By Mark Horne
“10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!” ~Psalm 97:10-12
The last couple weeks have held two heartfelt, sorrowful accounts. Both deal with standing firm on Jesus Christ our Rock (Luke 8:13, Hebrews 10:35-39) for one’s faith in Him as Savior. The first account happened last week when Joshua Harris, a mega-church pastor, a risen star in the Young Restless and Reformed movement, and the author of the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, renounced his faith and apologized for his Christian-conservative teaching on his Instagram account. Then this week, Marty Sampson, a high-profile songwriter and worship leader for the multi-world-campus-mega-church Hillsong, published his faith-faltering struggles and questioned much of the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible.
Please note that this should not surprise any mature believer. The Bible teaches us there will be many who walk away from the faith. Many who followed Jesus when He walked this earth left Him because of what He taught concerning faith was too hard (John 6:60-71). There are even those in positions of leadership who aren’t saved. Some are false teachers and others “forsake the right way and go astray” (2 Peter 2:1-22). Titus Lucretius Carus once said, “Look at a man in the midst of doubt and danger, and you will learn in his hour of adversity what he really is. It is then that true utterances are wrung from the recesses of his breast. The mask is torn off; the reality remains.”
The distressing issue for us should be how quickly immature “believers” are placed in high-profile, authoritative positions of influence and power. There are many young people who are on fire for the Lord. They sincerely want to do good for the Church. However, they lack discipleship from fathers in the faith, solid Biblical training, and a key component called “testing of faith” (1 Peter 1:3-9, 2 Corinthians 13:4-6).
The common thread that seems to run through the testimonies of those struggling with or falling away from faith is the spiritual battle we face. Harris’ account conveys his struggle with infidelity, divorce, and the biblical stance on the homosexuality issue. Sampson’s account bears his hope to be “at peace with the world.”
Maybe you are having these same feelings. You might be having doubts of your faith in Christ or the reliability of Scripture. You might be wondering if God really loves you. I want to lovingly tell you that we all face those issues. Christ tells us that when we trust Him as our Savior our life doesn’t get easier. They get harder (1 John 3:13). We have been taken out of the kingdom of this world and given citizenship in His Kingdom (Matthew 7:21, Ephesians 2:19, Philippians 3:20). The battle is real (John 15:18-19, Ephesians 6:12) because now we are at war with what we once loved (John 3:19, John 12:25, 2 Timothy 4:10).
I want to encourage you today by echoing what the Psalmist in our passage above reminds us, if you are truly God’s, nothing can take away your salvation. He will see you through the dark times with His light. He will preserve your soul. In Ephesians 6, Paul teaches us that we have been given “armor” for the spiritual battle. One of those pieces is the “shield of faith” (Ephesians 6:16). With any shield, one can keep it up or let it down. In your darkest of times, keep your shield up. If you think the “arms” of your heart are failing, seek help from other brothers and sisters who are mature in the faith like Moses did with Aaron and Hur when Joshua battled the Amalekites (Exodus 17:12-14). Whatever you face, know that God is your deliverer, He has given you the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11, Luke 11:13, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6), He has given you resources in the family to walk with you (Proverbs 17:17, Hebrews 10:25, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4), and He will perfect your faith (Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 12:1-3).
Andrews PCA 