Articles
The One Good Reason to Quit
As pointed out in the previous article, many people fall away. Some outright reject Christianity. Some simply fade away. Others die in the pew (they show up to worship, but their heart is far from God). Many turn aside to false teachings. All of them have their reasons. They have their excuses. No matter how strongly they feel their excuses justify their actions, there is only one reason that is truly good—only one. Do you know what it is?
Jesus told a parable about excuses (Lk. 14:16-24). There was a man who was giving a big dinner and had invited a bunch of people. Then the excuses started. One man couldn’t come because he’d bought a piece of land. Another had just bought some oxen and needed to see what they could do. The third man had just gotten married. They all had excuses but not good ones. The parable concludes with the master proclaiming, “None of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner” (Lk. 16:24). I do not suppose any of those people were lying. I have no reason to think that they were being dishonest or that they felt that they should not be excused. How they felt and how honest they were isn’t what mattered. What mattered is that their excuses didn’t work. Theirs was not the one good reason to quit.
There was another man who started to follow Jesus but quickly quit (Mt. 19:16-22). His reason was that Jesus had asked too much of him. The man wanted eternal life, and he could have had it, but first, he needed to sell all his possessions. Suddenly, eternal life did not seem so attractive. He went away grieving. It seems that Jesus had asked more of him than he wanted to do. Many people have quit because being a Christian doesn’t fit with the way they want to live, but that isn’t the good reason either.
In another parable, Jesus described what would cause some believers to quit (Mt. 13:3-9,18-23). He used an illustration, saying that people who are surrounded by weeds or planted in rocky soil won’t grow into the Christians they ought to be. They will, in one way or another, quit. What makes them quit? Persecution for some. Distractions and physical worries for others. Excuses, to be sure, but not the one good one.
Have you figured out what the one good excuse is yet? Consider what Paul said. “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (I Cor. 15:19). He goes a step further just a few verses later. If Jesus hasn’t been resurrected and Christianity is just a false teaching, then we should quit following the rules and quit depriving ourselves of pleasures. Instead, we should “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (I Cor. 15:32). The one good reason is if the message you are following isn’t true. If that’s the case, it isn’t only acceptable to quit, it is the best thing to do!
That’s the one good excuse. The reason it is a good excuse is because it doesn’t keep you from anything. If there is no heaven, then quitting doesn’t impact you negatively. You don’t miss anything because there is nothing to miss. What if the master was lying about the big dinner? Then don’t show up! What if Jesus cannot give you eternal life? Then don’t sacrifice everything to follow Him. What if there is no reward for those who bear fruit for God? Then don’t endure persecution and do not deprive yourselves of pleasure. If what you believe is wrong, stop believing it. If what (or who) you follow is wrong, then stop following. It is as simple as that.
However, if Christianity is true and you quit—for ANY reason at all—the end result is that you don’t get to go to heaven. Whatever your reason, it wasn’t a good one because it kept you out of the ultimate prize. It made you miss everything that mattered. That isn’t worth it.
Have Christians mistreated you? Are they hypocrites? Did they sin and hurt you? Were they awful? That’s terrible and truly regrettable, but that is not a good reason to miss heaven.
Does the Bible teach something you don’t like? That’s understandable. The Bible steps on everyone’s toes in one way or another. But that is no reason to quit. If you do, you will regret it for eternity.
Do friends or family members practice some other religion? There could be a strong pull to join them, but that is not a good excuse either. The way to destruction will be crowded (Mt. 7:13-14), but its end is eternal punishment. There is no good reason to follow that path.
One last thing to note. Thinking or feeling that something is false does not make it so. It is not a good excuse to quit because you don’t believe anymore or because you feel like what is being taught isn’t true. It is only a good excuse if the doctrines and religion are actually false. Otherwise, you will only think you have a good excuse, but you’ve been fooled into making an eternal mistake.
