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the flame
Standing Aside
When I ponder the perilous times in which we live I have to wonder why anyone would choose to depart from the body of Christian believers at a time like this? It seems utterly unreasoning, like abandoning the fortress in the midst of a fiery siege in order to throw oneself to the ravages of the enemy. Yet there is a last day mass apostasy of believers described in the Bible. What is behind this great falling away?
In the second letter of Paul to the Thessalonians chapter 2, it appears that some members of the congregation in Thessalonica had inferred that since the coming of the Lord was near at hand, that there was no point in continuing to work. This may have been confusion between the suddenness of the Lord’s return and the immediacy. To correct this, Paul reminds them that there are various signs and events that must occur before His return. He states:
2 Thess 2:1-4 “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” NASU
Falling Away?
One of the signs Paul notes in these verses is the coming of an end-time “apostasy.” This has typically been termed, “the great falling away” of believers from the ecclesia (“called out ones”) that we term the church. One understanding and common teaching is that this end time event is one in which believers remove themselves from the Christian church and walk away to pursue their own desires and life without God (or within the world system), leaving behind the devout believers of true faith. But, upon study, I find a subtle difference that is worthy of note. The English word, “apostasy” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an abandonment of what one has voluntarily professed-- a total desertion or departure.” But, upon study of the original Greek word and its roots, from several reliable Christian word study texts, I found a much more subtle message. It is this message I submit to you to ponder.
Many translations of the Bible translate the word apostasia as the English word “apostasy,”, although it does not exactly mean that, per the English definition I shared above. The Greek verb from which this word is derived is aphistemi constructed from two words, apo (from) and histemi (to stand). In the literal sense it means to place oneself away from or to stand away from someone. It does not necessarily mean to remove oneself from someone or somewhere. A word study resource that I utilized (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study, Spiros Zodhiates, AMG Publishers, 1990) stated, “This departing from someone does not necessarily imply wholehearted agreement of disagreement, but it is separating oneself for the purpose of not incurring the dangers of that association. This seems to be the meaning here [in the application of apotasia].”
Standing Aside from the Faith
Another scripture similar to this one and using the same root word is found in 1 Tim 4:1 in which Paul refers to the last times, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will fall away from the faith.” (NASU) The phrase “fall away from the faith” as it is translated in the New American Standard translation, is alternately rendered, “shall stand aloof from the faith” (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study) or “draw away from the faith” (Concordant Literal New Testament) or “revolt from the faith” (Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible). Paul, it appears, is telling us that many will stand off or away from the faith, as opposed to a total abandonment or departure. These "many" who draw away appear to be people who are associating themselves with Christianity, but who are not, in reality, truly inwardly faithful. In more difficult times they choose to stand away, but not necessarily remove themselves, from the “geographic” proximity of the church (called out ones). Thus, apostasy may apply to those who remain among the believers, who call themselves Christians, yet inwardly stand aside from the true faith and leading of the Word and Spirit.
To Whom Does it Apply?
I will not indulge in attempting to define who this group may be or what their lifestyle or level of commitment (or lack of true commitment) enfolds—because that would miss the whole point. The point, I submit, is how this may apply to each of us at this time in our lives; what are the implications of this subtle message in our own daily relationship with God and our Savior, Jesus? Will we allow difficulties that we experience with the Church (past or present) to cause us to stand aside from the called out ones? Will we suppress, reject or modify the will and leading of the Lord, as expressed to us through his word, through his Spirit and through those in the Church by whom he would minister to us—in order to make it align with our soulical desires, experience, and decisions?
Lord, work inside us and reveal to us the true motives of our hearts. We want your will to be done and not our own. And we are not yet fully adept at discerning the difference between the two, dividing between that which is soulish and that which is of your Spirit. We ask that you would work in us so that we would stand in these last days with the called out ones in true faith--and with your Son, in whom is true life.
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