What happens to 66% of 645ers?

There is a statistic that's shocking and heart wrenching. Do you remember seeing it up on the screen on last Sunday night?

Here it is - 66% of Young Adults walk away from Jesus by age 30. Not shocked? Think about it - if it's true then of the 150 645ers almost 100 will no longer being following Jesus by age 30! It's so confronting that you have to ask - can a Christian really fall away? What about the Bible telling us we've been chosen and predestined by God to be his children? I remember sitting in the Yr12 Bible Study at St Alban's Lindfield with 13 other people i thought were Christians. Within a year of leaving school all but 2 (me and Sarah) we're no longer calling themselves Christians. It's awful to think about. So what do we say about all this?

When we read Hebrews 10 we get a pretty clear picture in verses 26-27. Only fearful judgement awaits those who turn away from Jesus. But what about the wonderful passages of reassurance like Romans 8 (nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ)? We could make the more important passage and say that trumps Hebrews 10. So don't worry what happens God will never really let go of you in the end. But why not make Hebrews 10 the more important passage - God lets you into his kingdom but it's up to you to hang on tight. But that's no way to read the Bible - cut paste, pick and choose the bits you like. No we have to say Romans 8 and Hebrews 10 are both true.

But where does that leave us? Can a Christian fall away? That would seem to make sense of our experience of seeing people we shared Bible study with, people we called Brothers and Sisters disappear from Christian things. But it just doesn't sit with Romans 8:28-30 - God predestined us to be like Jesus. Just as he predestined so he also called, justified and glorified. There's no doubt or uncertainty about the Christian future there. There's no sense of our salvation depending on whether we hang on tight enough. In addition if we say a Christian can fall away we dismiss God's election and predestination. Can we really say that God chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-6) but then it depends on us whether we make it into heaven? Romans 8:31-39 reassures us that God, who gave up his only Son for us, will not let go of us now (see also John 6:38-40). So we have to say that Christians don't fall away - otherwise salvation depends upon us. Then it's not really Grace alone but grace and us together.

The problem for us is that we just don't know whether someone is really a Christian. So we see someone 'fall away' and we say 'see a Christian can fall away' but the reality (only known to them and God) was that they never were a follower of Jesus. Given enough time you can fake a lot of things. People can look, talk, walk, model the Christian life but in fact never had put their trust in Jesus' death for them. Or perhaps they weren't intentionally faking - they were self deluded. Perhaps it was just the thing they did with their friends, or the intellectual stimulation and recognition of being a leader or something else that wasn't about clinging to the cross of Jesus. So sometime down the track they give up and stop calling themselves a Christian. Now i know this sounds like a easy simple smooth answer. But it's actually a really helpful way to work through all the mess & confusion around this question.

God gives us the warning and encouragement that real faith perseveres to the end.

See Hebrews 10:26-39. The warning is to avoid deliberate stubborn sin, repent and hold onto the promises of God. Real genuine Christian faith hears that and repents. Sometimes you see people who claim they're a Christian and talk the jargon but there a big areas of their life where God is not welcome. They hear the warnings of the Bible to repent, they hear the advice of their Christian friends but they just keep on doing what they like - that's stubborn deliberate willful sin. By contrast, real Christian faith struggles with sin, repents, grows, changes over time. Real faith believes God's promises and trusts him all things. Real Christian faith sticks it out learning to rejoice, give thanks, and serve in all situations.

I've tried to be definite and clear on all this but at the same time, it's a big messy painful issue. Please keep your thoughts coming on this. And most all let's encourage each other to keep on following Jesus, persevering until the end.

James Lewis