#3 “8 Steps To Shipwreck Your Faith”

Perhaps no other blog has reflected my greatest fight in ministry, the battle against liberalism. It’s been said often, “Bad theology” hurts real people.  I have seen liberalism take its destructive course on individuals, families, churches and even entire denominations. It is sad. It is predictable and it is seldom seen by those who are in the middle of it.

Camp Qwanoes has a place outside the camp limits called “The Boneyard” where the old equipment from the past lays in piles all over the place. What once brought the camp vibrancy, laughter and joy now sits there— dead and decomposing.

I have friends like that. They used to have vibrant faith, were leaders of ministries and boldly proclaimed gospel truths. They don’t do that anymore. They lay on the scrap heap, having walked away from their faith. I have had conversations with them all along the way and observed the predictable pattern.

Paul warns that you can “Shipwreck your faith” (1 Timothy 1:19). This picture of a useless, damaged boat is a vivid picture of what can happen to us if we are not on constant watch over our lives. Here are eight steps you can take on the road to shipwreck.

For the record, I don’t encourage any of them.

1. Have a bad experience with a church.

People get hurt in church community because people are sinful and naturally hurt each other. Rather than deal with it in accordance with the gospel and gospel community, some deal with it improperly which leaves them with an unresolved, unforgettable wound and scar.

Sometimes it is a real hurt and sometimes its just a misunderstanding…either way, now you can give yourself the label “VICTIM” and can now write books, blog or complain in coffee shops to friends about “How bad the church is.” You have now given yourself permission to leave your community and go find it somewhere else. 

It starts with an emotional experience, a broken relationship. Then it moves to an authority thing. 

2. Limit The Importance Of Scripture

The first sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, was to reject God’s authority in favour of their own. They wanted to be independent of anyone telling them how to live. We have been following their model ever since. The Bible is the authoritative word of God. Some, en route to shipwreck,  begin to limit the authority of God in the Bible and distance themselves from people or communities who take the Bible seriously. They call them “old-fashioned”, “right-wing”, “fundamentalist”, or a combination of all three.

Having a moderate/liberal view of Scripture creates that distance you need to not take biblical authority seriously and leads to the third step.

3. Question The Authority Of Scripture By Becoming Its Critic.

Shipwreck sojourners may not write off the Bible entirely, but they do limit its importance and sometimes just start to disagree with parts of it (particularly the parts that culture disagrees with it).

If Scripture cannot be interpreted literally then things like Creation, Hell, Substitutionary Atonement and the Exclusivity of Jesus are all on the table and up for debate. The path to a shipwrecked faith operates in reaction to conservative abuses and seeks new liberal, culturally appropriate alternatives to these culturally unpopular doctrines.

In this way, people jump out of the fundamentalist ditch and into the liberal one.

4. Find a church that does not value the Bible.

People who belittle Scripture both publicly and privately look for communities who share the same perspective. People in such places will not value the public declaration of something they do not value. This proves the old addage,

“Apathy loves company.”

When Scripture loses its prophetic, authoritative voice, the gospel is not declared, the biblically revealed nature and character of God are not taught nor are they exalted. People become more focussed on themselves rather than the God of the Bible.

5. Don’t talk about Jesus.

Because Scripture is ignored, so go the controversial doctrines of hell, gender roles, and substitutionary atonement.  It’s awkward to tell people about Jesus because people do not always want to hear that their sin separates them from God both today and eternally. People stop sharing their faith (what’s the point, they’re all going to heaven anyway?) and when your church does not face any persecution, it starts to die.

Congregations then become inwardly focussed on community development and community care and do not operate with an urgency to live on mission with a priority of reaching the lost.

6. Focus On Social Justice Over Theology

In shipwreck bound communities, social justice takes precedence over the gospel. Conviction is based on “you have a lot, these people have nothing…now do something about it.”

These sermons do work for awhile because they make people feel guilty about what they have been given. The reason why these motivators don’t work long term is because social justice messages tend not to address the fact that the reason why we have so much poverty and injustice in our world/city is because of universal, original sin (aka human depravity).

Social justice, though extremely important, is always of secondary importance. Paul reminds us that Jesus’ death and resurrection are always central to our message (1 Cor 15:3). Our efforts, no matter how valiant cannot solve the world’s sin problem. Only Jesus can do that and he will one day come and end all injustice and poverty on earth. We look forward to that day and do all we can to ease human suffering until then.

We work hard and fight hard looking towards the day when the Son comes to bring justice to earth. Justice will come, but it will not primarily come from us. Our best efforts are a preview of heaven’s feature presentation.

If you do not keep that perspective (that you will never make a perfect world) you will burn out. Without that reminder, shipwreck comes in the reality of despair that all our well intentioned social workers who focussed on solving sin and not on the sin-solving Saviour got burned out and give up.

7. Slowly wander away.

If you don’t talk about the gospel and God’s holiness, you don’t get lost in the wonder of why Jesus came and died and why he even had to die like that. Without the reality and reminder that you deserve to spend eternity paying for your sin but by God’s grace you will not— there is no emotional reaction, no passion, no commitment to the call of Christ.

Other things take over the place that God once had. The busyness of our culture allows us to simply wander away. Family, finances, shopping, cleaning, cooking, relaxing weekends, sports, holidays. If you’re not committed to Christ and his mission, there are a whole bunch of other things that slowly take his place.

By this point, there’s only one step left and then…You’re done.

8. Declare “Shipwreck.”

This is the last step on a trajectory that was set a long time ago. The ship has been beaten, it has hit enough rocks to poke all sorts of holes in it and then it sinks quietly. There is no more prayer, no more evangelism and no care for the things of God.

The ship is sunk.

“You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

Revelation 2:4-5