Faithful to the End

A new challenge for evangelical churches is the new wave of self-professed Exvangelicals. According to Wikipedia:

Exvangelical is a social movement of people who have left evangelicalism, especially white evangelical churches in the United States, for atheism, agnosticism, progressive Christianity, or any other religious belief. The hashtag#exvangelical was coined by Blake Chastain in 2016 to make “a safe space for people to find solidarity with others who have gone through similar experiences”. Chastain also started a podcast titled Exvangelical, and there are other popular exvangelical podcasts such as Almost Heretical and Straight White American Jesus.

Related movements include #emptythepews—urging opposition to evangelicalism in the United States due to its support for former president Donald Trump—started by exvangelical Chrissy Stroop and #churchtoo to draw attention to sexual abuse in churches. Deconstructing faith is another movement where traditions are challenged moving many to remain in or leave the Christian faith, written more in-depth Derrick Day’s book Deconstructing Religion. Many exvangelicals are young people who choose to leave their religion following disagreements over issues such as science, the role of women, LGBT rights, and Christian nationalism. Specific incidents cited by exvangelicals for leaving include the Nashville Statement and evangelical support for Trump, which they perceived as hypocritical.

According to our mission, dfbc exists to glorify God by multiplying disciple-makers who invite all people to join Jesus Christ in a life-long, life-changing, and life-giving journey. Remaining in Christ and staying faithful to him is a life-long process that will demand that we are able to stand firm when we are tempted to quit or when others are no longer following Jesus. 2 Peter was written to encourage the second generation of believers to stay faithful after the apostolic generation. Every generation of Christians must count the cost and decide who to follow. Will we be found faithful when he comes?