Apostasy of the Christian Heart
When we become Christians, the Bible tells us that we receive Christ into our hearts. I believe that means that a Christian should possess a Christ-like heart; a heart that desires to please God and a desire to be obedient to God’s commandments and teachings. I believe that is accomplished by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the scriptures that give us the ability to not only have knowledge of God and God’s loving character but to assume a more loving relationship with God and with each other in spite of the fact that we are all sinners. I believe that the indwelling of Jesus empowers us to hate the sins any of us commit and give enough value to the sinner committing the sin to love them as well. After all that is the heart of God and the message that Jesus, God incarnate, gave during his ministry.
The title of this message is, “Apostasy of the Christian heart.
Many of you may have heard the word apostasy before and know that it is applied to an abandonment of the teachings of Jesus or denying the fundamentals doctrines of our faith and openly sustaining that opposition to those teachings and fundamental doctrines that confirm that Jesus was fully God and fully man.
So you may be asking what is Apostasy of the Christian heart?
To help us understand that concept better, I want to turn our attention to the scripture for some clarity. The scripture/parable that I believe is one of the best at describing apostasy of the Christian heart can be found in the gospel of Luke.
Luke 18:9-14 NASB
9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Like this Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, I believe that Christians can have this kind of apostasy creep into hearts. If we look at what the prophet Jeremiah professes in the scripture found in Jeremiah 14:7, we can see that this isn’t some foreign concept to the word of God.
Jeremiah 14:7 NASB
Though our wrongdoings testify against us, Lord, act for the sake of Your name! Our apostasies have indeed been many, We have sinned against You.
I want to take some time to explain what the word apostasy means. If you were to look it up in a thesaurus, you’ll find words that are synonyms of the word apostasy.
As you listen these words and their definitions, I want you to apply them to commandments of God and the especially to teachings of Christ Jesus and then consider how easily it is to have apostasy creep into our lives and change our hearts and faithfulness to those commandments and teachings.
These are the words I found in the thesaurus.
Desertion - withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility;
Defection - abandonment of duty, allegiance, principles,
Violation - a breach, infringement, or transgression as of a law or rule:
Treachery – Willful and intentional betrayal of fidelity, confidence, or trust - which is the definition of perfidy which is another synonym of apostacy.
Heresy - an opinion or doctrine contrary to the orthodox tenets of a religious body or church and the act of maintaining such an opinion or doctrine.
Disloyalty – a violation of allegiance or duty
Backsliding - To revert to bad habits or lapse in religious practice.
Unfaithfulness - Not adhering to promises, obligations, or allegiances;
Falseness - Intentionally deceptive:
I think that there are different degrees of apostasy that Christians can succumb to in their lives and hearts and I also believe that it’s important for us to be aware of that fact because apostasy of the Christian heart can affect our relationships with each other.
In our next scripture reading, we find Paul experiencing some apostasy in the form of defection or desertion, disloyalty and unfaithfulness in allegiance to the teachings of Christ.
I believe it would be wise of us to understand and be aware of what causes apostasy of a Christians heart.
We already know that an unmerited pride in oneself is a because Jesus pointed it our in our Luke scripture text this morning.
We see Paul referring to a different motivation for apostasy of the heart in, 2 Timothy 4:16-18 NASB 16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me;
What Paul is referring to is the first time that he was arrested for preaching the word of God. He is saying no one came to his defense, no nobleman lent their influential name to give support of his good character or of Paul’s well intentions with the Gospel message. No other Christian came forth to back up his claims that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah of the Scripture; that Jesus was God incarnate; God the Son who was born of a woman begotten through the Holy Spirit of God and He came to save us from our sins by transforming our lives through an intimate relationship with Him and died as a propitiation for our sin. No one else came forth to support Paul in their common faith and belief.
What we see here is that fear predicated the apostasy of their hearts. It was the same fear that Peter exhibited in his apostasy of heart on the night that Jesus was being tried by the Sanhedrin. Peter became so fearful that he denied knowing Jesus Christ even though he confessed his love for Jesus many times previously.
Paul must have felt that same abandonment; that same defection; that same desertion; that same disloyalty when he had no one to stand with him against the authorities when he preached the glory of Jesus as God incarnate; the Savior of the World.
But Paul goes on to say something very Christ-like loving and obedient heart. He says may it not be counted against them.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we all had that kind of love and forgiveness for each other even when we encounter other Christians who choose to stand against us in the apostasy of their hearts; in the desertion of the commandments and teachings of Jesus and their willful and intentional betrayal of our confidence or trust that we put in them as Christians.
I don’t know why but I have found too many retired preachers can get consumed with this kind of apostasy of the heart instead of moving toward being the mentor of a younger pastor that they could be, like Paul was to Timothy.
Too many adopt an arrogant stature that manifests in gossip, conflict, and many times off-handed rudeness and it becomes a contagion in a congregation.
The first time I saw this kind of apostasy of the heart was when I was a candidate for ministry and it happened to my friend and mentor at the time. It wasn’t the first time that it happened to him. He just said, “Stan get used to it. Some of these sheep that you will pastor will bite. Love them anyway.”
That tendency to metaphorically bite is an example of apostasy of the heart.
As my mentor predicted, it happened to me more than once but it is always more disappointing and confusing when it comes from someone who is or was a pastor of a member of the clergy. This apostasy of the heart spreads to others in the congregation and that contagion usually starts with their own family members and spreads from there.
The reason that I am pointing out pastors in this message is to show that no one is immune to this mindset that slowly infiltrates the Christian heart with this apostasy. We all have to beware of this kind of apostasy because it causes hatefulness. If we allow it to continue, it destroys relationships that we should honor instead of tear apart.
It is a defection or desertion from God’s commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
It is also an example of what we studied in 1st John 4:20 during one of our latest Bible studies. Which says, If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Both Paul and Jesus make it clear what loving Christian behavior is when we encounter someone who is not measuring up to what we think is the standard of Christian behavior and/or ministry and when we think that they have sinned against us.
It is not back stabbing gossip that disparages their character and causes dissention among others in the church. It is not coming across with hateful remarks or jabs.
Corrections should be done with a loving rebuke in the form of constructive criticism through honest open dialogue and it should be followed by encouragement and exhortation.
The first way destroys the ministry of a church and gives those outside the church a negative view of Christians and stunts the growth of the church creating an ineffective and irrelevant church in their community and world.
The second, the Biblical way, serves to strengthen the ministry of the church, making the church more effective and helps others see that the church isn’t a negative experience but instead glorifies God’s love.
Turn with me to Luke 17:3 NASB
3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
Matthew 18:15 NASB
15 “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Let us beware of pointing to others and saying in essence I’m glad I not like that sinner when we have an apostate heart or as Jesus put it, a beam in our own eye. There has to be a recognition of our own shortcomings so we don’t stand with our fingers pointing to their sin without offering words of direction and encouragement to those who need it.
After Paul's Christ-like statement of forgiveness, he reveals the most important part of his epistle to this young preacher, Timothy, who he has been mentoring.
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
In this epistle to Timothy, Paul writes of the importance of being faithful to God and God’s work. The full proclamation of God salvation through Jesus Christ is the most important part of being a part of God’s kingdom through His church. Yoking ourselves with one another, aiding and encouraging each other is the best way to fully accomplish this important work.
Paul rightfully gives praise to God and glorifies Him for preparing the way for Him to fully proclaim God's work of salvation in his life in more than one way. He credits God for not only rescuing him from his earthly troubles and the evil deeds set against him, but also for his eternal salvation.
It is a letter of encouragement for us not to blame others or concentrate on their apostate hearts but to trust in God for the strength and encouragement to carry on with the divine work that He has tasked each of us with to save other lost souls from Hell.
If we keep turning to Him for our strength and encouraging others instead of trying to separate ourselves from them through gossip and other life stealing words and actions, we will all grow in our faith in God as a church but also in the things we accomplish in our ministries.
In my time as a minister of God’s word and love, I have encountered both types of people. I know for me it is always easier to respond to someone who comes to me with constructive help or even constructive criticism followed by encouragement to do better than it is for me to respond to something that I have no clue of what I’m doing or not doing that bothers them.
So it is with all of your fellow brothers and sister in Christ. None of us can read your mind and apostasy of the heart tactics don’t make reading minds possible. Scripture tells us how to avoid the apostasy of our hearts.
In Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 verse 14 it tells us that it is detrimental to your justification in Christ.
I think that we would be wise to heed God’s divine advice and wisdom to repent of this divisive sin.
We would all benefit from it individually and our churches would be more effective, relevant, and therefore more valuable to those lost in the world and inspire them to draw closer to their loving creator and Lord.
I can’t think of anything worse than an irrelevant Church in God's kingdom because it does not significantly make a difference to the community it should thrive in nor is it capable of transforming the world. Christians can’t transform the world as long as they remain irrelevant in the lives of those we should be touching with the word and love of God.
Fighting against the apostasy of our hearts is the cure. Loving our neighbors as ourselves is the best way to fight it.
Let’s pray.
