Christians, today surveys indicate there are many more non-believers and ex-believers than true believers of the Bible, God and Jesus Christ.
You understand non-believers, but why the title “ex-believers”?
They are the ones who believed at one time, and were disillusioned by the clergy and the church. In other words they didn’t learn anything about the Bible that would help them live a better life.
Why? Because the clergy didn’t discuss it during their sermons, and probably don’t really know what to say to help parishioners.
Also, church infighting has become a normal event because of political discussions during the sermons, and some church members want to control what preacher say at the pulpit, and those things have caused a mass exodus of church members. And, not surprisingly the clergy also.
Hard to believe? Not really. Seminary teaches about the Bible and what to preach and how to preach it. The clergy are human and probably don’t think about using the gospel to help the congregation live better lives, and that should be their job. That’s what the disciples of Jesus Christ did. They explained to people how to make their lives better and avoid sin.
I have an article about Sin and Satan here: https://ourdividedworld.com/satan-on-a-rampage-part-1/
Eventually the “ex-believers” fell into the anti-Bible-anti-Christian group of believers and got sucked into more false information and Satan’s pretty firm grasp. Also, on social media you have to be careful about things that you say to avoid offending anyone. So basically you can’t say anything. Just agree.
Or, just join Christian groups, but there you also have to be careful because not every Christian thinks the same about the gospel. False gospel preachers have seen to that in their diluted and false Bible preaching.
I am working on an article about “False Preachers & Gospel”, so check back soon.
So the “ex-believers” keep any of their remaining belief in God and Jesus Christ silent and avoid saying anything that will get them removed from social media or groups that will oppose their Christian thinking. Why? Simple. Their faith is not strong enough.
There is a “New Religion”circulating everywhere.
What is the “New Religion?” It is Satan followers eliminating God, church, the Bible and most of all the 10 Commandments from society and their lives. This in turn opens the door to Satan’s sin and evil, and you can see evil is quickly taking solid root in American society and the world.
True believers reading this are probably angry with “ex-believers” for leaving their faith, but as the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:11-12, we need to be patient with those who are being deceived by Satan, and his many followers, and help get them back on track to Jesus Christ, redemption and salvation.
This also includes the clergy and preachers who should know better and, they are also sinners and easily deceived by Satan because their faith is also not strong. Many of them are also chasing filling more Church or concert seats, and more donations to pay for their churches instead of focusing on finding new believers and teaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
As the Bible tells us “Money is the root of all evil…” in 1 Timothy 6:10, and they are gathering lots of evil instead of converts.
Sure, it would be easy to rebuke ex-believers and the clergy, but that only drives people further away from God and His laws. What is needed is a loving and caring attitude to show them the coming fall of their lives and help them return to God and the Bible.
Also, we don’t really know what is happening in their hearts and minds, so we can’t assume they just decided to leave for no reason.
If you know someone who is or has left their faith, there is always a reason, and we never know what that might be. It might be because they were frustrated with the church, or a prayer wasn’t answered in time, they tried talking with other Christians only to find they were only part-time Christians.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Jesus loved everyone, especially sinners and non-believers, and did all he could to help them become believers as did His disciples who spread the gospel everywhere they could.
God is not giving up on them, so why should you (Rev 7:9-10). HE is probably already working a plan for that person and you might be part of that plan!
God’s plan is not something we have access to, but know that whatever it is His timing is different than ours, not rushed and never late. In other words on-time and perfect!
HE put you right where HE wants you to be able to help someone falling away, and for you to help them find their way back to Jesus Christ.
Keep in mind that Satan wants all of us to give up on our faith and belief, and to discard the 10 Commandments, the Crucifixion, and the Bible. That is his job on earth. To create sinners of every human and make them not want to repent or even believe they are sinners in the first place.
How do you reach the ex-believers and non-believers?
First pray for them to find their way out of the grip of Satan, and then let them know where you would really be without Jesus in your life. This is your testimony to how your faith and belief has made your Christian life stronger and much better.
Your testimony is crucial for believers, ex-believers and non-believers because it gives them something to reference in their own lives, and that may just be the key to getting them to Jesus Christ.
That’s right… Your Testimony!
So, if you know someone who has left their faith talk to them with loving kindness (yes, one word in Psalms 92:2) as Jesus did, and let them know that God and Jesus still loves them and wants them to return to the comfort of His arms.
If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me at: john@ourdividedworld.com. I will respond within a few hours or sooner. If it is the weekend I should be able to respond within a day or less. You can also email jean@ourdividedworld.com.
Keep in mind our time zone is EST (eastern standard time, USA) and, I am usually at my desk from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm daily except the weekends.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
H John & Jean
https://ourdividedworld.com