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'Winging It

    by Stan Smith

What Are We to Think?
Date Posted: June 17, 2020

Well, it has happened again. Another "Christian singer" has defected, has "deconverted," has declared his allegiance to "no God." He's done it in typical "deconversion" style by not only saying, "I don't believe anymore," but adding, "And neither should you." Or, to put it more clearly, "I no longer have any hope, and neither should you."

How should we view this? Jonathan Steingard, frontman for the "Christian rock band" Hawk Nelson, was a pastor's kid playing in a "Christian band" and "having the word 'Christian' in front of most of the things in my life." And now ... he isn't. He's not the first and he's not exceptional and he's not alone. He's just the headline These "deconversions" are fairly common especially among the young church kids headed to college and coming out unbelievers. Why? What's going on? What are we to think? Are we doing something wrong? Is there something we need to do better?

Well, first, what do we know? There is a significant portion of Christendom that believes that "deconversion" is a real thing, that you can be a genuine, saved-by-faith Christian and then ... not. You can lose it all. This group takes seriously the warnings of the Bible that urge us to test ourselves, to examine ourselves, to see if we're in the faith, to persevere to the end. Oh, most believe you can get it back again (despite the clear contradiction of Hebrews 6:4-6), but lose it you can. Another significant portion thinks that "deconversion" is a mistaken construct and can't, actually, happen. They take seriously the statements in Scripture that "No one can take them out of My hand" (John 10:25-29), that God always wins (e.g., Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 1:6; Jude 1:24). Considering these two (both based on Scripture), we can conclude that God is reliable and salvation cannot be lost or that God is not reliable and salvation can be lost. Or, of course, we can conclude that Scripture is not reliable.

Assuming Scripture is reliable and God is reliable, what then? How do we account for these so-called Christians being so-called deconverted? John wrote, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us." (1 John 2:19) If we take this at face value, "deconverts" are "not of us" and never were and their departure is simply a revelation that "Christian" was a mistaken identity. But, of course, lots of people don't like that conclusion because, well, these people actually thought they were believers and actually are not and if they were mistaken, which of us are equally self-deluded?

The other question is "What are we doing wrong?" If you hear what many (most? all?) of these "deconverts" say, it is apparent that they never really grasped the truth. God never lived up to their expectations. Their objections and confusions are not without clear, coherent, cohesive answers. So are we just not doing our job? Are we not providing answers or even being aware of the problem? To that question I'd suggest the answer is "Yes" and "No." Yes, we really aren't paying attention and we really aren't providing answers. Modern Christians in America are largely not being renewed in their minds (Romans 12:2) and don't think too clearly or too deeply about this -- they aren't loving God with all their minds. And, no, that's not the problem. God is not limited to our ability to correctly and sufficiently and completely express the truth. God is not mopping His brow and wringing His hands up there. "Oh, no, not another one. Why didn't you guys see this and help him and fix him? Now I've lost another one." We don't get the credit for conversions because of our precision and explanation of the Gospel. And God isn't tied down to our faithfulness or abilities.

How, then, are we to think about all this? Here's what I would recommend. First, let's try starting with Scripture. Not the news. Not our perceptions of our experiences. So when we are commanded to "love the Lord your God with all your ... mind ..." (Mark 12:30) we should seek to do that. When we are told to "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Romans 12:2), we should seek to do that. When we are commanded to "make disciples" and teach them "to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20), we should seek to do that. When Scripture warns not to put young converts in positions of spiritual leadership (1 Timothy 3:6), we should seek to do that. And when we fail -- any or all of that -- we should confess and repent (1 John 1:9). Secondly, as we think through this, we need to come to a more robust understanding of "Christian." Most of us do this by discarding the warnings for believers and hanging onto the promises of God or discarding God's promises and heeding the warnings. And most of us don't even take all that (either the promises or the warnings) too seriously. Brothers and sisters, these things ought not be. We should be able to put together the warnings and the promises to arrive at a coherent and cohesive understanding rather than a conflicting one. But for too many of us, that's too much work. (Go back to Mark 12:30 and Romans 12:2 and start over.) By all means, however, do not discard the warnings. Each of us should "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." (2 Corinthians 13:5) We should all pray, we should seek the Lord, we should obey, we should minister to each other, and, at the core, we should trust God. Because if we don't have a reliable God, we have nothing. And then we're right where the "deconverts" are, and that's not a good place.

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"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

The Word of God

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Biography Information:
Born and raised in a Christian home, I've been treated to immersion in the Word and squandered it. 'But God ...' I love the phrase. God has been faithful when I was unfaithful. At every turn He has crowded me to Him.

I'm married with four grown children and (currently) four grandchildren. My wife and I live in sunny Phoenix by choice. I hope to encourage people with my words and to share with others what God has shared with me.

For more writings you can see my blog at birdsoftheair.blogspot.com.
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