Evanescent is defined as “tending to vanish like vapor”. So an evanescent type of faith is not a faith which saves. Jesus teaches us what this type of faith entails in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4, Matthew 13, Luke 8). All three Gospel accounts teach this same parable. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus uses agronomy as the analogy for what are described as 3 evanescent faiths, and one true faith.

The false faiths, evanescent, were described as seeds being planted in different types of places. The first one He described were ones who fell by the wayside. These would be those who for example listen to the Gospel, probably sat in a pew for a time or two in a church, nodded their head, but the light never went on, they QUICKLY fell away. They fell away, and their type of faith never resulted in anything, as they continued to live their life of depravity.

The second evanescent faith Jesus described was a seed planted on rocky ground. This would be the sinner who hears the Gospel, gets excited for reasons other than being saved such as possibly a reformation of their life, but since they were not regenerated, they too fall away once tempted. They may go to church for a bit longer, they may even sing in the choir, and volunteer around the church. But since they were not born-again, they had no roots as Jesus described, so all of a sudden they stopped. This church going to them and trying to live a holy life was much too burdensome, so they vanish as was their evanescent faith.

The third evanescent faith Jesus described was the seed planted in thorns. Like the two other seeds, this one probably came across as a Christian for a time. They declared “Jesus is my Savior”, and even posted Bible verses on their social media. Other Christians saw this person as “saved”, because they were saying and doing all the right things. But all of a sudden they too vanish from the Christian scene. Jesus describes it as “being choked by the world”, they simply go back to their fallen life without an apology.

All three of these faiths were evanescent, they vanished. Jesus describes this, because He was warning the church of the many play actors we would encounter inside the church and giving a perfectly logical explanation why these type of sinners leave, they vanish, or why they acted like a Christian for awhile, and then stopped.

Now the true seed Jesus spoke of was planted on good ground. This in context of the ground being one who has been born-again, a new creation, regenerated by God. They do not fall away. A seed like this is watered in another analogy in Scripture, and it grows. So the faith of this saved sinner grows, it doesn’t die, it doesn’t vanish. Through tribulation, trials, temptation, this type of faith endures, it doesn’t fall away. It also doesn’t think of church fellowship or studying the Bible and things of God as burdensome. It doesn’t get caught up in political agendas or useless drama of the world. This type of seed shows the FRUIT which sprang from God’s regenerating work!

Which seed are you? Do an honest assessment, really examine your faith and practice to discern this. Many were deceived by devilish planters claiming “You in fact are a Christian now”, but you never realized any growth, and Christianity seems like a chore or a game you put in the closet only to be played when you feel like it.