Backsliders! Are they still
Brendansaved?
Mc Crossan
Yet it was the same leaders and people who done “everything” that would say about the people who left, “they had no commitment,” and that is a lie. The problem was that those in charge never gave the body of Christ a chance to either grow in the spirit or grow in the church or prayer meeting; they were so much wrapped up in their own self importance.
Back sliders but are they still saved?
As I was praying this morning this thought came into my mind about the many Christians who have left the churches, and are called back slider’s, and I was thinking about this and wondered if these people were truly back sliders from God or back sliders from the church? Most backsliders I know have still a relationship with God, they still pray and take time out with God, Some I know have given up and no longer pray or take time out with God, and in my heart I found that this is so very sad.
I was a member of the charismatic movement for over twenty five years and I seen many come and go, accept the lord and receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and within a few years they were gone from the prayer meetings. Being there during these times I saw many things that were wrong within the charismatic movement prayer meetings or general yearly meetings. It was always the same people who done everything in these meetings, for years, they were the ones who led the meetings, they were the ones who prayed with people, they were the ones who did all the good things that were going on, these were the ones who went to all the charismatic seminars and conferences, and these were the ones who were involved in these seminars and conferences, no one else in the meetings were ever asked to do anything, it was just these cliques as they are rightly called, if you were not a part of these cliques then you didn’t do anything, and after a while people get fed up listening to the same people year after year talking and doing everything, so people left they left the charismatic prayer meetings, I doubt very much that they left the lord.
My heart tells me that anyone who has genuinely given their lives to the Lord Jesus and invited him into their hearts is still seeking God, though not in a church any more because of various reasons.
While attending the yearly charismatic conference in St Colum’s college one year, One of the main leaders stood on the platform and made this special announcement, that they, the spiritual leaders of all prayer meetings had received a message from the lord and it was tested and discerned, and believed to be from God without a shadow of a doubt; that all leaders from this week on, were to step down from the position of leadership that they held for years in their respective prayer meetings, and elect new leaders, and that was for all prayer meeting leaders from the Derry co/Derry, Ireland.
Six years later all the prayer meeting leaders still remained as leaders, not one stepped down to let fresh leaders take over as commanded by the lord God himself. Within a short period of time, one prayer meeting after another folded, until there was not even one genuine charismatic prayer meeting left standing, and so it is still to this day 2010. No prayer meeting exists in the city of Derry or Londonderry region that could be called a genuine prayer meeting with praise and worship and tongues and gifts of the spirit manifesting. The Spirit of God left, and
then the people left and eventually the leaders themselves finally left, because there was no one there but
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Then we began a praise and worship in our home and the lord told me to bring in other leaders to lead and to listen to as well as Rose and me. And during the years every member of our Praise and worship group, gave a talk, prayed with the sick, went out to the conferences and they were the ones who done the talking and the praying and God got all his well deserved glory and I was truly delighted. There was no one idle in our Praise and worship meeting, everyone was deeply involved, even relatively new members, the whole body was a working functioning body of Christ, all their gifts were used to the full as we seen them develop. We received amazing blessings from the lord and saw many, many miracles as God was glorified in his body.
So when someone says to me that such and such a person has backsliden I think that they were never given as much as a good task within the church, and that they backslid from the church and not from God, they could see the cliques, those same certain people always used and when the church asked for volunteers to do something important, the friends of the pastor or elders were picked to do it, those regular clique members.
Slowly as the lord worked in me I changed, and I began to encourage people who had never prayed with a sick person before to lay hands and the lord used them as much as he used me to heal folk, and I got to the stage that it was more important for God to get “all” the glory than for me to be seen doing something.
In the protestant church’s I seen the same thing happening, the Pastor or vicar was the only one who preached, done anything, or the elders were the chosen ones, who done all, and they would complain when a menial job came up that no one wanted to do the menial job. Why should they when they kept away people away from anything important? People are not stupid; they know that it’s only the dirty Jobs that are available to them, like cleaning out the toilets or cleaning the church, or looking after the church grounds. They are never asked to give a sermon, to do anything important, and yet I have heard the church leaders say, God wants his body to grow in the gifts of the spirit, yet they do not give them an opportunity to grow in their gifts because simply put, they want the important jobs, they wish to be seen. I know because I used to be like that, I felt that I knew more scripture truths than anyone in the prayer meeting, that no one could lead the worship like me, or talk like me, or pray with the sick like me. Then I grew up with the help of my dear wife Rose, and I seen that I had nothing except a large dose of pride. Ok I could do these things very well thank you, but it wasn’t the lord who received “all” the glory, I got my little minute portion.
Because of what I had learned I came to realise that the reason people backslide is because they are not actively involved in the church doing the important things as well as the menial things, you never complain about doing a menial task when you are also leading the worship, praying with people or doing something within the church that is needed.
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Any backsliders I talked with told me that they were dissatisfied with the church itself, or with the pastor or leaders who ruled with an iron fist and not with love. Who were unapproachable because of their “I’M always right attitude.” You can’t talk with someone who is always right, even when they are wrong.
Instead of criticising the backslider, let’s examine what it is in us that made them leave the church or meeting, and change in us our attitude, and seek repentance with the lord and correction, lets love the church of God into action.
In the church I go to at this present moment, it is the loneliest place in the world for me as people stick to their own little group of friends, and make no or little effort to talk with me or with others just newly joined, I am extremely aware that cliques destroy the church body and unless you get invited into one of these cliques, your an outsider, and stand alone. I have told my pastor of my feelings on this subject, and how I find it difficult to fellowship with people who either stand with their back to me or ignore me completely, talking with just their friends, and no one else. I have seen new people come and be ignored by most of the church members except for the pastor or one or two of the elders, but the members don’t include them into their little gatherings, and so these people left out.
In other churches I have witnessed the members welcome strangers in and talk with them before and after church services, going out of their way to talk with people. Believe it or not I am a shy person and find it difficult to just walk over to someone and start a conversion with them; when you know me and make friends with me I am totally the opposite, as all who know me can testify.
Others left because they were not actively involved and were never given a chance to become involved.Istilldon’tbelievetheturned theirbackonGod,Ibelievethechurcheshavetoreally examine themselves very deeply and carefully with the Holy Spirits guidance to search out the truth. Have they turned people off church or caused them to backslide.
I find it difficult to believe that people actually turn away from God himself, especially after they seen his love for them, but they turn away from church, because the church drove them away, or they seen fault within the church and there was no one to talk with about this fault because the important people were the clique members.
God is love and born again children of God know that God loves them, and even though they may have left the church, they haven’t left God, they still talk with him, and they say, I have my own relationship with God.
People like myself with my kind of nature, have difficulty mixing with people, and I know that; perhaps I make people feel uncomfortable, I don’t know; But not everyone has my nature or there wouldn’t even be any cliques, the church if it is really Christ centred should be taught to look out for people new and to make them feel welcome. That is just one of the reasons people stay away from church, and leave, they never fitted in, or they were not welcomed in. I don’t believe they backslid, they just weren’t comfortable in the house of God.
If we did this perhaps there would be fewer backsliders?
Another thing I heard from Christians who go nowhere now and are called backsliders, that they were hurt by church members deeply, some lording it over them or through jealousy, someone being jealous of another’s gifts and calling so they knock then down constantly belittling them or deliberately choosing someone else who has a lesser gift over them, because the person in charge of some church program didn’t like them. {This is sin by the way}
Backsliders are they still saved? Yes I believe they are because I don’t believe someone who loves God deeply just turns their back on him, the church yes, but turn their back on God? No! Lets begin to really forget about ourselves and welcome people into our churches; how are the churches ever going to draw the unlovable, the wino, the adulterer, those living together, or the homosexual, into a relationship with God if they don’t even put themselves out for those whocomeregularlytochurch;wearesupposedtoreflecttheloveofGodinourlives,arethose who backslid seen that love of Jesus in us? Have we shown the love of God to everyone not just our friends?
Amen