Backsliding. We all do it… 𝘪𝘧 we’re following Jesus.

BACKSLIDE 'bæk.slaɪd verb. Relapse into bad ways or error.

[Backslider 'bæk.slaɪ.dər noun.]

Most people imagine the road to sanctification isn’t level: It’s uphill. A bit of a climb, too. Paved with gravel instead of asphalt. So on the particularly steep parts, if you haven’t got enough forward momentum, the ground’s gonna slip under your feet just a little. If you’re standing still, it’s gonna slip a lot. It’s the natural consequence of gravity, y’know. You can’t just stand still. Keep moving!

In this metaphor, the gravitatonal pull represents our natural human tendency towards selfishness, self-centeredness, and sin. When we stop striving to follow Jesus, even for a second, we’re gonna backslide.

Okay, if the pursuit of Jesus is actually like this, shoudn’t we Christians be way more gracious, generous, and sympathetic towards backslidden fellow Christians? ’Cause I used to hike several times a week. (I lived in the Santa Cruz mountains; it was kinda unavoidable.) On every unpaved hill, there’s always backsliding. It’s unavoidable. On wet days, even with the best shoes, you can always make a misstep and fall on your face. I came back from many a casual hike covered in mud, simply becaue I tackled a hill which looked deceptively easy to scale.

The Christian walk—when we’re doing it right—will have way bigger challenges than wet hills. We’re gonna fumble. A lot. But we get back up again. Kinda have to; the road home leads up that hill.

Problem is, because of the massive convenience of living in a predominantly Christian country, we American Christians really don’t struggle with our Christianity much. If at all. (And most of us don’t go hiking either.) So maybe we’ve not thought this “backsliding” metaphor all the way through.

Or even really know what we’re talking about. Fr’instance: Back in my high school youth group, one of the girls became pregnant. The church gossips were mighty quick to comment how she’d so obviously “backslidden.” Thing is, I was friends with the boyfriend who’d impregnated her: She hadn’t backslidden at all. She had no relationship with Jesus. She attended the youth group ’cause all her friends, and her boyfriend, were there. She sang in the church’s choir because she was a good singer, and the music pastor appreciated her talent. The gossips assumed her church attendance, and her public on-stage praise of Jesus, meant she was Christian. Nope! Outside church, she was as pagan as anyone. She was no backslider: She wasn’t even climbing.

I find the very same thing to be true of most “backsliders.” They’re not following Jesus any. They’re going to church for other reasons. They’re friendly enough at church; they know what’ll offend conservative Christians, and avoid that. They know how to behave.

Of those who are Christian, they’re not following Jesus because they figure they’re saved, and once saved always saved. So they’re good. Why make an effort?—at all?—’cause that’s just works righteousness, and doesn’t save us, so it’s not worth doing.

The rest aren’t. They’re not hypocrites—they’re not pretending to be Christian; they’re not doing anything. Ask ’em about their beliefs about God, and they’ll admit they believe as pagans usually do. They figure there’s a God; Jesus is his son, but not uniquely so, and not also God; the Holy Spirit is either an impersonal force or one of God’s nicknames; and you go to heaven if you’re a “good person,” which they’re pretty sure they are… which is why they don’t follow Jesus; they’re “good.” Nor following the Christian crowd either. Following their own hearts, if that.

So “backslider” is the wrong term for such people. Which is why I use “irreligious.”

Backsliding happens to climbers.

Back to comparing Christ-following with hill-climbing. I don’t think it’s a bad metaphor at all. I just wanna remind you not every Christian is hill-climbing. Not everyone who calls themselves a Christ-follower is truly doing the work of following. They’re passive, and nothing about Christ-following is passive.

So you can’t properly say those folks are backsliding, ’cause they’re not pursuing Jesus. They’re on level, paved ground, watching him climb that hill, alone. They’re not coming along; why bother?—they’re saved. If they wanna talk to him, he’s got his phone on him, right?

When they talk about following Jesus, what they really mean is they’re browsing the shopping mall of Christianity, checking out the window displays, wondering if they’d like this or that. They might try some of it on, and see if it looks good on them. They’re not moving forward or uphill; not when they try something on, nor when they decide, “Nah, it’s not me,” and put it back.

Back in my hypocrite days, I was most definity a backslider. I was pursuing Jesus, however poorly. I’d make a little bit of effort… then stand still, and gravity would drag me back a bit. But I really did want more Christ in my life. Only those of us who make the effort can be truly said to backslide.

And for those who make the effort, all of us are gonna backslide. All. It’s life. Following Jesus takes total commitment, and most of us figure, “Heck yeah, he has my total commitment!” but unbeknownst to us, it’s more like 25 percent. (Usually ’cause we were cheating by slapping Christian labels on everything, and claiming they belong to Jesus; and nope, they’re still our same old idols.) When we realize how small the percentage actually is, we’ll repent, bump it up another 5 percent, think we’ve fixed it, try again… then backslide again when we bump into one of those idols which escaped our attention. Hey, it’s a process. We do get better.

So when backsliding happens, we need to encourage one another to get back up and try again. We need to sympathize, because next time it’ll be us. As careful as we may be, we never know when we might be blindsided by a temptation we never prepared for. Or how a small oversight, or lapse in judgment, can have spectacular consequences. Our churches should be our support systems for every time we make these mistakes, and minister God’s forgiveness.

Sad to say, too often they aren’t. Too many are full of hypocrites who hide our daily failures, and gossip about those who don’t do so effective a job of hiding. We’ll tear into one another like sharks who smell blood.

So our response to backsliding must always be, “If it weren’t for God’s grace, that’d be me. Let me help.”