An interesting characteristic of our age is the celebrity deconversion story. Someone who was once an influential Christian speaker or Christian musician decides they no longer believe, and they post it on Instagram or YouTube, or they write a book about it. With the same evangelistic zeal they once had for the gospel they now tell others about their journey out of Christianity.
One of the saddest phrases in the Gospel of John is, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” That’s found in John 6:66. (Hmm.) Jesus asked his Apostles, “Will you leave me, too?” He wasn’t asking the question in whiny neediness. But neither was he indifferent to the answer.
How do you respond to that question?
In surveys of favorite Christian worship songs, you’ll often find a 260-year-old hymn by Robert Robinson called “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Maybe it’s a favorite because of how honest the lyrics are about vulnerability and struggle. One of Robinson’s stanzas begins:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Most of us recognize that same proneness, that same weakness. How can we develop a stickable faith? Robinson shows us how. He concluded the stanza in this way:
Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it.
Seal it for thy courts above.
The one who wrote that song as a 22-year-old had a crisis of faith as a 54-year-old. He became attracted to the Enlightenment skepticism of men like Joseph Priestley. Some say Robinson died as a nonbeliever, others say he returned to faith before he died, and still others (like me) say that he never finally embraced the sterile rationalism that so attracted him. I believe he applied the same solution to his struggles as a 54-year-old that he applied to his struggles as a 22-year-old. “Here’s my heart, Lord. I don’t trust my own ability to protect it. Please take it and seal it away safely.”
In John 6:63-71 you can find four ways to develop a lasting faith. We’ll look at that passage this Sunday at Hillcrest. Join us on campus or online!
--Tom
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.