should Christian influencers publicly and openly renounce their faith?

[Equippers]

some of you may have heard that Marty Sampson, the high profile Christian music writer who formerly led worship and write songs for Hillsong had openly proclaimed himself as no longer a Christian.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marty-sampson-hillsong-christianity-doubt_n_5d605421e4b02cc97c8d8724

do you think he did the right thing by sharing his doubts so openly?

for me, i feel like you can look at this in several different ways

the first way is they should not be sharing their doubts so publicly, because it would lead to others abandoning their faith as well

the second way to look at the situation why they choose to leave their faith? and how we as Christians should deal with brothers and sisters who have lost their ways. i think we should be concerned at what is happening to them, pray for them and win them back to Christ.

the third way to look at the situation is their open sharing of doubts can be a great conversation starters. Because i imagine they are not the only Christians who struggles with their faith, and by them openly sharing their doubts, we can have a open, honest, public conversation about their doubts, which would help many Christians who are going through the same thing?

so what do you think?

 

[Debp]

Please note: The article includes a 4 minute video about Hillsong Church.   I am a Worthy Watchman so I watched and approve the video.   (I thought this would be easier than having mods move this topic to the video section.)

 

I think this is very sad.   I wonder if he was simply professing Christ, rather than actually being born again.   He could have been swept up in that music career for years because it provided an income....and now his true self emerges.

I don't understand him publicizing his loss of faith to so many worldwide.   Doesn't he think about how he could harm other's faith?   This is why I question if he had saving faith to begin with.    Again, it's very sad.

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Debp
Added note re video.

[Equippers]

12 minutes ago, Debp said:

I think this is very sad.   I wonder if he was simply professing Christ, rather than actually being born again.   He could have been swept up in that music career for years because it provided an income....and now his true self emerges.

I don't understand him publicizing his loss of faith to so many worldwide.   Doesn't he think about how he could harm other's faith?   This is why I question if he had saving faith to begin with.    Again, it's very sad.

 

that is a good point, i too wonder if Marty Sampson might not actually been born again. but i guess the only one who has the answer is him...... and the Lord.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Equippers

[Equippers]

sorry, just came across this article which stated.

However, the singer told The Christian Post Tuesday that while he has not "renounced" his faith "it's on incredibly shaky ground."

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/entertainment/2019/august/hillsong-leader-denies-renouncing-faith-but-says-hes-on-incredibly-shaky-ground

[Repose]

It's one of those 50/50 things that depends on the individual.

Many get caught up in trying to appear perfect. Oh, they are without sin. Oh, they are completely knowledgeable. But how far from the truth this is, when we're just men on the Earth, men within flesh.

It can sometimes help to show and explain that we are all sinners, and fall short. While admitting that you don't understand everything can seem like you're lowering your shield to a bloodthirsty enemy, why must they be bloodthirsty, or your enemy? You know what you know and that's enough. 

I can't claim to be sinless. I've made far too many mistakes in my life, even just this morning, to try and seem perfect. There's a seemingly endless depth of knowledge and wisdom to be gained of God and his Word, and I'm certainly not a deep sea diver. I don't know or understand everything, just as Job didn't; likewise, just as Job, a guy doesn't really have to. 

He hasn't renounced his faith. Certainly compliments how much importance he places on it by being so open about it. However, yeah, he should have taken to prayer and study to abate his doubts or fears. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Repose

[GandalfTheWise]

1 hour ago, Equippers said:

so what do you think?

My opinion is that western Christians have come to think of faith as not having doubts about the correct intellectual beliefs about Christianity.  We've lost a sense of faith as being trust and confidence in God Himself which grows over years and decades as one walks with God.  If someone has doubts, we recommend some variation of "memorize these couple of Bible verses and keeping repeating them over and over to yourself until you convince yourself not to have any doubts".   We have idolized arriving at a completely objective accurate knowledge of doctrinal truth where we know everything important there is to know about God and have no doubts about it.  We become so indoctrinated into theoretical theology that we've lost much of our ability to simply live a Christian life without analyzing it and figuring out who is right or wrong.  Even a well-meaning and useful thread such as this is already one post away from becoming yet another runaway OSAS thread that gets locked 20 pages later.  Hop onto another site and it will be a discussion about what caused him to backslide.  To some extent, we have come to see being correct and not having doubts in our doctrinal beliefs as being the most important part of faith.

Trust and confidence in God is the result of walking with God and being transformed over a length of time.  It is the result of seeing His hand in our life and in those around us.  It is something that grows out of relationship and the very real things that God has done and is doing.   Lack of doubts is a result of growing trust and confidence.  Trust and confidence do not grow by trying to eliminate doubts.   Lack of darkness comes from turning on a light.  Light does not come from trying to get rid of darkness.  Doubts disappear as we spend years and decades walking with God.   Doubts magnify when we focus on trying to figure out which Christians are right about which issues.  Doubts magnify when we try to convince ourselves we have no doubts.  The more details and information we have to memorize and study and learn to reduce doubts, the more those doubts come creeping back and growing.  Doubts disappear as we see God doing more and more in our lives and others' lives.  As long as our remedy for eliminating doubts is more knowledge, more study, more truth, reading apologetics books, and basically doing our best to do things to eliminate doubts, we're going to fail.

Most of the crises of faith and doubts I hear about usually result when someone realizes that there are failings or inconsistencies in doctrinal or intellectual or practical lifestyle beliefs about Christianity.  It's a person who became saved, put their faith in the Bible, became convinced the Bible taught the earth was flat, and then took their first airplane ride around the world and started to question if the Bible could be trusted on anything.  Instead of questioning if their faith should have been in their beliefs about the Bible rather than in God Himself, they question everything.  I think this is an apt analogy for what western Christians do.  They elevate what they believe to a higher level than trust and confidence in God from what they see of Him doing.  When they start to see flaws in their beliefs, they start to question everything.

 

[Seasoned by Grace]

Good morning.

I have no idea where this Marty Simpsons heart is at and wouldn't presume to..... BUT, if you study church's history and it's members activities of the last 25 years and especially the last 5 - 10 years, you'll find there is a huge migration out of the church for various reasons. Some are leaving because they have walked away from their faith, yet some are leaving because of the false teaching and activities in the church that definetly don't teach the truth of God's word, and focus on making their church building more and more of a priority, wanting more and more money for bigger and bigger churches, and the needs of church members and others that are needy less and less important, along with other problems.

From what I study and see first hand, this is a continuation of what started in the church as an apostacy or falling away of the church members that Paul spoke of nearly 2000 years ago in 2nd Thessalonians. Here Paul is WARNING the Thessalonians is verse 2:3, "Let no one deceive you by any means; for the return of Christ will not come unless the (Great) FALLING AWAY happens first. He goes on to say more, and you can finish reading it if you wish. There definetly is, and will be a more and more ,a falling away that we are seeing more of it today if you are paying attention.

There are WARNINGS all through scripture about the ANTI-CHRIST and FALSE TEACHERS and FALSE TEACHINGS that is RAMPANT  today in nearly all churches no matter their doctrine. All you have to do is go on-line and read a churches STATEMENT OF FAITH and you'll be shocked as I was at what they believe and do.

On the other hand there are those who have either been called out of the church by God because of the falsehoods and ill-treatment of the members and also of God's word, or will be called out who honestly have searched for the truth and have found it no where else but the bible.
This is known as GOD"S WORLD-WIDE CHURCH of the CALLED OUT from the ABOMINATION, and are true believers in there hearts, and have come to ABHORE what they experience in the neighborhood churches and churches on every corner where their teachings are full of lies and deceit.

Their is a whole teaching of falling away, and you can study it in your bible and other study helps.

 If your honestly seeking the truth, just pray and ask God for the truth and the HOLY SPIRIT will LEAD AND GUIDE YOU INTO "ALL" TRUTH through the word of God.

In all God's LOVE and TRUTH - Dave

Edited September 1, 2019 by Seasoned by Grace

[ayin jade]

5 hours ago, Equippers said:

sorry, just came across this article which stated.

However, the singer told The Christian Post Tuesday that while he has not "renounced" his faith "it's on incredibly shaky ground."

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/entertainment/2019/august/hillsong-leader-denies-renouncing-faith-but-says-hes-on-incredibly-shaky-ground

I read about this a few days ago. Later after he said it was on shaky ground, he did say he was no longer a Christian. 

The bible addresses this:

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us.

What concerned me was that a so called evangelical pastor blasted franklin grahams comments regarding this. That pastor (not graham) called Christianity a rotting maggot ridden religion. 

Jesus asked if He would find anyone of faith when He returns. That is becoming more and more true each day it seems.

[shortangel]

I don't know if anybody knows who Joshua Harris is he wrote the book called I kissed dateing goodbye,  he has also said that he is not a Christian anymore & has walked away from the faith,    this is preety shocking to me because I have read his book,  but of course we need to be discerning about Christian authors too but this really shocked me,  it also saddens me that a Christian musican would walk away from the Lord too but these are the last days & discernment is needed

[JustPassingThru]

Or number four...

It could be used as a wake up call to the pew sitters to examine their own personal faith.

Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.   Heb 12:26-27