Deconversion?

[MystyRock]

Has anyone ever heard of deconversion? Or maybe known someone who did this?

I happened upon an online forum and read a few deconversion stories. Several individuals had a very similar background to mine, then they left that environment and had questions and doubts.

As Methodists, is it OK to question your faith? Do you worry that questioning it will lead to a path away from God?

 

[circuitrider]

The problem with the way a lot of Christian think about faith is that they think of salvation as an event in the past. Salvation isn't an event, it is a journey and conversion is an on going process which is never finished.

Christians all have doubts, Christians all have ups and downs. It doesn't mean you aren't a Christian. Remember you are saved by grace and that it is a gift of God.

IMHO questions never lead you away from God. God is the God of truth. All truth ultimately leads to God.

Yes, you can intentionally walk away form God. But that isn't a choice your "drift" into making.

 

[Maid Marie]

Has anyone ever heard of deconversion? Or maybe known someone who did this?

I happened upon an online forum and read a few deconversion stories. Several individuals had a very similar background to mine, then they left that environment and had questions and doubts.

As Methodists, is it OK to question your faith? Do you worry that questioning it will lead to a path away from God?

Nothing wrong at all with doubts and questioning you faith. It is how you learn to make it your own. But it is what you do with those doubts and questions. If you take them to God and wait upon him for the answers it can be a wonder time of growth. If you take your doubts and questions to something or someone other than God, you'll have problems.

 

[RomansFiveEight]

Faith, obedience, and serving God don't exist by accident. God does NOT want blind faith and subservientness. If he did he'd never have given us free will. God wants YOU, and God wants you genuinely. That means God wants you to wrestle, question, ask and struggle. And ultimately, God does want you to come out with a deeper, more committed faith that understands what extraordinary things God has done to prove his love for you.

 

[Dave-W]

Faith, obedience, and serving God don't exist by accident. God does NOT want blind faith and subservientness. If he did he'd never have given us free will. God wants YOU, and God wants you genuinely. That means God wants you to wrestle, question, ask and struggle. And ultimately, God does want you to come out with a deeper, more committed faith that understands what extraordinary things God has done to prove his love for you.

Excelent answer.

It even sounds rather Jewish - and that is a good thing!

 

[Reverend Greg]

Awhile back there was a story in the local paper about an atheist group having a 'de-conversion' ceremony for those who left Christianity. They were blowing drying the people to evaporate the water of baptism off of them. Rather childish.

 

[Celticflower]

I see nothing wrong with doubts. Doubting leads to questions, to the search for answers, to a deeper understanding. God gave you a brain for a reason - would seem odd if He didn't expect you to use it.

 

[Dave-W]

Awhile back there was a story in the local paper about an atheist group having a 'de-conversion' ceremony for those who left Christianity. They were blowing drying the people to evaporate the water of baptism off of them. Rather childish.

Heard about that. I also heard of another one where they had a bunch of former christians chant "I hate the Holy Ghost" to make sure they committed the unforgivable sin of blaspheming.

 

[johnford]

Has anyone ever heard of deconversion? Or maybe known someone who did this?

I happened upon an online forum and read a few deconversion stories. Several individuals had a very similar background to mine, then they left that environment and had questions and doubts.

As Methodists, is it OK to question your faith? Do you worry that questioning it will lead to a path away from God?

Questioning is healthy. If we don't question we become embedded in a 'system' and take on board the necessity to conform to the 'system' rather than being open to God.

In being open to God entails a risk and as we live in a world that craves 'certainty' there are going to be problems as God confronts us with the deadening effect of not questioning. There is no path 'leading away from God' .... there is only the matter of choice. Remember, Jesus came to comfort the disspossed not to comfort the comfortable.

 

[GraceSeeker]

And to add to the above, I have known people who were, for lack of a better word, "fickle" with regard to their faith. They may have been raised Christian (at least nominally so), had questions and rather than actual engage those questions went looking elsewhere for the answers. Next thing I knew they were practicing some sort of eastern religion (Hinduism, Buddhism, or some syncretism of various eastern philosophies). 6 months later they thought that wicca was the way to go. Then later they were on to Islam. After each one of these "conversions" they would talk about how they found the answer to life and would reject all other religions as being completely false and assert that they had found the one truth, and that all others need to listen to them since they had been part of these other faiths and rejected it for the new one, they certainly new the truth.

Well, I think that such people don't know themselves and what is in their own heart and mind well enough to speak to others. They are on a quest not for knowledge but for meaning, but because they pursue knowledge they never find meaning.

 

[MystyRock]

Thanks, everyone. In the past few weeks, I became seriously ill; in hospital for a week. Made me slow down and contemplate. I decided I could keep pursuing these other ideas, theories, etc. or focus on what I deep down know to be true.

Who knew spending time alone with God could be so......hmm. Not sure how to describe. Working on it.