Addressing The Issue of College Apostasy
2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2
May 15, 2022
This morning we are going to do something a little bit different.
We’re going to look at a text, but the majority of what we’re going to talk about this morning is of A TOPICAL NATURE.
I’ve had this topic on my mind for quite some time, in fact I had initially thought it might be a theme for a future Disciple Now, but since we recently completed a segment in 1 John and since today is our senior recognition day, today seemed like that day.
The issue we’re going to talk about is what I’m calling:
“The Issue of College Apostasy”
APOSTASY of course is a falling away from the faith.
It is the issue that has grieved and burdened
Countless parents and church members for years.
You take a child who is raised in church and who is active
And then they go off to college and they abandon the faith.
Lifeway has tracked these types of statistics for years and for the past decade the number has rested somewhere between 66 and 70 percent.
That alone is a staggering number.
If that number holds in our church, then of the 7 youth we are celebrating today
That would mean that 5 of them would drop out after they leave here.
We certainly hope that is not the case,
But tragically it is the case in churches all across America.
I want to address that this morning, especially with you seniors and even with those of you who will graduate in the next few years.
This is hardly a new statistic, it’s been discussed for years.
Most of the time THE BLAME for this staggering statistic has been pointed at the church and probably even more specifically, at the youth ministry.
The George Barna group recently posted an article entitled “Six Reasons Young Christians Leave The Church”
Reason #1 – Churches seem overprotective.
• Namely the church painted everything outside as “taboo” and the teen’s own curiosity leads them to try what was previously forbidden.
Reason #2 – Teens’ and twentysomethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow.
• Church is boring, they didn’t feel God enough.
Reason #3 – Churches come across as antagonistic to science.
• When they enter a secular atmosphere where science is used to attack Christianity they feel they have to choose one or the other and end up leaving.
Reason #4 – Young Christians’ church experiences related to sexuality are often simplistic, judgmental.
• Partly it is the issue of sexually active teens who are now feel judged and partly because the church’s views are anti-cultural.
Reason #5 – They wrestle with the exclusive nature of Christianity.
• The church isn’t tolerant enough and teenagers don’t want to choose between their faith and their friends.
Reason #6 – The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.
• They don’t feel allowed to question their beliefs or the church doesn’t have sufficient answers for their doubt.
https://biologos.org/articles/six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4PKTBhD8ARIsAHChzRIgaP3H-nNeDfVFkpCazi_CuAKvfqnEfdpQ-qQnvWGHto0hO978gNMaArKhEALw_wcB
And so typically the reason why teenagers leave the church
Is stemmed from some failure of the church
To do church the right way.
(The one I always heard is that we don’t do a good job of discipling)
Now, I IN NO WAY would say that any church (including ours)
Is a perfect example of what the church should be all the time.
Every church has ways in which we can improve
To be better suited for the work of Christ, and we are no different.
However, it shows an extreme lack of spiritual discernment
To not realize what is really happening.
IN FACT, as we have been studying 1 John recently, I believe John has already clearly and emphatically answered the question.
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”
John was clear that believers don’t leave the church.
Those who do fall away do so because they “are not of us”
Now, that DOESN’T MEAN that every kid that goes off to college and temporarily gets out of the habit of church attendance is lost.
The writer of Hebrews is clear that sometimes even genuine believers fall out of habit and need to return.
But for those who totally lose their faith and turn from the Lord,
The problem is not that the church in someway failed,
But rather that their faith was not genuine.
Now perhaps the church was too quick to declare them “saved”
But still the problem is a lack of genuine redemption,
Not some failure of church style.
And this is what I want to address with you seniors this morning,
And even you other teenagers who are not far behind them.
We’re going to bounce around a little, but I want you to understand the reality of this world and what awaits.
#1 THE DANGER
I want to remind you of something that is often forgotten.
In fact, it is ASTOUNDING to me that someone could research why teenagers leave the church and yet no one put this on the list.
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS DIDN’T MAKE THE LIST.
But here is the reality.
• There is a spiritual enemy of your soul.
• There is one who is on the loose who is looking to attack.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY GUYS.
There is a very active and eager enemy in this world who comes
“only to steal, kill, and destroy.”
He is the chief adversary of your soul.
• He is the DRIVING FORCE behind every agnostic professor…
• He is the DRIVING FORCE behind every sexual temptation…
• He is the DRIVING FORCE behind every woke cultural deception…
Satan is “the god of this world” and make no mistake,
He has set his eyes on toppling you!
Not necessarily in a physical or even financial way.
But of utmost priority his objective is TO WRECK YOUR SOUL.
He is warring to destroy your faith
And to lead you into unbelief, sin, and absolute ruin.
I want you to be aware of that.
But there’s a second thing I want you to know about.
#2 THE BUBBLE
Perhaps you’d call it “the shield” or “the hedge” or whatever.
But I want you to be aware of is that God has
A protective bubble that He places upon His children.
Psalms 2:12 “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
Psalms 5:12 “For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”
Psalms 32:7 “You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”
Psalms 32:10 “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.”
Psalms 9:9 “The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;”
Psalms 31:20 “You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the conspiracies of man; You keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues.”
So while there is an enemy who rages and seeks to devour,
There is also a shield from God over His children.
This bubble DOES NOT keep them from being persecuted or hated,
But IT DOES keep them from falling away from the faith.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
John 6:39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”
SO while the enemy would seek to pull God’s children away from Him,
There is a protective refuge which God places over His own
To keep them from falling away.
This is easily seen in the story of Job.
Job 1:6-10 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
There you have that lion prowling seeking someone to devour.
And when God mentions Job, notice what Satan said:
“Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?”
So you think Satan hadn’t tried to get to Job?
• He’d tried to get Job…
• He’d tried to get to his house…
• He’d tried to get to his possessions…
• He’d tried from every side…
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?
Satan couldn’t get to Job because God had protected him.
Job was in the bubble, he was in the hedge.
God has a protective bubble or hedge or hiding place or refuge
That He places over those who are His own
And they are protected from the evil one.
NOW LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY TO THIS
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN EVEN NON-BELIEVERS
ENJOY THE BENEFIT OF GOD’S BUBBLE.
There are people, who do not know the Lord; who are not saved,
Yet, who do enjoy the safety and protection
Of living inside of God’s bubble or hedge.
Let me show you:
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.”
I know this is about marriage, but listen to what is being said here.
• Here we have a marriage where one of the spouses is a non-believer.
• It is either a non-believing husband or a non-believing wife married to a believer.
And the question is: Should I divorce them and send them away?
Paul says, “No”
WHY?
“For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband…”
“sanctified” means “set-apart”
What Paul is saying is this.
• If that non-believer wants to stay, let them stay.
• They are “sanctified” or “set-apart” or in the bubble because of you!
God doesn’t have them in a bubble, He has you in a bubble,
But because of you they get to live under that same protection.
In Job’s day it would be Job’s wife who enjoyed all the blessings of living in the hedge that God had placed around Job.
Let me show you some MORE EXAMPLES of this:
Remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah?
• God determined to destroy Sodom because of their great sin.
• But God first sent to pull Lot out who the Bible says was a righteous man.
• But I want you to notice what the angel says to Lot.
Genesis 19:15-22 “When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.”
Did you catch that?
“I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”
God would not destroy Sodom so long as Lot was there.
Why? Because Lot was His child.
Sodom was actually protected from judgment
So long as Lot was in their midst.
There again you see non-believers who are allowed to live inside the bubble that God has placed around one of His children.
Remember the parable of the wheat and the tares?
Mathew 13:24-30 “Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Later Jesus explained that parable:
Matthew 13:36-43 “Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
You see the same principle.
You have tares, who do not know God, and who are not His children,
Yet they enjoy protection only because
God is not willing to destroy any of His wheat.
So it’s NOT that the tares are protected,
But they are living inside the bubble of protection
Which God has afforded to the wheat.
This is why the ultimate penalty of CHURCH DISCIPLINE is to remove the sinner outside of the bubble.
Remember the church at Corinth who had that “so-called” brother who was sleeping with his father’s wife.
1 Corinthians 5:1-5 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
What did Paul say to do to that man?
“deliver such a one to Satan”
What does that mean?
• Kick him out of the bubble.
• Send him outside of the hedge.
That man is protected so long as he is in your midst,
You need to remove him so that he will be chastised by the enemy.
So are you following the point that I am making here?
• We have a protective bubble which God has placed over His children.
• This keeps them from the evil one.
• And at times even non-believers benefit from that bubble.
At times even those who do not know the Lord are protected
Simply because they live in that bubble.
SO WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH COLLEGE APOSTASY?
Let me tell you what is about to happen in your life.
Everyone of you is about to leave your home.
I think probably most of you are about to leave this church.
YOU HAVE BEEN IN A BUBBLE HERE.
If you have believing parents, you have benefited from God’s protection over their home.
If you have been a part of this church, you have benefited from God’s protection over this church.
Namely there has been a hedge around you that kept Satan at a distance.
But WHAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN to high school seniors across our nation?
They’re about to leave the bubble.
Does that mean that they are about to be unprotected?
Yes, UNLESS they have their own bubble.
THIS IS THE EXPLANATION
For why so many teenagers go off to college and fall away.
It is because they have spent the first 18 years of their lives
Under the protection that God has afforded their home,
And they have been relatively sheltered from the attacks of the enemy.
But they are ABOUT TO LEAVE THAT BUBBLE; leave that hedge; leave that home and go out into the world.
And once they leave the hedge…
“Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour…”
And the lion wastes no time pouncing on his prey.
And we see the devastating effects year after year
• Of teenagers who grew up in the church,
• But who did not know Christ
• And they find out very quickly that they are no match for the enemy.
They end up doing things people thought they would never do.
They end up abandoning the church and people are shocked.
WHY?
It’s because on their own they are no match for the enemy.
On their own they are no match for the lion.
• The god of this world spews his godless doctrine at them…
• The god of this world hits them with his foolish logic…
• The god of this world showers them with temptation…
• And they have no power to overcome him.
And they stumble and fall because for the first time in their lives
They faced him without the hedge in between them.
And if the statistics hold true
That is happening to 7 out of 10 teenagers in the church.
SO THE QUESTION ON YOUR MIND SHOULD BE:
How do I become one of those 3 who remains?
Well this morning LET’S CONCLUDE YOUR YOUTH TRAINING.
For the past 7 years that you’ve been in youth
We have bombarded you with 2 words.
We’ve talked about it over and over and over.
Those two words are, “in Him”
• We have told you repeatedly that the only way to be justified is to be “in
Christ Jesus”
• We have told you repeatedly that the only way to be saved is to be “in Christ
Jesus”
And now let me tell you that
The only way to be protected from the evil one is if you are “in Him”
UP UNTIL NOW,
• You could come to church or youth, hear the gospel and reject Christ
• You could ignore the call and still live somewhat protected
• Because while you may have rejected Christ you were still safe because your dad is “in Him” or your mom is “in Him”
• They are shielded and you have been living inside their hedge.
BUT THAT TIME IS DRAWING TO A CLOSE.
You are about to leave their bubble.
This morning I want to ask you if you have a hedge of your own?
Jesus Christ is our bubble.
Jesus Christ is our hedge.
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And I remind you that this promise is NOT UNIVERSAL to all people.
There are plenty who abide under the wrath of God
And who are fair game for the enemy.
That promise of protection.
That promise of victory.
Is only for those who are in Christ Jesus.
He is our hiding place.
He is our refuge.
He is our hedge and our bubble.
And when you leave your home and this church
And you go out into the world,
If you do not go in Christ Jesus,
You will not survive the attack of the evil one.
• He will deceive you…
• He will lead you into sin…
• He will pull you away from the truth…
• He will lure you into that which is designed to destroy your soul…
I CAN’T STRESS TO YOU ENOUGH
You must yield your life to Christ.
You must believe in Christ
You must trust Christ
The time is soon approaching when
You will no longer be trading on the faith of your parents.
You are about to go into this world on your own.
AND AS THE STATISTICS SEEM TO BEAR OUT,
Far too many go out unprepared to face the lion that is hunting them.
YOU NEED THE SEAL OF CHRIST.
Revelation 7:1-3 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Revelation 9:1-4 “Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”
Do you see it again?
You don’t want to face the enemy without God’s protection.
SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US THIS MORNING?
It leaves you with the responsibility to trust Christ.
Remember the book of Acts
• Peter preached to the Jews who had just rejected Jesus.
• Peter revealed to them how much danger they were in for rejecting Christ.
Acts 2:37-40 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Are you listening?
Before you face the god of this world, what should you do?
“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
DO YOU SEE THAT?
AND INCIDENTALLY PARENTS
• This is the goal of raising kids, to lead them to Christ.
• If kids have already strayed, the goal is to lead them to Christ.
SENIORS
• I know this is supposed to be celebratory time in your life.
• I realize there is tremendous pressure for me just to tell you to shoot for the moon and hopefully land among the stars.
• I know the expectation is that I will just sit here and tell you all that you will do great things in life.
But wouldn’t Satan love it
If we decided to party instead of getting prepared.
You must be saved from this perverse generation.
• I realize you’ve all been GOOD KIDS.
• I realize you’ve all been taught GOOD MORALS.
• I realize you’ve all got a handle on ETHICS and right and wrong.
And yet we’ve seen plenty of good kids go to college
And come back supporting abortion and gay marriage
And sexual immorality and plenty other ideas of godlessness.
I see the videos on social media where college students are interviewed and can’t even answer the question regarding what is the difference between a man and a woman?
I promise you they knew the answer 5 years ago in high school.
You all know the answer this morning.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The went into this world and Satan attacked them
With his perverse and backward logic
And without Christ they were not match for him.
Listen to me teenager, THIS IS NOT A GAME.
• You need Christ!
• You personally need Him!
• You cannot trade any longer on the faith of your parents.
• You must hide in Christ!
• You must rest in Him!
And this morning I’m putting that directly to you.
• Have you given your life to Christ or just ignored the issue?
• Maybe you made a decision in the past, but that’s not what I’m
asking.
I’m asking if you belong to Christ today?
I’M ASKING IF CHRIST IS IN YOU TODAY?
Are you His?
Are you serving Him?
Do you love Him?
Are you a child of God?
Do you have your own bubble?
If not, then this morning, I beg you to be reconciled to God.
I beg you not to go off to college without a relationship with Jesus,
You won’t make it.
So let me come back to that text we opened with.
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
I am begging you to be reconciled to God.
• Christ was treated as though He lived your life so that you might be forgiven.
• I am begging you to trust in Him
• So that you might be treated as though you lived His life.
You must be in Him.
For the past 7 years God’s grace has been on you.
• He has allowed you to hear the gospel.
• He has offered you salvation over and over and over.
• It is an offer of grace.
And to that we say with Paul:
“we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain”
If you have neglected that offer, then neglect it no longer.
“now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
