Why Do People Leave God? The Pride That Pulls Us Away

When Faith Doesn't Become Our Own

Many of us grew up in religious homes, attending church regularly and believing, at least intellectually, that God existed. The world would assume we were close to God. But in many of our hearts there was a doubt. We felt uncomfortable with this religion that many of us felt had been forced on us.

And so we left to find another way. A way to become the captains of our own souls. But there was no other way. A life of searching has led many of us right back to the faith of our fathers. For some though, their way was so far they never found home again. Beware lest you remove yourself so completely from God by hardening your heart that the way back is lost because you no longer desire repentance (Hebrews 3:15).

The First Lie That Pulled Us Away

Satan himself was once one of the closest of the angels to God. As an "anointed cherub," Ezekiel 28, describes the King of Tyre and, many scholars believe, Satan as well this way:

“You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created." Ezekiel 28:12-13

To imagine such a being falling into so much sin that he was cast out of Heaven is hard. But in his beauty and his prominent position before the throne of God, pride began to grow. Before we look at what happened, what exactly is a cherub?

As a cherub, Satan is not the cute little fat baby that Raphael painted in the Renaissance. The biblical, almost bizarre, description of a cherub in Ezekiel 1:5-10 is understood by some to be symbolic, while others believe it is literal. A cherub's job, according to Revelation 4:6-8, is to continually praise God's holiness and serve before His throne, among other duties.

So Satan finds himself longing to be a god that is worshipped, as he has worshipped God since his creation. Obviously, Satan had also gained influence over other angels, probably because of his prominent position, and so he took a third of the angels with him into rebellion.

But as he roamed the earth his pride and fury at God caused him to seek the destruction of God's new creation, humans. He decided to tempt them with the same pride that had caused his fall. They could be like gods too he told Eve. And sadly, he was successful.

Adam and Eve's decision cost the Garden of Eden and more importantly it destroyed their relationship with God. Now they would die both spiritually and physically from the sin they chose. Like Satan, they had held a place right next to God. He walked with them in the garden, but they gave it up, willingly.

Christ Restores What Sin Destroyed

But God had a plan from "before the foundation of the world." He would send His only Son to die for the sins of His people, so that once again their relationship could be restored. In Christ, God did more than forgive our rebellion. He made it possible for us to become His children again and walk with Him as Adam and Eve once did. They could live forever spiritually and physically in the resurrection with Him, if they believed in Jesus' sacrifice for them. Their belief could not just be an acknowledgment of the existence of God but a transforming faith that changed them from the inside out. So why would anyone give that up?

Why Do People Leave God?

When we leave our faith we should honestly ask ourselves whether it had truly become ours. Or was our faith just our parent's faith and not our own? Why did we leave? Perhaps we fell to the same temptation that Satan and Adam and Eve did—pride.

We may not see it as that immediately but our underlying reason is often not so different from theirs. Satan dreams of being a god, Adam and Eve want to decide what is good and evil and you and I are tempted to know what is better for us than God does. Every departure from God begins with the same lie. We believe our way is better than His.

Some people leave because they became so mired in sin they can no longer hear the voice of God calling them to repent. Some believe they are so far from God that he will never forgive them. They limit God's grace, believing that somehow they must deserve His forgiveness. They don't understand that His grace is given to us "while we were yet sinners" (Romans 5:8).

Others feel like all they really need to do is be "good people." Not realizing that no one is good enough to earn Heaven (Romans 3:23). And then there are those who started out thinking they wanted to be a Christian until they found out that it meant sacrifice. It wasn't easy. They didn't count the cost as Jesus says we must do (Luke 14:28).

The Empty Promises of Pride

So no matter how close we seem to be to God, He knows our heart. He knows if we truly love and serve Him or we are just going through the motions. God sees us and knows if we are tempted by pride to put ourselves on a throne, so to speak. He knows if we don't want anyone, especially God, to tell us what to do. We want to be the masters of our own fate. We want to live the way we want to live, not having to give up anything.

But what a price we pay for those choices. Satan paid a price, Adam and Eve paid a price, and today we still pay a price for rejecting the love of God. If we could only understand that God sees all and knows what is best for us. He knows that true joy is only found in relationship to Him.

Satan, the great deceiver, offers the promise of joy, but never joy itself. He lies and tells us we can find joy in the world, and we may for a time, but always that kind of joy will come to an end. That kind of shallow joy will not last for eternity. There are still more lies Satan feeds us.

Sadly, when some of us begin to look back toward God, Satan lies again and tells us we aren't good enough. "There can be no forgiveness for someone like you," he whispers. But God can remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). In other words, God can work a miracle of forgiveness and grace in us.

We can become the new creation that only God can make. We won't achieve perfection overnight but we can work towards holiness every day with the Holy Spirit living in us. We will seek to be more like Him who saved us from our sin.

God Still Calls Us Home

When we grow up in the church, we often take our faith for granted. God is just someone we always believed in. We don't spend much time asking ourselves the important question: "Why do I believe in God?" Do I see myself as a sinner who needs God's grace and forgiveness? Do I desire to grow in obedience and holiness? Do I really love God and others or is my life just going through the motions?

God doesn't wait for our failure. His desire is for us to return to Him. Like the father of the prodigal son, God delights when those who have wandered finally come home. Walking with Christ through eternity outweighs any fleeting pleasure that sin promises.

Choose the Better Way

When you feel yourself being pulled away from God, think about these things. Seek Him honestly from the heart. Recognize Satan's lies as the same lies they have been since Adam and Eve were created. Don't let evil win. And if you find yourself spiritually drifting away, even though it may be for years, if you reach out to Him, He will find you. He gave up everything to save the one lost sheep—even if that sheep is you (Luke 15:4-7).