Leaving Christianity

Leaving Christianity

Scripture References

• Matthew 14
• Matthew 5
• Matthew 16

Overview

While thousands are coming to faith, many lifelong believers are also walking away. Using Peter’s famous moment of walking—and sinking—on the water, Craig Groeschel shows that doubt is not faith’s enemy but often its doorway. Speaking both to those wrestling with belief and to those who want to help them, he urges the church to trade accusation for invitation and to rebuild faith on the love and teaching of Jesus.

Main Points

1. When People You Love Leave the Faith

• Groeschel’s own children’s friends, once devoted, now question or abandon Christianity.
• Goal: examine how Christians may contribute to this trend and learn to respond with grace.

2. Peter’s Doubt on the Water (Matthew 14)

• Peter alone steps out of the boat—courageous faith.
• Seeing wind, he sinks; Jesus immediately grabs him and asks, “Why did you doubt?”
• The question is read as invitation, not accusation; Jesus meets us in doubt.

3. Doubt Can Deepen Faith

• Two audiences addressed: (1) current doubters, (2) believers ready to help them.
• Real faith pushes through questions; doubt does not disqualify.
• Personal season of doubt: seminary professor who denied biblical inspiration.

4. Why People Doubt

• Unanswered intellectual questions: Bible tensions, science claims, exclusivity of Christ.
• Problem of evil: injustice, suffering, unanswered prayers.
• Wounds from believers: hypocrisy, moral failure, church that doesn’t match Scripture.

5. Deconstruction—Healthy vs. Harmful

• Definition offered: “a sincere examination of beliefs to let go of what is untrue so you can hold on to what is true.”
• Jesus practiced corrective deconstruction (“You have heard it said…but I say,” Matthew 5; correcting Peter in Matthew 16).

6. How Faulty Beliefs Form

• We read the Bible through cultural, family, political, and church filters.
• Humorous examples: “Holy Ghost gun,” coercing tongues, extra-biblical rules.
• Like removing toxic mold, we strip away harmful teachings without burning down the whole house.

7. Rebuilding on Jesus

• Read Scripture through the lens of Jesus’ life and love, especially the Gospels.
• The Christian goal is not merely to be right but to be loving.

8. Peter’s Restoration and Commission

• After three denials, Jesus pursues Peter, forgives him, and recommissions him.
• Restored Peter preaches at Pentecost; his story proves doubt can lead to deeper, world-changing faith.

Key Truths

• Doubt often signals an invitation from God to know Him more deeply.
• Healthy deconstruction removes lies so truth can flourish.
• Every believer carries interpretive filters; Jesus’ character clarifies what matters most.
• The church must welcome questions rather than shame them.
• Love, not intellectual victory, is the ultimate Christian aim.

Response

• Bring your honest doubts into conversation with God and trusted believers.
• Examine inherited beliefs; keep what matches Jesus, discard what doesn’t.
• Immerse yourself in the Gospels to see Christ’s love firsthand.
• Create safe spaces for friends wrestling with faith.
• Choose actions of love over arguments for correctness.

Closing

Peter’s doubts did not end his story; they became the path to greater usefulness. The same Savior still reaches for anyone sinking today.

“Doubt is not the enemy of faith—it’s often God’s invitation to go deeper.”

Take His hand—or extend it to someone else—and discover that Jesus is faithful in every question and storm.

Prayer

The congregation prayed collectively, asking God for forgiveness, new life through Jesus, and the filling of the Holy Spirit, pledging to follow Christ by faith.