I've listened to what Rhett and Link said about their deconstruction and us always struck me as “I didn't like how Christianity made me feel so I'm choosing not to believe it anymore.”
Good stuff here. So often the whole "I tried Christianity and it didn't work" is actually code for "God didn't do what I want the way I wanted in the timeframe I stipulated, so I bailed." May the Lord raise up resilient followers of Jesus in our time. Thanks for this piece, Michael.
Thanks Michael. When Rhett and Link first publicly “deconstructed,” one of my Christian friends was deeply discouraged. People’s reasons for leaving the faith, when made public, may destructively tempt us with doubts about our own faith. I encourage anyone who witnesses this to hold on to Romans 8:16:
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
The whole passage is a massive encouragement about the true nature of those who are in Christ — we are children of God; the Spirit gives us confidence of that fact!
I remember those CRU conferences and how hilarious Rhett and Link were. It's tragic to see their "deconstruction", but also a tad odd that they both did it at the same time.
I didn’t realize those two guys were apostates or had any Christian background at all. The few times my son watched them on YouTube I found them annoying.
Interesting you quoted Luke’s account of the parable because he records Jesus as saying “they believe for a while” countering the argument of once saved always saved. I agree we need to take time with God seriously because just like you mentioned, neglecting it leads us to neglect God.
Your perspective on faith is unempathetic. You should try taking atheists at their word instead of projecting your ideas of what disbelief might feel like on them.
Atheists leave the faith because they never had faith in Christ, not because they stopped engaging with a genuine faith they once had. And often they leave because they are tested beyond the limits of their false faith. A Christian who was born into wealth may leave the faith when he encounters financial hardship because he believes God would never allow him to lose everything for no reason; his faith was unbiblical to start with.
And atheists are not like petulant children who hate God and choose to leave out of pride or sloth — that’s the Prodigal Son, and he eventually returns. Atheists, like Rhett and Link, were never “sons” with genuine faith in Christ at all. They likely had faith in community and all the simple joys of mid-western, Christian camaraderie, but once they realized they could have community without Christ, the burden of upholding standards and institutions they didn’t believe in became pointless and burdensome. So they left, which is totally rational.
faith in Christ is a fight worth fighting for!
I've listened to what Rhett and Link said about their deconstruction and us always struck me as “I didn't like how Christianity made me feel so I'm choosing not to believe it anymore.”
Good stuff here. So often the whole "I tried Christianity and it didn't work" is actually code for "God didn't do what I want the way I wanted in the timeframe I stipulated, so I bailed." May the Lord raise up resilient followers of Jesus in our time. Thanks for this piece, Michael.
Thanks Michael. When Rhett and Link first publicly “deconstructed,” one of my Christian friends was deeply discouraged. People’s reasons for leaving the faith, when made public, may destructively tempt us with doubts about our own faith. I encourage anyone who witnesses this to hold on to Romans 8:16:
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
The whole passage is a massive encouragement about the true nature of those who are in Christ — we are children of God; the Spirit gives us confidence of that fact!
I remember those CRU conferences and how hilarious Rhett and Link were. It's tragic to see their "deconstruction", but also a tad odd that they both did it at the same time.
Yes, quite odd. Rhett was Batman and Link was Robin. Where Rhett goes, Link goes.
I didn’t realize those two guys were apostates or had any Christian background at all. The few times my son watched them on YouTube I found them annoying.
Good word, thanks for sharing.
A couple more pieces of the puzzle explaining why people drift away from Orthodox Christian belief are:
1) Fear of Man -> which opens the door wide open to exchanging God’s word for prestigious Man’s word...
2) buying (and caressing) a lie...
Interesting you quoted Luke’s account of the parable because he records Jesus as saying “they believe for a while” countering the argument of once saved always saved. I agree we need to take time with God seriously because just like you mentioned, neglecting it leads us to neglect God.
Your perspective on faith is unempathetic. You should try taking atheists at their word instead of projecting your ideas of what disbelief might feel like on them.
Atheists leave the faith because they never had faith in Christ, not because they stopped engaging with a genuine faith they once had. And often they leave because they are tested beyond the limits of their false faith. A Christian who was born into wealth may leave the faith when he encounters financial hardship because he believes God would never allow him to lose everything for no reason; his faith was unbiblical to start with.
And atheists are not like petulant children who hate God and choose to leave out of pride or sloth — that’s the Prodigal Son, and he eventually returns. Atheists, like Rhett and Link, were never “sons” with genuine faith in Christ at all. They likely had faith in community and all the simple joys of mid-western, Christian camaraderie, but once they realized they could have community without Christ, the burden of upholding standards and institutions they didn’t believe in became pointless and burdensome. So they left, which is totally rational.