Why do some people lose their faith

Why do some people lose their faith?

There are many  factors that cause some to walk away from their Christian faith or A Faith driven Church

I believe that these three are the most obvious.

SIN is the first and foremost example. In fact, all of the reasons one would deny the faith are sin, but here I am thinking of a person who wishes to continue to sin against God.

One such example is the friend of the Apostle Paul, Demas.

We read in 2 Timothy 4:10

"For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me.”

One could not have a greater teacher, mentor or example that the Apostle Paul, yet for Demas, the lure of sin was so strong that he left Paul’s side to continue in whatever worldly practices to which he was lured.

PERSECUTION or TRIALS are another reason that some walk away. Jesus spoke of this as the “seed that fell in the rocky soil.” 

Matthew 13:20–21 "[the rocky soil] is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away." (No root, No back bone, no heart )

A third reason some fall away is PRESSURE from the WORLD.

Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

By the renewing of your mind.—“The mind” (i.e., the mental faculties, reason, or understanding) is in itself neutral. When informed by an evil principle, it becomes an instrument of evil; (here lay the issues informed by evil principle) even in serving are Lord an Savior, people are full of bad information, as soon you try to get close to God & Surrender those bad evil information begins to appear.

When informed by the Spirit, it is an instrument of good. It performs the process of discrimination between good and evil, and so supplies the data to conscience. “The mind” here is not strictly identical with what we now mean by “conscience;” it is, as it were, the rational part of conscience, to which the moral quality needs to be superadded. The “renewed mind,” or the mind acting under the influence of the Spirit, comes very near to “conscience”

How can I keep my faith from faltering when there is so much pressure from the world?

The Pressure can be GREAT! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego experienced a tremendous amount of pressure to bow down and worship the statute of Nebuchadnezzar.

Their dilemma is similar to the pressure that we are facing today. No one is asking us to bow down to a gold statute. 

No, we are just asked to bow down to the thinking and practices of everyone around us. 

The pressure comes with challenges like.....

“Everyone is doing it.”

“Even some Christians are doing it.”

“If you stand out too much, you will lose family or friends and face ridicule.”

In America, the pressure is to conform to our society. But in other parts of the world, the pressure is much more like that faced by the three Hebrew men in Daniel 3.

 Christians today are facing the threat of death if they insist on remaining faithful to Christ.

The gods of our day cry out to be embraced in our minds and actions. 

The gods of:

Tolerance The word tolerant means liberal and broad-minded. In one sense, it implies the compromise of one’s convictions, a yielding of ground upon important issues.

We have become tolerant about divorce, the use of alcohol, delinquency, wickedness in high places, immorality, crime and godlessness. We have been sapped of conviction, drained of our beliefs, and we are bereft of our faith.

Pleasure at all cost

Self-worship

Victimization

Unrestrained sexual fulfillment outside of marriage

Nebuchadnezzar’s Image was a DIRECT ATTACK against God!

 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego aware of the danger, would not BOW DOWN!

Read Daniel 3 for your own read 

“Keys to Attitude—A Servant’s Heart”

“Keys to Attitude—A Servant’s Heart”

“But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Another key to having a good attitude is having a servant’s heart. Jesus told the disciples that, in the Kingdom of God, those who are “chief” are those who serve. 

He told them that He was among them as One who served. (Luke 22:25-27.) Jesus had a true servant’s heart. Christians will never graduate from being servants.

…Elisha…began his ministry by acting as a servant for Elijah for a number of years. …

As you learn to serve, the anointing of God will increase on your life to help others. 

David became king and had a great anointing, but he first experienced God while tending sheep. He was willing to give his life to protect his father’s sheep.

He watched that flock with a servant’s heart and a watchful eye. 

Because he passed the test of serving with the sheep, he was able to pass the test of Goliath when it came.

Now, what is your flock? Is it watching a group of toddlers every Sunday morning? Is it directing a choir, youth group, or children’s church? Are you involved in house”

• Do you know people who have a servant’s heart?

• What do they do that makes you know this is the kind of attitude they possess?

• Do people look at you and see someone who has a servant’s heart?

• How do you demonstrate this attitude?

• Because Jesus came as One to serve, what areas of service do you see Him perform that might have seemed “unexpected”by the disciples?

• In what ways did He serve that did not seem “appropriate” for the Son of God or even a great rabbi to do?”

“Another attitude of an armorbearer] is to serve

as if you were serving Jesus. From the Word

of God, you can see clearly that.

we are to work

as if we are working for Jesus. If you will get

your eyes off your boss and strive to please God

first, then you will please your boss. We must

learn to see Jesus as our Eternal Employer.”

Check your heart to see if your emotions about

your ministry position are toward Jesus and His

pleasure and not your leader’s compliments. 

Check

your mind to see if you think more about how Jesus

wants things done, rather than thinking about man’s

desires. Pray for an attitude that will bring God His due.”

The importance of staying accountable

We are commanded to grow in our faith and to look more Christlike as time goes on. However, this command was never meant to be something we just did by ourselves. 

The Bible constantly expects that we will be a part of a local Church community and that there will be people who know us and walk with us in our Christian life. ( Pastor, Leader and true Christian)

Hebrews 13:17”Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you

Christian and non-Christian, is accountable before a sovereign God (Rom. 3:9-19)

- Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). 

Many reject this declaration of Scripture by all manner of human rationalizations and bias, but their rejection cannot alter the reality of accountability

- Accountability is essential for any society to function and Christian accountability is no different. We are all held accountable in one way or another.

- For example, there are laws to obey and if we fail to be obedient, we may have to suffer the consequences set by the officials who hold us accountable. Accountability is simply being responsible for one's actions.

- Every individual is responsible for his or her own behavior. The Bible is very clear when it comes to personal accountability. 

Romans 14:12 says "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

- The feeble excuses of men will not suffice when we are called to account before the Almighty. The Bible is filled with stories of men and women who tried to "pass the buck."

- Adam tried to blame Eve when he ate the forbidden fruit. Trying to blame the serpent, Eve became the first to use the now infamous "the-devil-made-me-do-it" excuse. 

Biblical leaders such as Aaron and Saul ascribed blame for their sins to "the people" (Exodus 32:21-24; 1 Samuel 15:13-14).

- As creative as some of these excuses may seem, not one was acceptable. Adam and Eve were both punished for their disobedience to God. When David sinned with Bathsheba he paid the price. No excuse saved him from God’s judgment.

- Ananias and Sapphira could not shift the burden of guilt. They lied to the Holy Ghost and they were held accountable (Acts 5:1-11). The list could go on and on. Whenever men and women transgress God’s laws there is always a penalty attached.

- Individuals who cannot admit they are wrong will not repent and seek God for forgiveness. At the same time, God cannot forgive sin until it is confessed. 

This shows how important it is for humankind to bear the responsibility for their own sins.

- God’s sense of justice prevents Him from providing His mercy to the unrepentant.

God’s Word says, "All have sinned" (Romans 3:23). Every man and woman of Adam’s race stands guilty before God.

- However, if we confess our sins, He promises to be faithful in forgiving us (1 John 1:9). 

Can you take responsibility for your behavior? Can you admit that you have sinned? When you can, God is ready to offer His mercy and forgiveness.

- A lot of Christian today do not have the fear of work, but, rather "accountability". We fear and hide from it as if it were an assault upon our lifestyle, and plans. 

We do not want to hear about it nor be tied to it. Yet, it is essential in order for us to grow and produce godly character and fruit.

- What is accountability? It is a check and balance system to protect us from harm from ourselves and others. 

We do this by being open to what we are thinking and doing so we can receive encouragement and reproof, when needed.

- Christian accountability is accounting for what we are up to. It is the realization that we are liable, responsible, and answerable for our actions in life to God.

- Thus, we need to hold to our beliefs and keep in line with what we believe so it does not distract us from God's path for us or discourage others from their path.

- Accountability allows us to be answerable to one another, focusing on key relationships such as with our spouse, close friends, colleagues, co-workers, a boss, small group members, and pastor. It is sharing, in confidence, our heartfelt Christian sojourn in an atmosphere of trust.

- Then, we can give an answer for what we do and understand where we need help in areas where we are weak and struggling, where and how we are growing, what we are learning, and to be encouraged.

- These precepts help us to stay on track, and get prayer, care, and support when we fail. We can also model guideposts for one another in order to keep going.

- We are accountable to God and to one another (Ezek. 34:2-4; Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Pet. 2:10-11). Every day, God holds us accountable for our actions and deeds.

- In our lives, we may be able to hide our character flaws and sins from our families, our friends, and our church. But we cannot hide anything from God. God evaluates everything that we do. Psalms 139:1-8

- Since we are accountable to God, we need to make sure that we are always striving to please Him by obeying His commandments.

- Christians are also accountable to one another. In 1 Corinthians 12, we read that Christians are all part of the same body - the body of Christ - and each member needs or belongs to the other. 

This Scripture suggests the importance of strong accountability between Believers.

- Some things taught in Scripture make us so uncomfortable, we tend to ignore them. The notion of being personally accountable to someone else for our actions is certainly one of them.

- Accountability is not a new concept. Each of us is accountable in many ways to different organizations and people. If you have a job, you are accountable to your employer, who expects certain things of you. If you are married, you are accountable. Your spouse and your family expect certain things.

- But when it comes to our character and spiritual development, we are prone to resist accountability. "After all," we reason, "that's between me and God. It's nobody else's business."

- Yet the Bible teaches that we as brothers and sisters in Christ are to be accountable to one another. Accountability is a relationship between believers wherein one has invited the other to monitor the development of character in one or more areas.

- "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him" (Luke 17:3). "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself" (Gal. 6:1-3).

- If your accountability friend has done something contrary to the Bible, you are called to confront him gently, forgive him, and comfort him. It also admonishes you to consider yourself because no one is above temptation.

Accountability is essential for every Christian to help reach his or her full potential; it is a mandate to those in leadership and ministry. Having other people around whom you can trust and get to know more deeply will enable you to know yourself: your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities-more deeply.

Thus, we can say that accountability is not for just for those who are weak, needy, or for wimps; it is for the strong who want to be stronger and the unconnected who need to be connected. (James 4:7-12; 1 Pet. 5: 1-11)

- Men who desire to be faithful will be accountable to other faithful men, and real godly women will be connected to other godly women. There is no way around this vital call.

Hope this give a better view or understanding of the importance of accountability .

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Prov10:9