James Lasher.
He wrote a bestselling book offering biblical relationship advice, spent nearly two decades in pastoral ministry and helped others navigate their faith. Then he publicly announced he was no longer a Christian.
For David Jeremiah, the account strikes painfully close to home.
“It cuts me to the heart because I am a pastor and this is happening to more pastors than I’ve ever seen before,” Jeremiah said in a recent teaching on apostasy and the end times.
The pastor called his experience deconstruction. Jeremiah described it as falling away, a departure with consequences far deeper than leaving a congregation.
“We’re talking in this lesson about falling away from Jesus himself,” he said.
Jeremiah connected that warning to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, where Paul describes a falling away preceding the revelation of the man of sin. In Jeremiah’s explanation, that specific, great rebellion will occur during the tribulation.
“This is indeed a prophecy about tomorrow that has implications for us today,” he said.
Those implications reach into churches, families and the lives of people who once appeared firmly rooted in Christianity.
Three ways faith unravels
Jeremiah identified three reasons people walk away: They become deceived, disillusioned or distracted.
Deception begins with spiritual influences and teachers who lead people away from biblical truth. Citing 1 Timothy 4:1-2, Jeremiah warned about deceiving spirits, demonic doctrines and religious leaders whose consciences have become hardened.
“These men and women attempt to cause spiritual damage and to manipulate God’s people for their own purposes,” he said.
Disillusionment can take hold when the excitement of discovering Christianity meets the pressure of hardship. Drawing from Jesus’ parable of the sower in Luke 8, Jeremiah described people who receive the gospel joyfully but develop no roots.
“So when times of testing come, the Bible says they fall away,” he said.
Distraction can grow through ordinary concerns, the pursuit of wealth and the desire for pleasure. Those competing interests gradually crowd out spiritual growth.
“They let go of their faith in order to grab all that the world has, and they grab with both hands, and there’s nothing left to hold on to Jesus with,” Jeremiah said.
How to stand firm
Jeremiah urged listeners to examine their own faith, pointing to 2 Corinthians 13:5. Years of church attendance, a Christian upbringing and ministry service can leave the central question unanswered: Have they personally trusted Jesus Christ?
“God doesn’t have any grandchildren. He just has children,” he said.
He also called Christians to strengthen themselves in the Lord, as David did during a crisis, and to train themselves in godliness.
“If you want to stay confident and strong in your faith, it is important that you keep growing in your faith,” Jeremiah said.
His teaching ended with encouragement to persevere and confidence in God’s power to sustain those who trust Him.
“So until that moment, just keep going, keep running, don’t look back, don’t give up,” he said. “Commit to building up your faith and the faith of those around you.”
