There are a lot of reasons why people exit evangelical, Lutheran, and Reformed churches for other Christian traditions or other religions or no religion at all. It doesn't help to speculate or psychologize about the motives and reasons. That's a dead giveaway of resentment to which we're prone whenever we see someone in our number check out.
Furthermore, no one ever makes big commitments, including religious ones, for one reason or one argument. But here are some things to think about.
If you're considering Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy, here are some questions. First, are you reacting against an admittedly messy Protestantism’fundamentalism, liberalism, or something in between’only to find similar problems elsewhere? Sure, there are a lot of parishes where you won't find a polka mass or praise band, but will you hear the gospel preached? And will the sacraments be administered as the church's offering to God or as God's gift to sinners? Sure, you'll hear about grace here and there, but will you be led to rest in grace alone, in Christ alone? Rome and Orthodoxy offer a powerful apologetic against the Reformation: of what use is an infallible text if you don't have an infallible interpreter’either the pope or the tradition? But what will you actually find when you get there?
Anyone who has studied church history knows that the centuries of controversy, contradiction, and even schism are there as well, along with libraries filled with papal decrees and interpretations of tradition. This is infinite regress: who interprets the interpreters? The Bible is itself a library. Its richness, depth, and diversity’not to mention our own finitude and sin’mean that we will have differences over interpretation. But ask yourself this question: is the magisterium or the tradition as clear and, yes, as simple as the Bible itself in its central plot and teachings?
And if you're thinking about abandoning Christianity’or perhaps any religion’ask yourself whether you have compared apples to apples. In other words, have you compared a weak set of arguments for Christianity with a strong case against it? Maybe you have. Walking away from the gospel is not just an intellectual affair; it involves the heart and will. Nevertheless, have you investigated the Christian claims’and the arguments and evidence’seriously enough to this point? Furthermore, does the alternative you're considering really probe the seriousness of the human condition and provide a gospel that is as deep as the problem?
As Francis Schaeffer often said, "Christianity is not useful if it isn't true." Paul said that first in 1 Corinthians 15. No other religion or philosophy hangs everything on history as the gospel does. You don't need Christianity to be smart, to be a good person, to have a great marriage and a sense of inner peace. You need the gospel only if there is a coming judgment and someone else has taken care of it for you.
