Chapter 5 of Am I Really a Christian? deals with perseverance in the faith as an evidence of genuine faith. Answering the question of why people appear to fall away, McKinley turns to Mark 4:3–9, The Parable of the Sower.
“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
There are four categories of hearers in this parable:
The first category of people hears God’s word and has no interest in it. Nothing happens because Satan lets nothing happen: “When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them” (Mark 4:15).
The second category hears the Word of God and initially seems to accept it. They seem like Christians, but it doesn’t last: “When tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark 4:16–17).
The third category of people hears the Word, but whatever positive response springs up, again, does not last: “The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:18–19).
The final category of people hears the Word, and it sticks. It saves. The growth springs up and endures: they “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20).
—Mike McKinley, Am I Really a Christian? (Crossway, 2011), 81–82.
The conditions of those in the first and fourth categories is clear. The former never pretended to believe, and their faith is proven by the fruit it bears. The second and third are those who appeared to believe, but whose failure to persevere proved the superficiality of their faith.
People in the second category hear the good news about Jesus and receive it with joy. They are excited about Jesus and enjoy the company of new Christian friends. Maybe they are baptized, join the church, and begin to wear Christian T-shirts.
But then persecution sets in. Maybe it’s subtle—their families and old friends make fun of their T-shirts. Maybe it’s violent—the government threatens to throw them in jail or worse. Whatever it is, they begin to pay a price for their association with Jesus, just as Jesus promised them they would: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). Apparently, there is no way to follow after a messiah who was crucified by the world’s powers that doesn’t involve suffering. And, sadly, Christians often fail to encourage people to “count the cost” before deciding to follow Jesus.
Whether or not the members of this second group were told to count the cost (please do when you share the gospel!) the idea of following Jesus quickly loses its gleam under adverse circumstances. And there comes a point when it feels like more trouble than it’s worth. Slowly but surely, these fair-weather followers distance themselves from the Christian community. Eventually, what they begin to call their “Christian phase” is a distant memory.
—Ibid., 82–83.
Preaching the gospel while omitting the cost of discipleship is, in my estimation, equal to preaching a prosperity gospel. It leaves people with the possible expectation of “the good life,” while Scripture promises that following Christ will always cost something, and in some cases, everything.
The third category demonstrates the fact that, rich or poor, preoccupation with material wealth is idolatry (Matthew 6:24, cf. Luke 16:23) and creates a barrier to saving faith.
Members of the third category, like those in the second category, also receive the Word but eventually walk away from it. What distracts them is the cares of the world, whether that means they’re poor and weighed down with anxiety over paying the rent, or they’re rich and always looking for bigger and better homes.
The faith of some people is waylaid by poverty and suffering. The faith of others is choked out by too much success. Deprivation tempts some to abandon Christ for the hope of greener pastures. Prosperity causes others to lose sight of him. In other words, it’s not about how much you have. It’s about what you’re after.
—Ibid., 84.
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