People who are sick of Christianity

[Anon]

More and more I'm having friends who say "You know what...I've lived for God all these years and where has it gotten me? A broken, frustrating life."

And I even look at the situations and think....wow...I don't know what to tell them...I don't know what they could have done differently. I mean in some cases I do...but in some cases its like...how did this person try to live for God all these years and still end up miserable? (Due to mostly suffering with the prOBlems others cause).

Is sin just that rampant in the world today that its affecting even God's children? Why doesn't He protect His children and work more mightily in their lives? Satan is drawing people away from God at an astounding rate, and once in awhile its tempting to say "Wow...are they right? Is God really as 'hands off' as everyone feels? Because in that case it sure looks like He is..."

I have a friend who has noticed that her neoevangelical friends are happy and praising God all the time (no standards or separation) while her devoted-to-God mother is suffering from multiple illnesses and living with multiple stresses in her life, and is at the point of hoping God takes her home. I have another friend who lived for God for years and then her husband molested her daughter and then they got divorced and the friend is now like "It didn't get me anywhere to serve God."

And in our IFB churches it seems like its nothing more than a social club, and people trying to climb the social ladder and get power or build their ego...be recognized, or feel special that they go to church....church is no longer the meeting place to band together and reach the world with the Gospel.

Is the collective church pushing away God from our country and our lives? I no longer know what to say to my friends.

[1Timothy115]

Why didn't Christ say...take up his abudance daily, and follow the world?

No, Christ said...
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Your friends aren't looking in the right direction. Don't look where they look or dwell on what they dwell on.

[Psalms18_28]

I sick of debating with people. I mean, every time you even mention about Christ, it becomes a debate. It kinda get weary as it is hard to tell people about the good news without starting a debate. People don't know what sins are anymore so they have no shame. And the only sins they do recognize is greed. hmmmm, maybe I will focus on sins they do recognizes instead of debating about something they don't see as sin.

[Psalms18_28]

btw, I see this very common with Christian. People think we have bad "Karma" or something. But to me, it proves that God is Real if everything is doing good and dandy with other people.

one time, there was a guy who went around asking God to be his Savior. We weren't sure if it was sincere or not. Still not sure. Anyway after he did that, he had one thing after another bad happening to him.he became angry because he was expecting good things. So he decided to reject baptist teaching of Christ and joined a mormon Church. Everything became good again for him. Weird.
But I don't know if he is saved, just angry at the moment, because it does seem like God's children suffer the most and he was suffering.

No matter what, we don't need to drop our guard to prevent bad things from happening. If it does happen, I trust God that something good will come out of it.

[JerryNumbers]

PrOBably what such people want is a 'feel good gospel,' along with a 'prosperity gospel.' They surely do not want to 'deny self, bare their crosses,' in order to follow Christ. For one cannot follow Christ unless they deny self and bare their cross.

Kind of like the spoiled rich kid, give me what's mine, I want to go out and blow it, and not worry about storing up spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

There be many fair weather Christians, as long as things are going their way, they are happy, but let it turn the other way, that be when they will show their true selves.

[holster]

Friends
Remember, you do not become a Christian for things to get "better" or "easier" or "glorious." You became a Christian because you wanted to be saved from the penalty of sin. That is to say, you did not want to go to Hell. You saw your need and you accepted the finished work of Christ.

So my advice is... No matter how many reject, no matter how many don't walk like they should, no matter how many want to argue, no matter how dim and dark it gets.... remember this...

We have a home in heaven!

And Praise God for That!
.
.

[HappyChristian]

Bad things happen to good people! Too often we tend to look at our circumstances and decide that God isn't blessing because it's not what we think it should be.

And we so often don't seem to realize that each of us has a choice to follow God or not. I feel for your friend, Kita, whose husband molested their child - but that isn't God! It is, rather, the fact that her husband chose personally to turn his back on God. Many would argue that God didn't protect the child from her father...but, actually, He did reveal it so that it could be stopped.

As Dave said, folks who claim that serving God has gotten them nowhere aren't looking in the right direction. Our eyes are to be on Christ, not our circumstances. Easy to say, many times hard to do.

There does seem to be a large number of Christians who are foundering.
I do believe that there are way too many preachers who are not teaching their people HOW to have a close relationship with Christ. Rather, they are teaching their people to rely on them and/or the church staff. Telling someone just to stay right with God, and not showing them how isn't enough!

Jerry8 and holster, you were posting as I was: right on!

[Anon]

The only other thing I can think of is that my friends have left off from having a personal relationship with God for so long, that He seems like a Stranger to them.....

I wanted to say again that its not that I'm backsliding too haha its just that I don't know what to say to my friends...and yeah sometimes the devil does use it to plant doubt but not serious doubt.

[HappyChristian]

The only other thing I can think of is that my friends have left off from having a personal relationship with God for so long, that He seems like a Stranger to them.....

I wanted to say again that its not that I'm backsliding too haha its just that I don't know what to say to my friends...and yeah sometimes the devil does use it to plant doubt but not serious doubt.

I think your first paragraph is the answer! And in the case of the mother whose child was molested, she has allowed bitterness to take root (I'm not casting stones...very likely where she has trod I would go if in the same situation) and that just compounds the prOBlem. Her hubby OBviously was not the man of God he should be and thus did not lead the family spiritually so she has little foundation.

[Seth Doty]

More and more I'm having friends who say "You know what...I've lived for God all these years and where has it gotten me? A broken, frustrating life."

And I even look at the situations and think....wow...I don't know what to tell them...I don't know what they could have done differently. I mean in some cases I do...but in some cases its like...how did this person try to live for God all these years and still end up miserable? (Due to mostly suffering with the prOBlems others cause).

"Malachi 3:14-18 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

"John 6:66-68 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."

"2 Corinthians 11:24-28 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of rOBbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."

Paul could have the same thing. His life was one prOBlem after another. He could have said he was trying to serve God, and few people have tried harder, but all God gave him was "A broken, frustrating life." His "broken, frustrating life" life glorified God though and he retained his joy because the Lord was his focus.

There are three basic reasons Christians go through trials.

Number one: so that through their suffering God can be glorified.

Number two which is often tied in with number one: So that God can conform them to the image of Christ and teach them to rely on him in a way they would never have otherwise done.

Number three: As chastening so that they "might not be condemned with the world".

Is sin just that rampant in the world today that its affecting even God's children? Why doesn't He protect His children and work more mightily in their lives? Satan is drawing people away from God at an astounding rate, and once in awhile its tempting to say "Wow...are they right? Is God really as 'hands off' as everyone feels? Because in that case it sure looks like He is..."

I have a friend who has noticed that her neoevangelical friends are happy and praising God all the time (no standards or separation) while her devoted-to-God mother is suffering from multiple illnesses and living with multiple stresses in her life, and is at the point of hoping God takes her home. I have another friend who lived for God for years and then her husband molested her daughter and then they got divorced and the friend is now like "It didn't get me anywhere to serve God."

The question would be is God more glorified when believers following him have no prOBlems at all or when they have lots of prOBlems and their lives show that they are trusting him and have received the grace to deal with the prOBlems?

The bible is full of examples of people who had many prOBlems sometimes through no fault of their own yet trusted God and he was glorified. Joseph who was sold as a slave into Egypt. The widow and her son who were about to starve when Elijah came by and told them to give him the little food they had left. the Israelite slave girl who belonged to Naamans wife yet had sufficient testimony that Naaman believed her when she said that Elisha could heal him. Esther who was picked to be the latest wife of a heathen king(not exactly what a Godly young Jewish lady would be hoping for). Daniel who was a Godly young man who was taken captive and made a eunuch in the service of another heathen king... The list goes on and on...

And in our IFB churches it seems like its nothing more than a social club, and people trying to climb the social ladder and get power or build their ego...be recognized, or feel special that they go to church....church is no longer the meeting place to band together and reach the world with the Gospel.

Paul said that they are not all Israel that are of Israel and likewise not every professing Christian, IFB or not, is of Christ. Some are walking in the flesh, carnal and stiff necked, while others have never been born of the Spirit at all...

[1Timothy115]

Another thought...time grows short until the return of our Lord. Satan, is making everything look sooo good and pleasant on the losing side. Our Lord is coming as King and Judge and Satan doesn't want any more saved. To prevent "the foolishness of preaching" he wants to ruin as many witness testimonies as he possibly can. Now is not the time to be a weak in the knee Christian.

Make Ephesians Chapters 4, 5, 6 the way we conduct ourselves and "stand!" We may have to talk to friends until we are blue in the face; don't give up but rather "stand!" Also, "...and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore..."

[John81]

Many good posts and an excellent post by Seth.

[His by Grace]

Between Seth-Doty, Jerry8##### and I Tim.115... I had a very blessed devotional!! I needed to hear the statement you made (as well as God's Word!) it opened my eye's in a way I haven't seen Him working in our live's before. It's when you brought us to II Corinthians 11: 24-28 and stated, "The question would be is God more glorified when believers following Him have no prOBlems at all or when they have lots of prOBlems and their lives show that their lives that they are trusting Him and recieved the grace to deal with the prOBlems?" SOOOO true !!! Jerry led me to Eph 1:3 where of course I couldn't stop reading til the end of the book. Then I Tim 115 then stating we should "conduct ourselves" live like Eph.4,5 and 6. All of this has been such a blessing to me today I'm unable to express! Thank you for allowing the LORD to use you!! He is so good to us even when we are in a place so broken that all we know is to hang on to Him by His Word!! Only thing I know! His by Grace

[speerjp1]

Another thing to consider while noticing the apparent lack of conflict in the lives of those who are in less Biblically sound congregations is the fact that there IS a lack of conflict. Soldiers on the battlefield are far more likely to be wounded and killed than those soldiers who are not fighting at all.

Defend the faith, stand for Christ, seek God's kingdom and righteousness and you, by virtue of being in the fight, will have conflict.

[John81]

Exactly. If we are living for Christ the enemy will target us. The enemy doesn't have to bother with those who are not a threat. In fact, it's to the enemies advantage to make those who are not a threat appear to be living the good life.

As God told Satan, consider JOB. JOB was a greatly blessed man that Satan wanted to hit badly. When Satan got the opportunity he hit JOB hard, REAL hard. What was righteous JOBs response? He didn't turn on God. JOB rightly stated that God gives and God takes away...blessed be the name of the Lord! As JOB also said, should we take the good from God and not also take the bad?

None of us want to deal with trials, especially serious and tragic trials; even moreso if we can't see how any good can be coming from it (which JOB couldn't when he spoke those words above). However, Scripture is clear that all who are in Christ will suffer persecution. That persecution can come from Satan sending disease, causing a wreck, placing someone in our lives to sow evil, etc. The persecution doesn't have to come as us saying we are a Christian and someone speaking ill of us; as it seems a great many professing Christians in American thinks.

We are to follow God out of love; not out of a desire to reap benefits.

We also have to consider whether all these are truly born again (those who seem to be falling away). Scripture tells us that some fall away because they were never a part of us anyway. These often appear to be among the most Christian sort but it's all surface, not heart. Many don't even realize they are false Christians and Scripture attests that in the end there will be many standing before Christ proclaiming their service to Him and yet Christ will proclaim He never knew them and cast them away.

Straight and narrow is the way and FEW there be that find it. God tells us plainly that the majority of people will be cast into hell rather than welcomed into heaven.