Falling Away
One of the hardest things missionaries encounter is the grief of apostasy. Apostasy is when professing believers abandon their faith, often due to persecution, sin, or simply hardened hearts. Personally Shaken The apostle Paul referred to believers in the church of Philippi as his joy and crown. He invested his life for these brothers and sisters; he loved them and longed to be with them (Phil. 4:1). Like Paul, missionaries today experience unspeakable joy when those among them hear the gospel and, against all odds, believe in Christ. They rejoice deeply and acknowledge the hard things they’ve endured are worth it for the sake of someone’s eternal salvation. Sadly, when those same loved ones fall away, the opposite can be true. If there’s no greater joy than seeing those you’ve reached walking in truth (3 John 4), there’s perhaps no greater sorrow than seeing them abandon their faith. In such cases, missionaries may have serious doubts: Why did we even move here? Has it all been a...