Charles Templeton was surging ahead in ministry. Converted at 21—by 1946 the Canadian evangelist founded Youth for Christ. Billy Graham was hired as the organization’s first full-time evangelist, and he and Templeton toured Europe together.

A decade later, after a turn at Princeton Theological Seminary and after wrestling with doubt, Templeton began to identify as agnostic, and his world would never be the same. 

Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ.”

Sometimes for various reasons, people walk away from their faith. In the strictest definition of this, one becomes an apostate. Sometimes a person goes on quietly about his or her life. Other times the effects are far-reaching. Joseph Stalin once studied for the priesthood, then he read Karl Marx. It’s often true that the people who are most passionate about sharing Christ can also sort of burn out. They run hot for a long time, and then the bottom falls out.

We’ve all seen celebrities that claim to know God. Some even identify as Christian, but their lives are anything but, and this calls to mind the famous passage in Matthew 13:20–22, in which the parable is given of seed being thrown onto various kinds of soil. Some of the seed, which represents the gospel, finds its way onto rocky ground or among weeds. Those hearing the Word at first are taken with it, but later abandon the faith. 

In the Old Testament, some good life lessons were given to the Israelites who struggled living among pagan nations. Jeremiah 10:2 says, “Thus says the Lord, learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them.” The idea was to maintain spiritual purity so that the storms of life would not take away a person’s faith.

We’re the same way today. If we aren’t careful, the world can look too good, and before long we’re looking in the rearview mirror at a faith that we once had. 

Let’s pray. 

Father God, help us to always keep in mind the gift that Jesus gave us on the cross. Help us daily to meditate on your grace and the mercy for our lives so that we can stay spiritually healthy. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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