What Leads to Apostasy?

It happens slowly, almost too slowly to even be noticed. It has reduced nations to footnotes of history, church buildings to museums, and souls to eternal destruction.

It is apostasy, and it is a word that has become rarely used in our modern world.

However, even a cursory reading of Scripture will show that any group, when they have left the ways of God, has suffered terribly for it.

But what causes apostasy?

There are dozens of specific things we could list, but I came across this quote recently from Gary Inrig that puts it better than I ever could have worded it:

Spiritual amnesia inevitably produces spiritual apostasy.

When we forget God, we leave God. When we fail to consider both His blessings and His judgment, we turn to wickedness. Or, as Hosea put it through inspiration, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

Why are older Christians so concerned with what they see as a lack of Biblical knowledge, even among our churches? Why do elders, Bible class teachers, and preachers stress personal Bible reading and study so much?

It is because, without the knowledge of God, we are doomed. It really is that simple.

When we fail to admit that, we are admitting our own ignorance of Scripture. Spend serious time in the books of Judges, Amos, Habakkuk, or 2 Kings and just see if it isn’t true that those who forgot God eventually lost their freedoms, prosperity, and souls.

Apostasy doesn’t start when we allow one particular sin to invade our homes or society. It starts when we fail to focus our minds on God in every area of life, from what to do to what not to do. It starts when we fail to show real gratitude to the One who gives every good and perfect gift. It starts when we fail to teach our children respect for authority, since He is the ultimate and final authority.

If you, your family, your congregation, or your nation has forgotten God, the Creator will not stand for it forever. Though longsuffering, His justice demands that He punish sins that are not repented of.

And the first one of those is spiritual amnesia.

Remember God!

QUESTIONS: Why is it so difficult to see the slow drift into apostasy? What can a person or nation do to start the momentum another way?

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Photo credit: @boetter on Creative Commons

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