When Faith Falters: Root Causes and Gospel Remedies

On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Towers collapsed in smoke and rubble as jet planes crashed into each building and superheated the steel girders to the point of failure. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in American history.

On a personal level, though, many might experience a collapse of faith after facing a spiritual crisis. This battle for faith takes place in the heart and intensifies in times of trouble. So, let’s take a look at some common root causes which influence deconstruction along with some gospel alternatives to address them. 

Personal Suffering

Hurting people can lose their faith when they encounter personal suffering. They might turn away from God in the midst of hardships and trials. And instead of making them stronger, their difficulties lead them to deconstruct (James 2:1-12). Others walk away from the church after witnessing moral scandals, financial impropriety, or spiritual abuse by those they once trusted. Their faith in God is shattered because a minister of God has failed. Or perhaps they abandon the faith after witnessing the ongoing moral bankruptcy or hypocrisy of professing believers. 

In times of trouble, we can start to doubt either God’s love or God’s sovereignty. Yet we can receive comfort in those very same afflictions when they actually turn us toward God (Psalm 119:50, 67, 71, 92, 143). Personal suffering is designed by God to reinforce your faith as it refines us in the fire like precious silver (Psalm 66:10).

People-Pleasing

Others turn from God because they fear man or desire to please the people in their life (Proverbs 29:25). Perhaps they grow disillusioned with their faith as they wrestle with social issues over which Christians and culture seem to be in conflict (e.g., racial justice, abortion rights, same-sex marriage). Perhaps they cringe with embarrassment over traditional church teachings that have fallen out-of-style in our modern world (e.g., eternal judgment, creationism, substitutionary atonement).

In their desire for the approval of the world, they fall away from the church and embrace the culture’s values. 

Our relationships have a tendency to influence us one way or the other (Proverbs 13:20). For example, a Christian who marries an unbeliever might slowly drift from the faith (2 Corinthians 6:14). A student’s thinking can be swayed by a beloved university professor. And all of us are constantly bombarded by the implicit or explicit pressure of our peers. Yet too many are influenced by the ridicule and arguments of others instead of establishing our firm convictions on Scripture (Matthew 7:24-27). As people-pleasers, we are tempted to reinterpret God’s Word to fit societal views (2 Timothy 4:3-4). 
Instead, we must learn how to love God first as a way to love people, and to obey God even when we are tempted to obey man (Acts 5:29).

Relationships can help us to reexamine our convictions, but they should never be the reason we abandon our faith.

Pride

Some may lose their faith in God because of a prideful heart. Such pride surfaces in relational conflicts with other Christians when we are unwilling to seek forgiveness or when we stubbornly refuse to pursue peace (Romans 12:18). Some claim that the church is filled with hypocrites who don’t measure up to the standard of Christ. We then leave the church behind as we look down on others or view with them contempt.

At other times, pride manifests in a young person’s desire for self-dependence until rebellion itself becomes a badge of honor (Proverbs 15:5). Rejecting their parents’ authority gets lumped in with rejecting their parents’ faith. In this way, prideful people place themselves above Christ, church unity, and the call to humble repentance (1 Peter 5:5-6). 

The seeds of sinful pride are in all of our hearts. So, we must examine ourselves daily and repent as a regular practice. Pride helps us realize that we still need God’s Spirit to make us holy. We are still dependent on the church’s accountability and the work of Christ (Philippians 2:1-11). Pride lowers us so that Christ can lift us up.

Pleasure

One more root cause involves the desire for pleasure. Demas fell away because he loved the things of this present world (2 Timothy 4:10). And too many apostates are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (3:4). Some abandon their faith as a guise to excuse their immorality (Matthew 24:12-13). 

For example, one man I counseled chose to pursue certain pleasures that turned him away from sexual purity and marital commitment (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; Hebrews 13:4). At first, his conscience informed him that his thoughts and behaviors were sinful, but then he ignored those warnings and stopped paying attention (1 Timothy 4:1-2). He claimed that he could no longer hold to the Christian faith for intellectual reasons, but later admitted that he just wanted to live his own life without God telling him what to do.

Sin is when we find more joy in the world than in God and his promises. For this reason, whenever we turn away from God, we should examine our hearts to see if our pursuit of pleasure has caused us to stray. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who always seeks us out in order to bring us back (Matthew 18:12-14). 

Perseverance in the Faith

As a pastor, I’ve met with many Christians who have struggled with their faith. I’ve counseled parents whose adult children are no longer walking with the Lord. Many start down the path of deconstruction for various reasons, but the journey too often ends in a denial of God’s Word and the Christian faith. So how do we hold fast to the faith and help our loved ones to stand firm as well (see Jude 3)?

We’ll address that question in an upcoming article.