For parents

Many young people are leaving false religions. Here's my message to their parents.

When I left a false religion, my family in Louisiana was not happy. It was actually several years of transition for me that began with expressing doubts and then coming to the conclusion that the religion I was raised in was not Biblical. Yet my mom, even through some of her frustration, I could tell with her all-knowing look that she was proud of me. That’s because she knew I was going hard for the Lord. And I think she had always had some doubts, too.

Today, she too has left that false religion. It wasn’t easy for her at first, and for a while she resisted because she felt strongly supported in her community. But her careful study and diligent work ethic of examining the evidence led her, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, to the truth. She is now in a stronger community and enjoying it, even as her learning process continues—as does mine.

She and I live in different states and attend churches in different Christian denominations. But I’m grateful that we are each in a church that is more pure than less pure, and certainly not a false church.

It will be up to you whether you decide to attend a church that is Anglican, Arminian, Baptist, Dispensational, Lutheran (MS), Presbyterian (PCA or Orthodox), or a non-denominational Bible church like I have (see my post on finding a Biblical church).

Many young people today are leaving false religions and finding a Biblical church. I want to take this opportunity to say a message to all the parents of young people who leave a false religion and head to a Biblical church. There can be confusion and even perhaps some shame when realizing that another religion is more truthful than your own. Your grown child has done lots of work searching the Holy Scriptures, researching doctrines, and exploring purer churches.

Please do not feel shame that you didn’t know your religion wasn’t lining up with the Bible. You did the best you could in the system you were raised in. You worked so hard all those years to raise your kids well. And you acted as honorably as possible during your time in that religion. All of this is commendable.

Today, there are so many books, websites, and videos explaining the ways of false religions that weren’t available thirty and forty years ago. Had you gone through your teenage and young adult years today, it’s likely that you would have found these resources or had someone tell you about them.

I have no judgement for the past. Yet it’s now up to all of us to do the work of testing our beliefs. We each need to do the work of searching the Holy Scriptures. We all need to research doctrines. All of us need to find thoughtful critics of our current religion and work to refute them with intellectual apologetics spoken in love. But if we are not able to refute the critics, or if we are unwilling to seek critics, it could mean that we have doubts, just like me and my mom did for a long time.

So whether you find yourself in Mormonism, Christian Science, Adventism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or any false religion mimicking Christianity, trust me when I tell you that a better way is ahead. Your Heavenly Father will bestow upon you a greater freedom than you’ve ever known before. It will refresh your soul and help you want to go for Him and tell others about Him even more. And yes, it will take a bit of work at the outset.

I pray that God will send you helpers along the way as He did for me and my mom. It’s biblical that this happens. When Jesus called Lazurus out of the tomb, he said to those standing nearby to “unbind him.” May God send you helpers and friends and support and faith when you realize that you live in darkness and want to walk into the light.