Former Desiring God writer Paul Maxwell announces he's no longer Christian

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Church & Ministry
Apostasy

“Maxwell, who has his Ph.D. in theology and has written on the topics of theology, trauma, and fitness, later followed up with a message to those who told him he’s going to Hell and are ‘not really happy’ as a result of his rejection of Christianity.” - C.Post

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Discussion

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josh p
Mon, 04/12/21 11:36 am

These deconversion stories are so tragic. I don’t know his work but I wonder if his trama studies influenced him towards an unbiblical view of depravity.
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JD Miller
Mon, 04/12/21 12:33 pm

I am not totally surprised by these stories. I grew up in an era of church youth groups where it was all about fun and being cool in church. I wasn’t interested in that. I wanted to learn about the word of God. The pastor we had just before I became a teenager really cared about teaching us God’s word, and I am so thankful for Pastor Sundeen. He passed away just as I was coming into my teen years and the new pastor was all about fun and games. He was not alone- so many other churches were doing the same thing. They were conditioning a whole generation to want to get involved in church for the cool bands and for the fun.

I remember showing up for Wednesday night youth group as a 15 year old. It was supposed to start at 7 p.m. They were playing volley ball when I got there. They asked me if I wanted to play. It was almost 7, so I thought we would be going in for Bible study soon, so I said I would just watch. I kept asking when we would be going in for Bible study. The pastor seemed annoyed by my question. Finally at 7:45, we went in and after 5 minutes of hurried Bible study he cut it off to say we had to plan the pizza party. I did not go back to youth group after that night and I heard that the pastor’s wife was questioning my salvation in front of the other kids because I wasn’t there. If showing up to church for fun and games is how we measure someone’s salvation, no wonder there are so many deconversion stories.

For a lot of years, the CCM movement had a lot of “cool factor.” A lot of people went along with the crowd for the fun and the coolness. Now “Christianity” isn’t quite so cool anymore. The cool kids are going to antifa rallies not CCM festivals. Some people did get genuinely saved at the CCM festivals and the perseverence of the saints will be evidenced in their lives. Others were just along for the ride and that evidence is coming out as well.