts like hell.
B. Too many Christians fail them.
1) The scandals over fallen leaders or corrupt organizations
have gotten much attention; these used to be swept under
the rug but now everyone knows about them.
2) The harsh way many Christians deal with their opponents
turn some away. (they may see more abuse after they do)
3) Sometimes skeptics see more secular politics than true
religion in the church.
C. They elevate emotion over reason.
1) Is your faith more than a feeling?
John Stonestreet heard of an evangelical who lost his faith
after going to a Coldplay concert.
Coldplay is not a satanic band - they don't burn crosses
or bite the heads off of bats.
But the concert produced many of the feelings this believer
had experienced in worship services.
The stadium of people was singing in unison, the lyrics and
melodies brought out strong emotions, and the atmosphere
felt a lot like church.
[Maybe not a CONGREGATIONAL church, but a typical megachurch
service with dim lights and a huge band on stage.]
It suddenly seemed possible to him that Christianity was
just another man-made phenomenon.
It was enjoyable and moving, but not really TRUE.
Like a Coldplay concert. [2]
2) This kind of reason has been challenged by other Christians.
John Cooper, a member of the Christian band Skillet, wrote
about those who were proclaiming their lost faith:
"[We need] to value the teaching of the Word.
We need to value truth over feeling. Truth over emotion.
And what we are seeing now is the result of the church
raising up influencers who did not supremely value truth
who have led a generation who also do not believe
in the supremacy of truth.
And now those disavowed leaders are proudly still leading
and influencing boldly AWAY from the truth." [3]
V. We should have sympathy with those who struggle with the faith.
A. They are correct, Christianity is HARD.
1) It has never been easy.
2) The Christian faith deals with hard issues like injustice
and hatred and sin - not just bad things out there, but
horrible things IN MY OWN HEART.
3) Believe it or not, this is one of the reasons I was
attracted to Christianity when I was 17 years old. Its
description of human nature just seemed true to me.
B. Jesus can accept our doubts and even our failings.
1) In today's passage from 2 Timothy, which may be taken from
an early Christian hymn, it says if we are faithless
he will remain faithful.
a) Scholars have interpreted this verse different ways.
b) I think "faithless" is talking about faith that is
inadequate or weak.
2) Peter is a prime example in the New Testament.
a) He failed Jesus several times, but he always came back.
b) As the Old Testament says, God knows we are but dust.
3) If you are weak, keep seeking God.
a) Dig deeper for answers to your questions.
b) If you have failed morally, repent and ask God to lead
you on the right way again. And again. And again...
C. What Jesus cannot accept is permanent rejection.
1) The passage also says, if we disown him, he will disown us.
2) This reflects the teaching of Jesus himself, who said:
"Whoever acknowledges me before people, I will also
acknowledge them before my Father in heaven.
But whoever disowns me before people, I will disown them
before my Father in heaven." Matt 10:32-33
3) Imagine you are standing before an overwhelmingly holy God
on the Judgment Day, and Jesus turns toward you and says,
"I never knew this one."
VI. The deconverted can be converted anew.
The bus approached a checkpoint near Raqqa, Syria.
A black flag flew nearby, which meant the men at the checkpoint
were fighters for ISIS.
Three soldiers entered the bus and checked IDs.
When they got to Meghrik, they asked him, "Are you a Christian?"
He answered, "No."
He explained that he had been raised a Christian in a
Christian family and had a Christian family name.
But Meghrik didn't believe in God anymore and thought
Christianity was ridiculous.
The soldier didn't buy his explanation and forced Meghrik to
get off the bus.
That evening he found himself face-to-face with an Islamic State
judge in a makeshift courtroom in Raqqa.
The judge concluded from his name that Meghrik was a Christian
and sentenced him to death.
Several hours later, men in black clothes come to bring him to
the place of execution.
They tied his arms, covered his eyes and pushed him into a car.
After a ride through the city, they arrived at an desolate area
with open graves.
The fighters took off the blindfold and push Meghrik into the
grave.
He couldn't break the fall because his arms were tied behind
his back.
He heard the sound of loading weapons - his last moments alive.
Tears ran down his cheeks.
He felt completely helpless.
Suddenly, he remembered what had happened a month ago.
He had been challenged by a friend to pray and ask God to
show him that he really exists.
This happened after a long discussion about the existence of
God, the person of Jesus and what, according to his
Christian friend, Jesus had done for mankind.
Meghrik accepted the challenge of his friend and had prayed
for God to reveal himself.
This memory made him pray again in this grave, a genuine cry
from the heart in his darkest hour.
"If you exist, let me live.
Please give me a chance to get to know you."
Seconds passed by, and a voice broke the tense silence:
"You can live and be free when you convert to Islam."
"I will convert," Meghrik said rapidly, seeing no other way out.
The men took him out of his grave and brought him back to his
cell.
It was a big relief, but mixed with a new fear.
Another prisoner told him, "Converting is of no use, they will
kill you anyway."
The next day, ISIS men entered the cell and begin torturing him
with a cable.
He counted somewhere between 20 and 30 lashes that day.
This went on for three days.
Meghrik continued to pray.
"God, you saved me the first time, so why do you let them
torture me again?
Please, Lord, get me out of here so that I can search for you
and learn about you."
That day, an ISIS leader came to his cell.
The man said they wouldn't execute him.
On the tenth day of his imprisonment, Meghrik walked free.
He says it was an indescribable moment when he finally left
that prison.
It was a fulfillment of God's promises.
God had heard his prayers.
Meghrik had denied Jesus and was even ready to convert to
Islam... but he says,
"God didn't leave me or let me down, he stayed with me
until the end to show me His existence."
#65815
VII. God will preserve his saints.
A. Congregationalism has a heritage of Reformed theology.
1) (It is also known as Calvinism.)
2) It emphasizes God's prerogative in predestination.
B. In this theology, no real Christian can deconvert.
1) The reasoning is, if God has saved you, you cannot "unsave"
yourself.
a) Jesus himself says in John 10:28:
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand."
b) A true Christian can mess up, and have doubts, and seem
to fall away, but God will always bring them back.
2) A dilemma remains: can you be CERTAIN you are a real
Christian, and thus forever saved?
a) Jesus taught that many will think they are real,
but are actually fakes.
b) What is the possibility you are one of those fakes?
C. Since none of us knows God's will perfectly, we must be humble.
1) If you are wavering, ask God to make you firm again.
2) If you feel absolutely secure in your faith, maybe you
should consider the human ability to self-deceive.
As Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 10:12:
"If you think you are standing firm, be careful that
you don't fall!"
3) Always keep your eyes on Jesus. He won't fail you.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
2. Adapted from “The Disillusion of Millennial Evangelicals,” by John
Stonestreet and Kasey Leander, Breakpoint Commentary, September 2,
2021. https://www.breakpoint.org/the-disillusion-of-millennial-evangelicals/.
3. “'We Need to Value Truth Over Feeling': Skillet's John Cooper Reacts to
Christian Leaders Renouncing Faith,” by Dan Andros, August 15, 2019;
#65815 “Syrian Prisoner Sentenced To Death By ISIS Finds Jesus,” by
Brian [no last name given], Stories of Persecution, March 1, 2017;
#66417 “Apostasy Is Nothing New,” by Rev. David Holwick, adapting from
Pliny's Letter to Trajan (see HolwickID #27700).
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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