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WEEKLY
ARTICLE
Questions
and Answers: What is Backsliding?
Weekly Article by the Rev. Matt Kennedy
February 2nd, 2006
The Church of the Good Shepherd
I’ve
received an unusually large number of questions recently regarding
the phenomenon known as “backsliding”. I’ve
summarized these into the two questions below:
1. What is backsliding?
2. How to help the backslidden?
1. What is backsliding? “Backsliding”
is a rather new term that refers to a believer, someone who
has committed his or her life to Jesus Christ, who subsequently
falls into a lifestyle of willful, rebellious, sin.
I once heard a story (not sure how true) about a man who left
his wife, family, and home and, on top of it all, presumed
to come to church the following Sunday with the other man’s
wife on his arm. Apparently he even sat with her in the pew
where his family used to sit together. When his own wife and
kids arrived and saw him, they left in tears.
The pastor and the elders of the church confronted him and
told him to repent or leave.
The man hurled curses at the pastor and elders. They were
“judging him“ They should “take the planks
out of their own eyes“. They were “hypocrites”.
Then he left the building.
That is an extreme example of a backsliding but backsliding
is not necessarily so public or so bold. Any believer who
consistently, willfully, and unrepentantly chooses to reject
Christ and his commands is in the process of becoming a backslidden
Christian.
Before going on, we should make the crucial distinction between
a backslidden believer and a non-believing church member who
lives sinfully. Only believers can fall into the category
of a “backslider“.
A backslider is not just someone who goes to church and then
falls into sin. A backslider is someone who has committed
himself or herself to Christ personally, and then rejects
or falls away from that commitment. Someone who, though maybe
a life-long church member, never actually enters into a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ cannot be a backslider. There
is nothing to backslide from.
2. How to help the backslidden?
The good news is that if the person in question has truly
given himself or herself to Jesus Christ, then God has promised
to save and preserve them. God will not let them go.
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should
lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at
the last day…” (John 6:39)
When you commit to Christ, he also commits to you. You may
break your promises. God never does. That means that if you
fall away, you can bet that the Good Shepherd will find you
and bring you home.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow
me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never parish
and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John
10:28)
God
inevitably brings backsliders to repentence.
How?
When you backslide, generally speaking, God makes your life
miserable. The misery comes from two sources.
First, it comes from within. Once you become
a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, your heart is
changed. You become a new creation, with new desires, new
loves, and a new hope (Romans 6-8). Backsliding is a return
to the old you. You may think you want to go back, but once
you get there you realize you hate it. You’ve changed.
You’re no longer happy living like you used to live.
No matter what you do, no matter where you go or what you
try, soon you find that your life is miserable.
This experience is precisely the one Jesus described in his
parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). Like the prodigal,
the backslider has taken his inheritance and rejected his
Father’s house. But sooner or later he finds himself
eating pig food in the muck (Luke 15:16). He wakes up and
remembers the peace, security, and joy of his Father’s
house (Luke 15:17-18). From that point, it’s only a
matter of time before he begins to make his way back to his
Father’s waiting open arms (Luke 15:20).
Second, the misery comes from outside. God
disciplines believers like a good father disciplines his children
(Hebrews 12:5-11). Not only does the backslider’s heart
begin to ache for home, his external situation, generally
speaking, begins to fall apart. God makes sure that the consequences
of his or her sin are felt. Poverty, illness, job loss; the
bible identifies all of these as ways that God sometimes chooses
to discipline believers.
This may seem harsh, but it is in fact the epitome of mercy.
What would happen if God did not intervene and the backslidden
believer simply met with increased success, prosperity, and
pleasure? There would be little cause to repent. The backslider
would do more damage to his soul; more damage to those around
him; more damage to his relationship with the Lord.
In fact, the Psalms often describe the material prosperity
of the wicked as the manifestation of God’s wrath (see
especially Psalm 73). God releases them to follow their own
desires all the way to eternal judgment.
No, though discipline is painful the pain is temporary and
the result is eternal. It is a good thing that God disciplines
(Hebrews 12:11)
In the end, as we’ve said, Christ always brings his
wayward sheep back home.
So, what can we do to help?
1. Pray. Remember God has determined to use
the prayers of his people as vehicles for his divine activity
on earth. He could, of course, act without our prayers, but
instead he has decided to act directly through them. Pray
for your fallen brother or sister, that God will bring them
home soon.
2. Don’t chase a backslider down. As
in any relationship, when someone is running away the last
thing you want to do is keep up the hot pursuit. That only
makes the person run faster and further. Let runners run.
If they leave the church, put their Christian relationships
on hold, burn bridges, let go and let God do his work. If
you happen to see them around, it’s perfectly okay (and
a good thing) to let them know how much you love and miss
them and how welcome they are to come back, but leave it there.
Let God handle the backsliding heart.
3. Keep your arms open: While Jesus tells
us (Matthew 18:15-17) that it’s sometimes necessary
to ask divisive and unrepentant backsliders to leave the fellowship
in order to maintain peace and godly discipline (as in the
case above. See another example in 1st Corinthians 5), the
church’s attitude and posture toward those who fall
away must always reflect that of the Father in the parable
of the prodigal son. When the father saw his son returning,
he rushed toward him, embraced him, and welcomed him home
as a long lost son (Luke 15:20-24). Likewise, there should
be no recriminations or paybacks when a backslider repents.
He or she is to be welcomed with eager and open arms and restored
warmly to the fellowship. Our sibling is home and safe. It
is a time for rejoicing!
How do you avoid backsliding yourself? Well, as much as I
would like to address that here, that is a question fit for
an entire article all by itself.
Until
then may God bless you
all.
End.
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