Some of the saddest words you'll ever hear are, “I’m no longer a Christian.” This is what Joshua Harris has recently stated. For many of us that ministered to students in the 90’s, his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, was a smash-hit and it threw him into Christian celebrity status nearly overnight. It was all the rage to wear purity rings back then and his book seemed to be the proverbial "nail in the coffin” and final word on how secular dating and philosophy had infiltrated the church. So armed with Supertones bumper stickers on an old church van with 14 kids in it, ministry was ready to happen with I Kissed Dating Goodbye in hand.
When you’re young and still cutting your teeth you don’t realize that a twenty-something-year-old probably shouldn’t be the go-to expert on relationships. But, alas, the next wave needed to be ridden or you would have been left behind in the past and not at the “forefront” on cutting-edge ministry trends. Man, I wish I’d been mentored better in those earlier years of ministry versus following trends and thinking that the coolest or largest youth group was the most successful.
Anyway, many, many, many, many years later I had a massive change in philosophy of ministry due to a massive shift in theology. I was awakened to the doctrines of grace and reformed theology. Because my understanding of grace grew, it necessitated a shift in how things should be done in the church. So imagine my delight when I discovered that the author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye was a reformed Christian pastor. He’s one of the good guys. A solid guy. One we can trust.
Anyway, many, many, many, many years later after this discovery, another discovering came to light. This solid guy is no longer solid. The one you can trust is no longer trustworthy. One of the good guys has defected. Apostasy has been realized. It’s a dark moment whenever you hear of a brother or sister denying Christ regardless of their social status in Christendom. Don’t let the fact that he was famous, or a pastor, or had more theology shock you in regards to his apostasy. It’s not really about how much you know when it comes to salvation. It’s about the Holy Spirit using the Word of God, the gospel, to breathe life into you. This should encourage you in light of these circumstances. It means that the child who has a rudimentary knowledge of the gospel and has truly been born of the Spirit is more saved that the false covert who wrote Christian books, pastored large congregations and had vast amounts of biblical knowledge. None of what I said discounts growing in the knowledge of grace. But neither should you go into panic mode because someone who possibly knew a lot more than you turned away from the faith. This won’t be the last time you hear of something like this.
What you are hearing about is nothing more than the parable of the soils as taught by Jesus. The gospel sometimes falls on a hard path, rocky soil, or among thorns and it never takes root and produces genuine gospel belief and repentance. In fact, the only thing Mr. Harris has repented of is what he has formerly taught and claimed to have believed. In other words he is repenting of being a Christian and teaching the words of Christ. These things are an embarrassment to him because they have offended the world and its perversion. Mr. Harris had the appearance of godliness but has denied its power (2 Tim. 3:5). Such men are to be avoided as Paul tells us.
There’s much more than can be said about this situation and we can speculate on what led to his apostasy but my main concern is for our church and for my own family. That is who God has called me to shepherd and to watch over. So let me give you a few things to consider doing in light of this:
- When you have a moment talk about the gospel today. Let the Holy Spirit stir your heart afresh regarding the majesty of Jesus’ virgin birth, perfect life, atonement, resurrection and return.
- Pray for your perseverance. Pray that you would never fall away or be led astray by the deceitfulness of your own flesh or the pleasures of this world.
- Talk to your family about apostasy and warn them that they must always follow Christ regardless of those around them who may fall. I’ve even gone as far as to tell my family, “Never turn away from Christ. Even if you see ME turn away from Christ, do not follow me. Jesus is everything! Always cling to him.”
- Don’t lose heart over this. No doubt there are many who were shepherded by him that are in shock and some who are possibly considering following his path. Pray for them all including Mr. Harris.
- Stay in a church that practices meaningful membership and be a good brother or sister in Christ. We all need accountability and we all need people watching out for our souls. Maintain your walk with God under the oversight of good elders.
- Worship the Lord tomorrow with His people. You need to hear your Father speak to you by His Word. You need to partake of communion to celebrate what Christ has done to save you. These are means that God has given us to keep us in awe of Him and to always keep our hearts directed towards Him.
Church, God will preserve those whom He has saved. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints isn’t just about us persevering, it’s about God’s preservation of us. There are times when you will be aware of your own perseverance. Then there will be times that you are fully aware of God’s preservation of you…moments when you wanted to turn away, moments when you wanted to quit, moments you thought you’d abandon the church and the gospel, but you didn’t. In those moments you won't be able to explain why you didn’t jump ship because you had no self-determination to keep on keeping on. Those are sweet and precious moments that God makes us aware that He’s keeping us. He’s guarding us. He’s saving us. Without His grace we’d all turn away at the slightest whiff of sin. Our hearts are prone to wander and prone to apostasy and the only reason we don’t is because of the grace of God. This is part of the promise of the New Covenant--that God would write his law on our newly granted hearts so that we would obey Him and not break covenant with Him (see Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 & 10). That’s one reason I came to love the doctrines of grace--it reminds us of God's power to keep us safe and saved. I’m just sorry to hear that Mr. Harris doesn’t hold to this belief anymore.
Continue to cling to Jesus until you die because it’s a sad state to be in when you kiss Jesus goodbye.
