Why People Aren’t Christians
Pt 2
Last week, we asked the question why aren’t people Christians anymore? We said that people feel that the Christian life requires all that we have, and the Christian life requires work, and the Christian life is just not popular.
When you read Matthew 28:19 you see the work that Jesus has put before us, as His disciples and as His followers. He says, “Go into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and of the Holy Ghost.”
With the mission clear, and the call concise, we understand that Jesus is talking to us. That we are His chosen for this day and this hour to sound the alarm that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that He lives in us.
With that said, why do we struggle and why is it so hard to see a change in people. Why don’t people want to become Christians?
Today we are going to explore other reasons why people aren’t Christians, by examining four levels of non-believers:
1. The Apostate
A. Apostasy is when a person abandons their allegiance to something, in the Christians life, it is God
B. Basically, apostasy is a glorified word for a backslider
C. My question is why do people do this?
D. My belief is, they just aren’t satisfied
E. An apostate person can be a person who has walked with Jesus and then decided not to walk further with Him.
F. Judas Iscariot is a good example of apostasy. Here is a man who walked, talked, ate, slept, and went to church with Jesus and then sold Him out for money.
G. Sounds like someone we know
H. Judas abandoned his loyalty to Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
I. The apostate always wants what he doesn’t have
J. He’s never really satisfied
K. He’ll give his life to Jesus, but he’ll want it back before too long
L. If the apostate is not careful, he/she will become apathetic
2. The Apathetic
A. to be apathetic, means to lack emotion but in our case spiritual emotion
B. Have you ever noticed someone who has the “whatever” attitude
C. You tell them, “you’ll go to Hell without Jesus!” And they’ll say, “whatever happens, happens.”
D. That type person makes me angry. You can’t go through life without emotion, or without regard for other’s emotions
E. At some juncture in your life, you will have to care about something or someone
F. Another reason why people are unemotional to spiritual things is because of PAST EXPERIANCES with the church, or church people
G. When people come to church, they expect to be treated with love, and find rebuke. They look for peace and find a mess; they look for answers and find confusion.
H. After a while, they stop caring, and stop feeling. Their hearts have been broken for the last time
I. The backslider, or the apostate is in grave danger of becoming “hard-hearted”
J. Look at Hebrews 6:4-6
K. That is a hard passage to accept
L. It is because his heart has become hard
3. The Agnostic
A. To be an agnostic, you are a cynic, you don’t know if there is a God, and you don’t know if there is no God
B. You are probably suffering from apostasy, and apathy, and are at wits end about God.
C. You’ve lacked emotion for a while, and are waiting for that one moment where you can up your mind.
D. That’s why people are not turning to Christ, they are confused
E. The agnostic may call himself a “free-thinker” and there are many of those in America
F. Look at the Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2, After Moses tells him, what the Lord had said, the Pharaoh said…”Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?”
G. That is what the agnostic says
H. They are ever searching but always denying the reality
4. The Atheist
A. The Atheist flat out denies the existence of any thing higher than his own power
B. He does not believe in God, Satan, Heaven, or Hell
C. He shows no spiritual emotion, has no allegiance to anything and does not consider anything eternal
D. He is apostate, agnostic, and apathetic
