Why Do People Lose Their Religion?

  • Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.

    You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Dodo_David

Melmacian in human guise
Jul 13, 2013
1,048
63
0
aspen2 said:
because protestants are told to love God and hate religion. Ironically, many are left wondering why their churches are bleeding members.......
In the above-quoted case, religion is defined as a system of works used as an attempt to gain God's favor.
 

aspen

“"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few
Apr 25, 2012
14,111
4,778
113
52
West Coast
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
right.......

it is also interpreted as an antichurch sentment by christians and nonchristian alike
 

Episkopos

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2011
12,800
19,242
113
65
Montreal
Faith
Christian
Country
Canada
This Vale Of Tears said:
(originally posted by saintmichaeldefendthem [me])

Matthew 24:12
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
I'm seeing it everywhere in people I talk to. If anyone is over 40 years old, they'll talk about how they were "raised Christian" but have grown past it and adopted a philosophy that allows them to look down at the whole faith thing with disinterest. When they were twenty something, they were in the streets handing out pamphlets, on a mission in a foreign country, reading their Bible daily and fellowshipping several times a week.

But what causes people to become embittered and jaded over time, losing the zeal that once put a fire in their belly?

Taking myself for instance, I believe just as strongly as before, maybe even more so today. My roots have grown deep and nothing can dislodge me from my sure belief in Christ and his holy Church. But I don't pray as much, read the Bible as much, volunteer at missions, and work actively to lead people to Christ. I've somewhat cooled as well, not to the degree that I've stopped trying, like the people I'm talking about, but to a degree that I can sympathize with those who experience a little slack in their sails as they grow older.

But why and does it have to be so?

The popular use of the expression...losing one's religion...means to lose one's temper. To become visibly angry....or to "lose it".
 

HammerStone

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Feb 12, 2006
5,113
279
83
36
South Carolina
prayerforums.com
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
because protestants are told to love God and hate religion. Ironically, many are left wondering why their churches are bleeding members.......
Yeah, see this is where I get a little vexed with my Catholic (Roman, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox) brethren. I've seen a number of these high church articles, but all churches are bleeding members, Roman Catholics withstanding right alongside the Protestants. Some legitimate arguments can be made that people shuffle around in traditions and maybe find a better way, but that doesn't mean its the magic bullet.

I really think we've got to get beyond the finger pointing and worship style wars because while we are arguing over this, the feet are still quite literally walking out the doors, whether those doors are corporate looking or date back to the 19th century.


I agree. We stop going to church because we're living a compromised lifestyle and we're living a compromised lifestyle because we're not going to church. It's a circular paradox. People are tempted to think church is unnecessary, but it's not possible to have any relationship with God without also having a relationship with God's holy church. (Matt 5:24) But perhaps the most relevant lesson in the Parable of the Prodigal Son is that those who have been living apart from God don't come home to scolding, they come home to welcoming arms and rejoicing. If people could just understand that God wants us to come to him just as we are, it would make a big difference.
Agreed.

It becomes a vicious cycle. As I've aged, I've realized how much Christians absolutely need to be in community. God has chosen to bring people to him through other people, so why do we think this stops right after we first become Christians? If one is involved with the body, then those moments of doubt can be broached with the support of a community - pastors and laypersons alike.

And yes, I don't know if this is a RC issue too, but we tend to skip over the second half of the prodigal son parable. The other brother is angry and resentful because his reckless brother is received unconditionally after he's squandered the family wealth:

Luke 15:28-32
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

The parable ends here, and to me that is a literary device Jesus employed to place us in the position of the older brother. What is our reaction when a prodigal is restored? The church universal has to be ready to receive the son or daughter, as well.

This falling away, for lack of a better illustrative term, is something that the church needs to counter. I think it's on us to be ready. I think it also relies not on programs to get them back, but for the church members themselves to maintain faithful witness.

It seems to me, in my experience with these folks, that there is always either a hurt (or hurts) caused by the church body (one story I know is the church gave a man a real, real hard time for smoking cigarettes when he was younger, constantly dogging him about it) or a simple gradual slide of becoming disconnected from church.
 

AndyBern

Member
Jun 26, 2012
67
9
8
Selene said:
Actually, the New Testament books do speak of candles, incense, the liturgical readings of the scrolls, etc. It's found in the Book of Revelations.
You will find incense mentioned in Revelation, but you won't find any teaching or instruction mentioning candles, incense, etc in the New Testament as a practice for Christians on earth. The old covenant had instructions like that, but not the new.
 

jiggyfly

New Member
Nov 27, 2009
2,750
86
0
63
North Carolina
AndyBern said:
You will find incense mentioned in Revelation, but you won't find any teaching or instruction mentioning candles, incense, etc in the New Testament as a practice for Christians on earth. The old covenant had instructions like that, but not the new.
I agree Andy, many of the religious practices done today are not a mandate by God. Much of it has to do with what people like to do but that doesn't mean that Father is impressed. much of it is really a distraction.
 

AndyBern

Member
Jun 26, 2012
67
9
8
jiggyfly said:
I agree Andy, many of the religious practices done today are not a mandate by God. Much of it has to do with what people like to do but that doesn't mean that Father is impressed. much of it is really a distraction.
...and I'm not against candles, incense, etc. But as you said, the danger is in the distraction.
 

horsecamp

New Member
Feb 1, 2008
765
23
0
because wanted and kept Sin can destroy faith in Jesus their only savior from their sin.
some one who wants to keep their sin soon may think its not sin at all.. they by thinking that then reject Gods forgiveness already won on the cross for that sin.

you see Jesus only came to save sinner's. IF ONE THINKS THERE SINS ARE NOT SINS THEY DONT WANT OR NEED JESUS DYING FOR THAT SIN. and faith in Jesus work for them on the cross for that sin is destroyed.

so the church then must step in and THEY MAY EVEN NEED TO x communicate the PERSON in hopes they will then see their sin as sin and return to the true faith in Jesus and take their place again as one of Christ's church

AndyBern said:
...and I'm not against candles, incense, etc. But as you said, the danger is in the distraction.
and Lutherans don't care for Chancel prancing preachers or modern woopie woopie hymns backed up by circus bands.
 

aspen

“"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few
Apr 25, 2012
14,111
4,778
113
52
West Coast
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Hammerstone; you are right, the Catholic Church is losing members. I would argue that the RCC is losing members for different reasons than mainline Protestant churches. I was not pointing fingers at the legitimacy of Protestantism - I was pointing out that is appears that Protestants do not understand why or how to address this issues that are leading to this problem.

In the case of Protestant losses, I think the Catholic Church can help with the problem. I do not think there is anything
wrong with learning from each other.
 

HammerStone

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Feb 12, 2006
5,113
279
83
36
South Carolina
prayerforums.com
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Hammerstone; you are right, the Catholic Church is losing members. I would argue that the RCC is losing members for different reasons than mainline Protestant churches. I was not pointing fingers at the legitimacy of Protestantism - I was pointing out that is appears that Protestants do not understand why or how to address this issues that are leading to this problem.
Well, one is always in danger with blanket statements; there are certainly dynamics at play that vary between Protestant and Roman Catholic losses. However, I think at the core that the issues are essentially one in the same, for the most part. Cultural Catholics and cultural Protestants are falling away and I think both traditions don't have the answers in how to deal with a young generation who has not been raised in a church environment and is frankly suspicious of organized religion in general.


In the case of Protestant losses, I think the Catholic Church can help with the problem. I do not think there is anything
wrong with learning from each other.
I think it vital that both work together in the coming years.
 

[email protected]

Choir Loft
Apr 2, 2009
1,635
127
63
West Central Florida
Faith
Other Faith
Country
United States
This Vale Of Tears said:
(originally posted by saintmichaeldefendthem [me])

Matthew 24:12
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
I'm seeing it everywhere in people I talk to. If anyone is over 40 years old, they'll talk about how they were "raised Christian" but have grown past it and adopted a philosophy that allows them to look down at the whole faith thing with disinterest. When they were twenty something, they were in the streets handing out pamphlets, on a mission in a foreign country, reading their Bible daily and fellowshipping several times a week.

But what causes people to become embittered and jaded over time, losing the zeal that once put a fire in their belly?

Taking myself for instance, I believe just as strongly as before, maybe even more so today. My roots have grown deep and nothing can dislodge me from my sure belief in Christ and his holy Church. But I don't pray as much, read the Bible as much, volunteer at missions, and work actively to lead people to Christ. I've somewhat cooled as well, not to the degree that I've stopped trying, like the people I'm talking about, but to a degree that I can sympathize with those who experience a little slack in their sails as they grow older.

But why and does it have to be so?
There are two basic reasons why people lose their faith.

One is that faith is mostly expressed as an intellectual persuasion, not as a relationship with the living God. As a subjective persuasion, faith is thus subject to change brought about by a superior argument or adverse circumstances. In other words, there is no spiritual root in an intellectual persuasion of faith.

Second is that scoffers abound in this day and age.

"With no fact as a referent, what is normative is purely a matter of preference."
- Ravi Zacharias (The Real Face of Atheism)

Jesus said such a thing would be observed in the climate prior to His second coming. Despite deep spiritual roots in Christ, many Christians feel confused and unable to satisfactorily answer the multitude of objections (many of them ridiculous) to faith.

"The scriptures categorically state that the problem with such people (skeptics) is not the lack of evidence; it is rather, the suppression of it."
- Ravi Zacharias
Jesus Among Other Gods

There are two solutions to this dilemma.

The first solution is to remember that the Bible clearly states we are to make disciples, not converts. The distinction is great. A disciple is one who has been drawn by the Holy Spirit into a living relationship with God. It is the duty of the established Christian to take such souls under their wings and guide them into the knowledge and love of Christ in a living relationship.

The second solution is to realize that some people cannot and will not be saved. They have chosen their ends and walk in their willful ways and there is simply nothing that can be done to change their minds. They are determined to go to hell and that's all there is to it.

"What a fool believes no wise man can reason away."
- What a Fool Believes
Foreigner
(song of the year - 1988)

"Your words have been arrogant against me," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against Thee?' You have said, 'It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of Hosts? 'So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.'"
- Malachi 3:13-15

"We understand nothing of the works of God unless we take it as a principle that He wishes to blind some and to enlighten others."
- Blaise Pascal

The problem with godlessness in society is that the thinking of 'me first' percolates into every other activity. No longer is the family more important than the individual. The family suffers when the parent works to his or her own satisfaction. No longer does the community or the work place benefit from honesty or integrity. When every man or worker bases his or her activities on selfish gain the group suffers loss. No longer does the nation strive unto greatness. The words of John F. Kennedy are lost to this American generation.

"Ask not what your country will do for you, ask what you will do for your country."

Today everybody wants a piece of America for themselves, wishing to give little in return. The result is a corrupt government and a debauched citizenry.

Devotion to Christ is at the root of any great person - and civilization. Such a devotion is more precious than gold or silver for without it the valuable metals seem to grow legs and walk away. Christ alone can save us.

The American nation has forsaken Christ. We as a people are engaged in a stampede away from the love and trust and obedience to God. For those of us who remain, it is doubly important to rededicate ourselves, our fortunes and our families to the aid which only our savior can grant.

May God have mercy upon us. We have fallen and can't get up (on our own).

and that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
 

This Vale Of Tears

Indian Papist
Jun 13, 2013
1,346
61
0
Idaho
There are two basic reasons why people lose their faith.

One is that faith is mostly expressed as an intellectual persuasion, not as a relationship with the living God. As a subjective persuasion, faith is thus subject to change brought about by a superior argument or adverse circumstances. In other words, there is no spiritual root in an intellectual persuasion of faith.

Second is that scoffers abound in this day and age.

"With no fact as a referent, what is normative is purely a matter of preference."
- Ravi Zacharias (The Real Face of Atheism)

Jesus said such a thing would be observed in the climate prior to His second coming. Despite deep spiritual roots in Christ, many Christians feel confused and unable to satisfactorily answer the multitude of objections (many of them ridiculous) to faith.

"The scriptures categorically state that the problem with such people (skeptics) is not the lack of evidence; it is rather, the suppression of it."
- Ravi Zacharias
Jesus Among Other Gods

There are two solutions to this dilemma.

The first solution is to remember that the Bible clearly states we are to make disciples, not converts. The distinction is great. A disciple is one who has been drawn by the Holy Spirit into a living relationship with God. It is the duty of the established Christian to take such souls under their wings and guide them into the knowledge and love of Christ in a living relationship.

The second solution is to realize that some people cannot and will not be saved. They have chosen their ends and walk in their willful ways and there is simply nothing that can be done to change their minds. They are determined to go to hell and that's all there is to it.

"What a fool believes no wise man can reason away."
- What a Fool Believes
Foreigner
(song of the year - 1988)

"Your words have been arrogant against me," says the Lord. "Yet you say, 'What have we spoken against Thee?' You have said, 'It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of Hosts? 'So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.'"
- Malachi 3:13-15

"We understand nothing of the works of God unless we take it as a principle that He wishes to blind some and to enlighten others."
- Blaise Pascal

The problem with godlessness in society is that the thinking of 'me first' percolates into every other activity. No longer is the family more important than the individual. The family suffers when the parent works to his or her own satisfaction. No longer does the community or the work place benefit from honesty or integrity. When every man or worker bases his or her activities on selfish gain the group suffers loss. No longer does the nation strive unto greatness. The words of John F. Kennedy are lost to this American generation.

"Ask not what your country will do for you, ask what you will do for your country."

Today everybody wants a piece of America for themselves, wishing to give little in return. The result is a corrupt government and a debauched citizenry.

Devotion to Christ is at the root of any great person - and civilization. Such a devotion is more precious than gold or silver for without it the valuable metals seem to grow legs and walk away. Christ alone can save us.

The American nation has forsaken Christ. We as a people are engaged in a stampede away from the love and trust and obedience to God. For those of us who remain, it is doubly important to rededicate ourselves, our fortunes and our families to the aid which only our savior can grant.

May God have mercy upon us. We have fallen and can't get up (on our own).

and that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
This was a thorough response. Thank you.

One other point I might add is that people who come to Christ with little commitment are more likely to leave. It really is heartwarming to watch those old videos of the Billy Graham crusades and see people by the thousands leave their seats and come forward to ask Jesus into their heart. I do have to wonder how many of them stick with it. Applying the Four Soils principle, my guess would be about 25%. The Methodists got their start by realizing that people were coming to faith in Christ by the droves when evangelists came through towns and settlements, but for lack of any follow up, many fell away. So the Methodists created a "method" of discipleship to allow new believers to take a more firm root in Christianity.

Also, coming from a Catholic perspective, anyone who wants to become Catholic signs up for RCIA usually in September. They go through weekly classes and rites that culminate in baptism and formal reception into the Church the following Easter Sunday. Needless to say, converts who come in using this process are making a lifelong commitment that they tend to stick with.
 

hopeingod

New Member
Jul 28, 2013
10
0
0
After forty years as a Christian, I believe there are a multitude of reasons why believers choose to set aside their active associations they once held dear. I'm there, pretty much, as are most of the Christians I've known. Disillusionment regarding authority, lack of results from prayer, health issues that seem not to have miracles on the way, doctrinal squabbling, misuse of funds, kingdom building, and so much more have taken place over the past few decades. These things have transformed relationship with Christ into religious toxic faith. More association with the elements that created the toxicity isn't what the disillusioned want. They need to know they are safe, and so many safe havens are today be constructed with the focus no longer on teaching and reaching others as much as restoration of the broken and scarred victims of organizational harm.

And so, if they do anything at all, the hurt stay at home, study their Bibles at their leisure, pray as they feel its needed, and overall keep a safe distance from the chaos. Many churches have arisen to respond to the need for spiritual hospitals, but their focus, as I wrote, is not on the old approaches, but safety: safe, easily received and unchallenging messages from the pulpit, and a desire to not enter doctrinal subjects that got twisted and cut out any feelings of safety and trust in leadership.

I have two websites where I share the first principles listed in Heb. 6 to those willing to continue studying at home. It is nothing more than a teaching tool to help establish a solid foundation, which, had they been given one in the first place, the now wounded could have discerned the errors that eventually took their toll. Most of the time, when toxicity hits, it is the beginnings of a person's walk that must be reviewed. There is a way to start a Christian walk, and it is not as things have been for so many years, where one sided, favored and unbalanced messages are preached at the expense of the whole gospel.

I could write more, but I have to stop here. Maybe later.
 

The_highwayman

New Member
Jul 22, 2013
50
0
0
hopeingod said:
After forty years as a Christian, I believe there are a multitude of reasons why believers choose to set aside their active associations they once held dear. I'm there, pretty much, as are most of the Christians I've known. Disillusionment regarding authority, lack of results from prayer, health issues that seem not to have miracles on the way, doctrinal squabbling, misuse of funds, kingdom building, and so much more have taken place over the past few decades. These things have transformed relationship with Christ into religious toxic faith. More association with the elements that created the toxicity isn't what the disillusioned want. They need to know they are safe, and so many safe havens are today be constructed with the focus no longer on teaching and reaching others as much as restoration of the broken and scarred victims of organizational harm.

And so, if they do anything at all, the hurt stay at home, study their Bibles at their leisure, pray as they feel its needed, and overall keep a safe distance from the chaos. Many churches have arisen to respond to the need for spiritual hospitals, but their focus, as I wrote, is not on the old approaches, but safety: safe, easily received and unchallenging messages from the pulpit, and a desire to not enter doctrinal subjects that got twisted and cut out any feelings of safety and trust in leadership.

I have two websites where I share the first principles listed in Heb. 6 to those willing to continue studying at home. It is nothing more than a teaching tool to help establish a solid foundation, which, had they been given one in the first place, the now wounded could have discerned the errors that eventually took their toll. Most of the time, when toxicity hits, it is the beginnings of a person's walk that must be reviewed. There is a way to start a Christian walk, and it is not as things have been for so many years, where one sided, favored and unbalanced messages are preached at the expense of the whole gospel.

I could write more, but I have to stop here. Maybe later.
This point's to the elephant in the room the church as whole has falledn down in and that is true discipleship. We have forsaken discipleship and education. The Bible says my people are destroyed for their lack of knowledge.

We must get back to true discipleship and education, beyond fill in the blank Bible studies and the CHristian book club of the month pick. Solid BIble teachers and power packed sunday schhol classes have been exchanged for "life group" feel good meet and greets centered around fellowship and the Christian book club of the month.

We have multi worship services, designed to move em in and move em out. Preaching today is seeker sensitive motivational sermonettes, for christianettes, that stays away from anything that will cause offense or make any physical ill, and will NEVER mention SIN.

While there are prodicals that have been hurt and offended by the spirits of religion and pharisse , that are in every church and we must understand those. There also a large set of "hurt & offended" that look for any excuse to not go to church, because The Holy Ghost did his job and convicted them and prmopted them to move from where they are to where God needs them to be.
 

This Vale Of Tears

Indian Papist
Jun 13, 2013
1,346
61
0
Idaho
hopeingod said:
After forty years as a Christian, I believe there are a multitude of reasons why believers choose to set aside their active associations they once held dear. I'm there, pretty much, as are most of the Christians I've known. Disillusionment regarding authority, lack of results from prayer, health issues that seem not to have miracles on the way, doctrinal squabbling, misuse of funds, kingdom building, and so much more have taken place over the past few decades. These things have transformed relationship with Christ into religious toxic faith. More association with the elements that created the toxicity isn't what the disillusioned want. They need to know they are safe, and so many safe havens are today be constructed with the focus no longer on teaching and reaching others as much as restoration of the broken and scarred victims of organizational harm.

And so, if they do anything at all, the hurt stay at home, study their Bibles at their leisure, pray as they feel its needed, and overall keep a safe distance from the chaos. Many churches have arisen to respond to the need for spiritual hospitals, but their focus, as I wrote, is not on the old approaches, but safety: safe, easily received and unchallenging messages from the pulpit, and a desire to not enter doctrinal subjects that got twisted and cut out any feelings of safety and trust in leadership.

I have two websites where I share the first principles listed in Heb. 6 to those willing to continue studying at home. It is nothing more than a teaching tool to help establish a solid foundation, which, had they been given one in the first place, the now wounded could have discerned the errors that eventually took their toll. Most of the time, when toxicity hits, it is the beginnings of a person's walk that must be reviewed. There is a way to start a Christian walk, and it is not as things have been for so many years, where one sided, favored and unbalanced messages are preached at the expense of the whole gospel.

I could write more, but I have to stop here. Maybe later.
I think you got a good bead on why people become estranged to their faith. Embitterment and disappointment. It's easy to become jaded with religion especially with all the hypocrites and phonies in it. One very powerful disappointment to me is when Fr. Corapi, a very popular priest on EWTN, fell into financial scandal. He really did seem like a very godly man and it took me by complete surprise.

Where I might disagree with you is that people read their Bible and pray when disconnected with fellowship. What happens far more often is that, like an ember moved away from the hearth, our faith grows cold. The answer to that is really simple, that faith is "a gift from God" (Ephesians 2:8) and God doesn't allow us to have a relationship with Him apart from a relationship with His Holy Church. Our vertical depends on our horizontal and vice versa. So people who are unchurched are characterized by prayerlessness and dusty Bibles.
 

jiggyfly

New Member
Nov 27, 2009
2,750
86
0
63
North Carolina
This Vale Of Tears said:
Where I might disagree with you is that people read their Bible and pray when disconnected with fellowship. What happens far more often is that, like an ember moved away from the hearth, our faith grows cold. The answer to that is really simple, that faith is "a gift from God" (Ephesians 2:8) and God doesn't allow us to have a relationship with Him apart from a relationship with His Holy Church. Our vertical depends on our horizontal and vice versa. So people who are unchurched are characterized by prayerlessness and dusty Bibles.
You may be right when it comes to Catholics but there are millions of believers outside of religion that do not practice religious liturgy yet maintain a growing relationship with Christ. I and my family haven't been to religious service in over ten years and we have grown spiritually by leaps and bounds.
 

Blue Lanai

New Member
Jul 29, 2013
35
2
0
This Vale Of Tears said:
(originally posted by saintmichaeldefendthem [me])

Matthew 24:12
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
I'm seeing it everywhere in people I talk to. If anyone is over 40 years old, they'll talk about how they were "raised Christian" but have grown past it and adopted a philosophy that allows them to look down at the whole faith thing with disinterest. When they were twenty something, they were in the streets handing out pamphlets, on a mission in a foreign country, reading their Bible daily and fellowshipping several times a week.

But what causes people to become embittered and jaded over time, losing the zeal that once put a fire in their belly?

Taking myself for instance, I believe just as strongly as before, maybe even more so today. My roots have grown deep and nothing can dislodge me from my sure belief in Christ and his holy Church. But I don't pray as much, read the Bible as much, volunteer at missions, and work actively to lead people to Christ. I've somewhat cooled as well, not to the degree that I've stopped trying, like the people I'm talking about, but to a degree that I can sympathize with those who experience a little slack in their sails as they grow older.

But why and does it have to be so?
I can answer that question: hypocrisy and hatred continously perpetuated by our fellow Christians.

In my experience in the USA, Christians are the most angry, most hate-consumed, and most self-righteous members of any faith / religion / spiritual path. To be fair, most people who leave Chrisitanity do so because they are making a Generalization and assuming that their experiences with a few people are true for everyone. And yet.... it happens so often than it's not difficult to justify such a rationalization.

I initially accepted Christ at age 12. In the next six years, I experienced systematic and wide-spread racism & racist teachings from people in the church that I was taught to look up to. I experienced willful ignorance and deliberate misinformation about anything that wasn't considered to be "Christian" (eg. popular music, popular culture, the media, education, sexuality, foreign countries, other religions, literature, etc, etc). I was told not ask to questions. I was told that I was bad person for not blindly accepting everything that was shoved at me.

My story is remarkably true for many people, especially young people today. I have met and seen literally hundreds of different people throughout the US and also in western Europe who have completely rejected their faith in Christianity for similar reasons.

One of the key problems as I see it is that many people identify as "Christian" and then use this as a justification for hated, scorn, and looking down their nose at anybody that they disagree with or is different from them. Christians do this to each other as much or more than they do it to non-Christians.

So it's no surprise at all to me that more and more people are leaving / rejecting our faith, and honestly, I don't blame them at all. For many people, Christianity is about hate. Why would anybody want to stay in a faith whose followers constantly condemn and judge and criticize everyone else, and then turn around and proclaim they are about "love"? It's absurd hypocrisy at its finest.

I honestly think that if we Christians spent less time trying to tell everyone else what to believe and more time worrying about our own salvation much of the numbers leaving the faith would diminish greatly.
 

Dan57

Active Member
Sep 25, 2012
510
224
43
Illinois
Faith
Country
United States
Many churches don't teach the bible, so I think parishioners abandon them.
When a denomination transforms itself from the simple teaching of Christianity and into a religion of man made traditions, people rightfully lose interest. Why attend a church where you never learn anything new, or where none of your questions are ever answered? People flock to where they're fed, and they lose their religion because they're not fed. That doesn't mean they're not Christians anymore, it just implies that they aren't satisfied with all the religious malarkey. Sometimes denominations become so consumed with their own growth and traditions, that the message of Christ becomes nothing more than a footnote to their organization.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jiggyfly

aspen

“"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few
Apr 25, 2012
14,111
4,778
113
52
West Coast
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
What does 'some churches don't teach the Bible' really mean? I see this phrase thrown around a lot, but I have never been to a church that falls into this category - at least, the minister usually ties it to scripture - even Unity churches do, despite the fact that they are not Christian.