Abandoning Jesus

1/18/2025

My wife Lynn and I have been serving together in youth group/youth ministry now for 13 years this January. I honestly did not know for sure what God wanted me to do after high school or what type of ministry I would be called to serve, but for whatever reason God saw fit to keep us at the same church and in the same youth ministry for this long. It’s been quite the journey. I’m 31 now and over a third of my life has been spent preaching, teaching, discipling, spending time with, and forming relationships with middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students.

We’ve seen many youth students come and go. I’ve seen people saved by the grace of God/Jesus Christ and have their entire lives transformed such that they are completely unrecognizable compared to when I first met them. Many are still walking with the Lord and love him and have only increased in faithfulness and devotion to Him. There’s also been people that have come through the youth group and remain unchanged - I still fully believe God can extend His mercy and grace to them and save them. Perhaps most tragically, there have been some who seemed to demonstrate genuine interest, faith in, and love for Jesus in high school - they perhaps served on praise team, went on short term missions trips with us, got baptized through the youth group, shared their testimony, brought even their friends to church and shared the gospel with them, and seemed to truly trust in Christ only to abandon him altogether in college or beyond.

When I experienced people abandoning the faith for the first time, I think I blamed myself the most. I thought to myself, “man, if only I had spent more time with them… I should’ve discipled them more… I should’ve prayed for them more… I should’ve preached better… I should’ve taught more… we should’ve read this book or that book… it’s all my fault” I still think about the people who have come/gone through our youth group and are no longer walking with Jesus from time to time and it brings a deep sadness to my heart and I pray a brief prayer for them.

I often wonder, man what caused them to fall away from the faith and abandon Jesus? What’s more valuable or more precious or more important or more significant than Jesus? Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:24-26, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

What shall a man given in return for his soul? Most commonly these days I see many people exchanging their soul for money, career, comfort, a relationship, to be loved or adored by man, or even food. Famously in the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau (brothers), Esau sells his entire inheritance and birthright for some of the red stew Jacob was cooking up. Abraham, their faither, was an extremely rich man. When you read that story and found out that Esau traded his entire inheritance and birthright for some red stew, the average person feels appalled and in disbelief that Esau would act so stupidly. And yet isn’t that what people are doing when they abandon Christ? Forsaking eternal life for a temporary life. Forsaking life with God for a momentary life on earth. Forsaking true wealth for a temporary wealth that we cannot take to the grave. Forsaking eternal salvation to hold on to a world that is passing. Forsaking true meat and drink for ashes. Forsaking the fountain of life to enjoy some red stew for a moment.

You’re rich now? You won’t be be able to hold on to a penny after you’re gone.

You’re strong now? One day your strength will evaporate and you’ll be old and disabled.

You’re full now and enjoy good food and drink? You’ll be empty and won’t enjoy the great wedding feast of Jesus and the church.

You’re beautiful now? Like a flower your beauty will fade and shrivel.

You’ve accomplished much? Nobody will remember your name in the eternity of time.

You’ve traveled the world and enjoyed your life? What about eternal life?

What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

The puritan pastor William Jenkyn rightly says, “To forsake Christ for the world, is to leave a treasure for a trifle, eternity for a moment, reality for a shadow.”

The red stew is not worth losing your inheritance and yet people forsake Christ all the time for lesser trifles.

Somebody asked me this past year, “how do you handle people leaving the faith as a youth pastor?” I used to blame myself the most for people abandoning Christ. I’m reminded from Scripture that if I faithfully preached the Gospel to them, every person takes personal responsibility for how they respond to Jesus. Even during Jesus’ ministry there were disciples of Jesus who stopped walking as disciples and abandoned Christ altogether. In John 6:66, after giving a hard and difficult message, it says “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Famously, even one of the twelve apostles/disciples (Judas) was not a genuine disciple and abandoned and betrayed Christ.

I believe God is 100% sovereign in salvation and has the power to overcome any unwilling soul. And yet when people refused to follow Jesus, Jesus Himself blamed them for their personal unbelief, “39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).

Every individual person has a personal responsibility to respond to the message of Jesus. That is the clear teaching of scripture. And yet, it deeply pains me and breaks my heart to see people abandon Christ nonetheless. I know that it pains God to see people run away from him and refuse to follow Christ. Jesus, the great Shepherd, leaves the 99 sheep to go find the lost sheep and bring them home. (Luke 15:3-7) 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” That’s the heart of God, He is patient and wishes that all should repentance.

What gives me hope, is that there is still time for those who have abandoned Christ to come back to Jesus. I remember the story of the prodigal son and remember the actions of the father when his wayward son starts coming home, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

If you’ve abandoned Christ, I want to give you hope. God is waiting for you. God is waiting to embrace you with nothing but love and compassion and grace. God has open arms towards you. It’s not too late. You can still come home. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been. Won’t you come home?