Generation Ex-Christian is a book about younger believers leaving Christianity. Drew Dyck, the author of the book, chronicles one interview he had with a young man who left Christianity to join the Wiccans: “Ultimately why I left is that the Christian God demands that you submit to His will. In Wicca, it’s just the other way around. Your will is paramount. We believe in gods and goddesses, but the deities we choose to serve are based on our wills.” This young man’s desire to turn from the true and living God to idols is not shocking, nor is it new.
Several millennia ago, God appealed to the Gentiles, who were serving gods they had formed by their own whims and wills, to turn from their wooden idols and embrace the one and only God who could save and shape them. They were commanded to hear the prophecies God had given and acknowledge that He was God and there was no other god besides Him (Isaiah 45:21-22). He wanted them to turn to Him because one day all peoples on the earth would acknowledge His will and submit to His sovereign rule. Every knee would bow and every tongue acknowledge Him as the one and only God (Isaiah 45:14,23; Romans 14:11), either voluntarily or by force.
Isaiah’s prophecy finds its clearest reflection in Jesus’ exaltation and sovereign authority (Philippians 2:9-11). Because of the extent of His authority (in heaven, on earth, and under the earth), no one will escape His rule.
One day, everyone will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is exactly who He claimed to be—God. His will is paramount. Let’s willingly bow before Him now and submit our lives to His will and His lordship, all to the glory of God the Father.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Kings 2:1-12
More:
Read Revelation 5:13-14 and carefully consider what it reveals about Jesus.
Next:
What will you do or say this week to acknowledge that God’s will is paramount and that there is no other god besides Him? How have you been trying to place your will over God’s will?
Sandy on April 23, 2013 at 6:11 am
I wonder. Aside from submitting to God’s will, did the young man hear that God loved him, and that this surrender would have been the true freedom to live and move and have his being?
Lord, love the prodigal back into your everlasting arms.
Gene on April 23, 2013 at 7:14 am
Yes, we need to pray for this young man and the generation X-ers. Yet, this is not a new trend as Marvin points out. In fact we (especially me) are all guilty of continually trying to insert our will over God’s sovereignty in our lives.
tom felten on April 23, 2013 at 8:52 am
Marvin, thanks for calling us to submit our lives anew to Jesus today. When we submit to His authority and perfect ways, our lives may not be perfect—but they will be found in Him! Recently, I attended the “You Lost Me” conference, which provides information for why and how young adults sometimes leave the church and the Christian faith.
If there are some ODJ readers out there who have left the church—what compelled you to do so? What would need to change for you to come back?
jennifer benson schuldt on April 23, 2013 at 2:25 pm
Tom,
I am reading (on and off) the book, You Lost Me, which I assume was the basis for the conference you attended. If people can’t make it to a conference, I encourage them to read the book. It’s important information, and interesting too!
May we reach out to the next generation of Christians with encouragement and support as they navigate the social and cultural pressures of our time. Let them (and us) see that “God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true” (Psalm 18:30).
tom felten on April 24, 2013 at 8:12 am
Amen, Jen. Yes, the book and the conference cover the same material. Very helpful and insightful!
Wiggy on April 23, 2013 at 8:52 pm
Marvin,
The sad story of the young man who left the Way of Christ for Wiccan paganism is as old as Eden and the forbidden fruit: Satan’s seductive promise was, “In the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God/gods…”. Aleister Crowley, the great 20th-Century prophet of Neo-Paganism and the occult sciences, was once the son of a preacher of the Gospel – a boy who dreamt of becoming an evangelist, like his father! Crowley’s key article of his particular creed of unbelief was: “Do what thou wilt!” – his doctrine of Thelema — a blatant antithesis of Christ’s Gethsemane prayer, “…not my will, but Thine be done.”!
In the end, the Thelemic doctrine is the ultimate seduction, the ultimate expression of “God is dead” philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche’s glorification of the will to power in man. The last book of the Bible teaches us so potently: To worship Man is actually to worship Satan, the enemy of both God and Man!
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened. ”
― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
tom felten on April 24, 2013 at 8:11 am
Great quote from Lewis, Wiggy. Thanks so much for sharing it. Some words for us to live by today as we submit to God and His will: “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth” (Matthew 6:10).
alli on April 25, 2013 at 8:31 pm
So its easy to do if you arent grounded but i think if your really converted not even death will separate you. It may be the guy wasnt ever really sold out..sometimes the hard word can turn ppl away if God doesnt do the work
alli on April 25, 2013 at 8:28 pm
I had kind of not walked away from God but we had a cool relationship..i left church kind of bc of a hurt by Christians and i was offended really bad but i guess im seeing God plan even in hurt
tom felten on April 26, 2013 at 8:52 am
Alli, it’s sad but true that we often hurt one another in the Body of Christ. I’m so glad it sounds like you’re being able to work through the pain and cling to your faith—focusing on the good that can result from us continuing to meet with fellow believers in Jesus (Hebrews 10:24-25).