Jump Start # 3115

John 6:66 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him any more.”

She was a young Christian. Her spiritual journey started off like that of many of us. She was full of questions, excitement and couldn’t get enough. She was at every service, every class. She had a notebook that she filled with notes.

But something happened. I ran into her the other day. She told me that she no longer believed. I couldn’t believe that she didn’t believe. I asked her what she no longer believed? She said, “The stuff at church, the Bible.” She even confessed that she wasn’t sure about God anymore. I asked her about her notebooks. She said that she had thrown them away. I asked her when was the last time she attended worship services. She said it had been months and months. She no longer went. She no longer believed.

Our verse today tells the sad story of the disillusioned disciples who gave up on Jesus. The Lord was no longer giving them free meals. He wasn’t “meals on wheels.” He had something much more important and that was spiritual truth. They were interested in their bellies and Jesus was interested in their souls. Since Jesus wasn’t going to give them what they wanted, they left. “His disciples withdrew,” is what the passage states. That’s actually an inaccurate statement. Those that withdrew were no longer disciples. A disciple sticks with his master. A disciple is mentored by his teacher. To give up on the teacher is to lay down your discipleship. They were no longer disciples. And, when they left Jesus, what were they returning to? Their lifeless, hopeless and helpless lives that they had been living. Without Jesus, their sins were going to kill them spiritually. Without Jesus, Heaven wasn’t possible. Without Jesus, there was no bridge to the Father. They walked and they left the best friend they ever had.

How is it that someone who once believed to later claim, “I no longer believe?”

Is there new evidence that changed their mind? Has evolution been proven factual? Have they found reason to no longer accept the inspiration of the Scriptures? Have they proven that the Bible is the product of man? I no longer believe? Why?

Here is what I have found to be generally true:

First, “I no longer believe,” is not based upon facts, evidence or proofs. “I no longer believe” is a choice that closes one’s eyes to what they know is true. For some, the Bible restricts them from the freedom of selfish sin. One can’t be sexually immoral and stay in fellowship with God and have the Bible as the compass of his life. One cannot be a drunkard and walk with the Lord. It’s so much easier to say, “I no longer believe,” than it is to say “No” to the world and “No” to the people who are pulling us away from the Lord. “I no longer believe,” removes the shame and the guilt of a lifestyle that is not godly or holy. “I no longer believe,” allows one to dance with Satan without any regrets or remorse.

Second, for some, it’s the crushing storms of life that leads to the absence of faith. A child dies. A mate is crippled. A family member is the victim of violent crime. And, through that long, dark journey, one wonders, “Where is God when I need Him?” “Why did the Lord allow this?” The questions. The fears. The emptiness. All of that takes a toll on a faith that was not as strong as one thought. Not understanding trials and temptations, having misguided expectations, being weary of the pain that never seems to end, one comes to a corner in their life and declares, “I no longer believe.” They would like to believe, but the pain has been too great. They once believed, but the reality of where they are has changed all of that. They question the goodness of God. They wonder if everyone has been brainwashed. And, in sorrow and pain, they confess that they no longer believe.

What can be done? How do we keep faith alive? How do we keep one from sinking so low that they give up and throw in the towel?

First, the love of the world, and the call of the far country is all it takes for some. You’ll notice in our passage that Jesus didn’t chase after those who walked away. He didn’t water down His message. He didn’t change His mind and decide to feed them after all. He didn’t buy their allegiance. They walked and He let them go. That’s hard for us to grasp. That’s hard for us when the one who is walking away is a family member.

Often there are tell-tell signs that indicate someone is heading to the far country. Look at their circle of friends. How many are followers of Jesus? That says something. Listen to what they are saying. Pay attention to the music and movies they are interested in. The jump back into the world isn’t like a belly flop in a swimming pool. Usually it’s slow and gradual. What’s their spiritual life like outside the church building? When you start seeing these things, that’s the time to move into action and move quickly. It’s time for a talk. It’s time for the shepherds to know. It’s time to readjust priorities. Don’t sit back and then later declare, “I saw it coming.” Ezekiel tells us of the watchman on the wall who saw the enemy approaching but failed to blow the trumpet. The blood of the city is upon his hands because he did nothing. Now, had he blown the trumpet and no one paid attention, that’s their fault.

Second, when someone is going through storms, help them stay put upon the rock of Jesus. Those winds can blow us right off of what we once believed. Help them by talking and praying with them. Help them by reminding them that they are not the only one who has experienced trials and troubles. Encourage. Help. Reach out. When we are vulnerable, we are really vulnerable. Satan knows that. Alone, our troubles seem much worse than what they really are. Alone, we feel out numbered and overwhelmed. This is why a fellowship of support and love is essential. Reach out. Be there.

“I know longer believe.” Sometimes that comes from a heart that doesn’t want to believe. They don’t want everything that comes with being a disciple. They don’t want to be responsible. They don’t want to support others. They don’t want to be pure.

And, when a disciple quits, the world gets a bit darker. God loses yet another worker. Our fellowship gets smaller. And, Satan smiles. He smiles only for the moment, because the Lord has plans for him.

When a disciple quits…

Roger

Jump Start # 2643

John 6:66 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him any more.”

The Bara Institute is an organization that follows and monitors religious trends in this country. Bara polls are very common. They take a cross section of what religious people believe. Their polls cover just about every dog in town religiously. Since this global pandemic, a majority of churches have had to offer worship, classes and special studies by video, livestream and Zoom. The Bara Institute wanted to find out how many were keeping up with these things. How many church members are using the online technology that their congregations were producing? This is what Bara wanted to find out. Shockingly, 30% of those who claimed to belong to a church, have not stayed up with what their congregations were putting online. They were not watching the Sunday worship. They were not participating or watching class studies. They were not listening to sermons. Nearly one-third had dropped out, dropped off and stopped. For the past four months they have not worshipped, connected, grown or been encouraged and strengthened by what their churches have provided. They have not tuned in. They have not participated. They fell off the map.

This is sad, shocking and surprising. A third of the church unplugged, tuned-out, and not engaged spiritually. One wonders if these unengaged third will ever come back. Are they gone for good? Have they given up completely on the Lord? Have they quit? And, then one must think about their own congregation. How many of our members are watching the videos, learning from online Bible classes, worshipping, and listening to sermons? How many have become unplugged, unengaged, and dropped out? Could it be as many as a third? Could it be higher?

Our verse reminds us that some left the Lord. The Lord had been feeding the multitudes. Now it was time to get back to teaching them. The food stopped and so did the dedication and commitment. They were only interested as long as their bellies could be filled. No food, no commitment. No food, no following. How shallow the faith of those food chasers must have been.

There are lessons for us:

First, it is easy to follow Jesus when He is blessing us with things we like. Physical blessings are wonderful. It’s easy to draw a crowd when something free is offered. But where is our hearts when the free things end? Is one interested in Jesus only because of the blessings? Friendships. Nice lifestyle. Comfort. Ease. Those things drop off, what about our dedication to the Lord? This is what Satan thought about Job. God had a hedge around him. Remove the hedge, stop the blessings and protection and Job would curse the Lord. Tough times are the times we really need faith. Job shows us that we trust the Lord because He is the Lord. The Lord doesn’t “buy” our commitment through blessings.

Second, when the crowd walked away from Jesus, they may have had a distorted and false view of Jesus. They walked home disgusted, discouraged and complaining. Where was the free food? Why stop the blessings now? And, when God doesn’t answer prayers as we think He should, it is easy to get a distorted concept of Jesus. God doesn’t come running to us because we are the master. How spoiled, selfish and vain is that thinking.

Third, when the crowd walked away from Jesus they would not find anywhere else what the Lord had done for them. They were not going to find anyone else who would multiple food. They would not find anyone else who would bless that size of a crowd. And, they would not find anyone else who could forgive their sins. They would not find anyone else who could change their eternity. They would not find anywhere else those life changing principles. They walked away, but what did they find? Emptiness. Loneliness. Misery. Bitterness. Lost. That’s the way they were before they came to Jesus. And, leaving Jesus, they would go right back to the way that they were. And, when we unplug from the Lord, His people and the spiritual opportunities put before us, we won’t find those things watching TV, sleeping in, or playing games on our phone. Worry and fear will once again return to our hearts. Uncertainty, misery and selfishness once more dominates our thinking and lives. We become once again, what we once were before we found Jesus, hopelessly lost.

Finally, each person must take ownership of their own faith. One cannot allow others to determine how they will believe or what they shall do. Some walked away from Jesus. The apostles did not. Some today have not taken advantage of the blessings churches are providing. It’s to their loss. This time of separation does not mean one has to get weaker in the Lord. There have been so many opportunities to learn, listen, grow that through these times one may actually be stronger than they were. Bible classes can be revisited over and over by watching videos more than once. Sermons from all across the country could be watched. While Satan has used this period of separation as a tool to weaken us, for some, it’s been the opposite. They have used this time to get stronger, better and closer to the Lord. What Satan hoped would be the end for some, has had just the opposite impact. Some are stronger than ever.

Shepherds across this land ought to look into the condition of their flocks. If a third has unplugged for more than a quarter of the year, the spiritual starvation will impact the church. It may be time to try other concepts to reach and connect with people. It is time to find out how effective the tools that the church has provided has been. Just how many are engaging in these things? How many have stayed with things? Personal contact, asking the right questions, digging a bit deeper will reveal who has stayed with things and who has dropped out. Imagine how devastating it would be if a third of the congregation fell away. Satan may well be using this pandemic to see just who will stay with the Lord and who will walk away. In tough times, the weak often get weaker and the strong often become stronger.

We shouldn’t just wait until things return to normal to see who remains and who fell away. By then it may be too late to do anything. The pandemic has been a quarter of the year now, and for some, it may be too late already. Prayers and actions are what is needed.

Roger

Jump Start # 646

John 6:66 “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”

This is a sad passage. It’s found in a lengthy section in which Jesus defines Himself as the living bread and tells the multitudes that they must consume Him. Strange thoughts certainly for the audience. They didn’t understand. Jesus had fed this crowd earlier and now He turns the attention to commitment to Him. That was more than many wanted. A free meal is nice. Healing the sick is awesome. But commitment, devotion, total loyalty was more than they were willing to give. They left Jesus. Not just a few, but many.

That happened then and it happens now. Some leave because they don’t think the church is friendly enough. Not enough people invited me to their home for a dinner. Not enough people paid attention to me. Feelings hurt, so some leave. Somehow in their thinking they forgot it’s supposed to be about Jesus—not them.

Others leave when the they have gotten all that they needed. Maybe there was a crisis, a bump in the marriage, a problem with the kids. They find a church, learn about Jesus, get some help, things turn for the better and then they leave. Found what they needed for the moment and then they are back to their old ways.

Where does a person go when they walk away from Jesus? There are not alternatives that will still get you to Heaven. There are no other options. The multitudes were offended by what Jesus said. They still are today. Some think that Jesus, or the Bible, shouldn’t say anything about marriage, and especially not divorce. That’s personal and it’s especially private and no one’s business but mine. Wrong. It’s God’s business. Some think that Jesus shouldn’t be pushy or demanding, yet He is the Lord and the N.T. is a law. Some think that we ought to just be nice, accept everyone, don’t judge and just love everyone as they are. There’s more to it than that. The Jesus that some want is not the Jesus of the N.T. So when things don’t work out off they go looking for another Jesus.

They may find a version of what they want. It won’t be the real Jesus, but it will relieve their guilt, allow them to be religious and mostly, allow them to do what they want. This is the Jesus they want. Some churches promote that brand of Jesus. Many authors write about that kind of Jesus. It’s not the real Jesus. They’re missing out. They’re not getting the whole picture.

Our passage doesn’t show Jesus chasing after these people who left and begging them to come back. It doesn’t show Jesus offering to soften the message, remove the demands  and allow them to go to Heaven without having to do much. We don’t find Jesus feeling guilty or wrong about this. The people left because they did not believe. This was a faith issue. Today, when some leave, fingers are pointed at the church. Too cold. Didn’t do enough for the young people. Not enough this. Too little of that. No one called. Some one said something weird. Someone sat in my seat. STOP! That’s not the cause. It’s faith. All of these things mean nothing and have nothing to do with one’s relationship with Jesus. Are you to tell me that someone is willing to lose Heaven, throw in the towel, quit walking with Jesus and go back to the world simply because someone was sitting in their seat in a church building? Do you really believe that? It’s about Jesus. Someone that really believes in Jesus will not be stopped by what others say or do. Someone that really believes in Jesus will be willing to lose their life for Jesus. All these excuses are from people who do not believe in Jesus. It’s shameful to see Christians trying to coddle and beg people to come to church services who once made a commitment to Jesus. I shouldn’t have to have anyone beg me to worship my Savior. Where is my faith?

These multitudes left Jesus because they were never really with Him. They followed but they were not connected. They watched but they did not accept. They heard but they didn’t believe. And when they found an opportunity they left. They never really wanted to go with Him. Without faith, a person won’t last long. Without faith, the lamest excuse is all that is needed to exit. It happened then and it happens today.

What’s the solution? Build faith. Teach Christ. More Bible. It’s not more fun that is needed. It’s not more outings, more get togethers, more food, more social times, it’s more faith. Faith, we are told, comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God. Hotdogs, canoeing, and softball create fun, they don’t build faith. Faith comes from the Bible. The glue that connects us to Jesus is not the relationships in the church, it’s not the incredible feeling I have with them, it’s not the attention they give me, it’s my faith in Jesus Christ. Too many places have lost this. They have people glued together through fun stuff, but not connected to Jesus. We need Jesus. It’s not the church that will save us, it’s Jesus. Our hope is not in the church, it’s Jesus. The church is a work in progress. The church has problems because the church is people and all of us have issues, baggage, sins and things we are working on. It’s Jesus who is perfect.

We often get bummed out about the church and take it out on Jesus by leaving Him. Bad choice. We only hurt ourselves when we do this. Without Jesus, where do we go? We are on our own and that’s a sad and long journey.

Build faith and stay with Jesus.

Roger