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1.) False Salvation
According to the parable of the sower, only about ¼ (one quarter) of the people that hear the word, and understand it (good soil seeds), become true believers that produce good fruit and endure to the end, while the rest fall away for various reasons. Therefore, we must neither be afraid nor alarmed when we see a vast number turning their backs against the faith, because most of these folks were never saved to begin with, they are in fact, shedding that sheep skin to reveal that goat nature they were all along. Indeed, they might have been among sheep all these years, even behaved like sheep, but deep down, the saving nature of our Lord was still missing. As evidenced by the fact that it wasn’t so hard for them to turn their back against the Saviour they professed to have dearly loved. “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”, says the Apostle.
2.) Deceitfulness of sin
Ranked among the top of the faith killers, is that old enemy of our souls called sin. The sin that comes to my mind when I think of the sins that usually knock God’s people off their spiritual high-horse is sexual sin. How many so-called men and women of God have been dragged into the mud by hidden affairs? Should I also mention the huge number of professing young people who are on pornography right now? Sexual sin is a deadly killer! Question, how is your life sexually? Are you one of those Christians who sneak around behind closed doors to feed that secret pet? Hear my good advice, you will not make it in the long run, unless you become serious and deal with that sin – now! Repent of it, and gain victory, while you still can. Beware, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God - Hebrews 3:12
3.) Life’s Hardships
I have been a human for only a few years, yet I have learned the hard way that life is hard. “Man is born to trouble as soon as sparks fly upward,” says Job. Yet, because many professing believers were raised under the success-driven gospel (a belief that coming to Jesus will guarantee success and happiness), it’s impossible for them to persevere in the faith when trouble strikes at home. Many have and still continue to leave the faith because of financial problems (loss of a job), persistent illness and even the death of a loved one. I have nothing to say to those good-weather “believers” except to say that if you truly have Christ in your heart, you will never abandon Him at the lightest sight of trouble, but you will serve Him, come hell or high water. The reason is: we don’t come to Jesus to succeed in life (go to school, open a business or find a job if you want success), we come to Christ for salvation. That is the only reason we will continue to love and to serve Him no matter what hardship we face on earth. After all, we are not looking for this city, but we are looking for that heavenly city that is to come (Heb 13:14).
4.) The fall of a leader
It’s only in Africa that spiritual leaders are highly esteemed, almost to the same level as God Himself. For that reason, many people cannot handle it when their trusted leader falls from the faith or is discovered with some hidden sin or scandal. Leaders are visible people, hence, they affect a lot of people. Therefore, the more influential and well-known a spiritual leader is, the more people will he take down the day he falls from grace. It’s just the way it is. Again and again, I remind my fellow foot soldiers in the faith, let us not base our faith on fellow humans, no matter how “holy” they look. To borrow the words of Paul Washer, “There are no great men of God, but there is only a pitiful, faithless men that are saved by a great and merciful God.” We are all encouraged to run this race looking unto Jesus, not to spiritual leaders. It’s Him who is the author and perfector of our faith.
5.) Marriage/ Relationship problems
Can you have any motivation to love Christ, to serve Him, and even to pray to Him when you have an unresolved issue with your spouse? Believers often undermine this, but broken homes are one of the leading things that can sink your faith. Worse if one partner is an unbeliever. What shall we do then? The solution is simple, Christ must always be the center of our homes and marriages. That is, through family Bible study and prayer together. “A family that prays together, stays together.” Sadly, very few to zero Christian families care to do this; it’s not so important to them. Even those who wish to do it, don’t even know where to start because they have never seen any example of it. Then when the devil visits your Christian home, your only option would be to blame God, you turn your back against Him and never return.
Conclusion
There are many things that wait to derail your faith, dear believer. In fact, I could have gone on and listed false doctrine, pride and general laziness to discipline yourself for godliness as part of the things that destroy the faith of many. Let us, therefore, all zealously guard our hearts from abandoning Christ the beloved Saviour. Whatever you do, please do not allow your faith to waltz into some comfort zone, but always press on towards growth in the knowledge of the Lord (Phil 3:8-12). Also, please do not neglect the gathering of yourself with other believers in the context of the local church. It does help a lot in keeping our hearts from being hardened by the deceitfulness of the world. Peace.
Sinothi Ncube
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