by David Gibson<\/p>\n
What can we learn from two of Paul’s associates, Mark and Demas? Paul writes, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers<\/em>” (Philemon 23-24 NASB; see Colossians 4:10, 14).<\/p>\n Later Paul mentions both Mark and Demas again, but note the change: “. . . Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica . . . . Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:10-11).<\/p>\n Years before, Mark had deeply disappointed Paul because he returned home instead of continuing on their missionary journey. On the next trip, Paul refused to take him along because he “had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work<\/em>” (Acts 15:38; see 12:25; 13:5, 13). But now Paul recognizes the positive change in Mark. He who had been a disappointment has become “useful to me for service<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Both Mark and Demas left him in the lurch. While Mark overcame his instability, the last we hear of Demas is his tragic apostasy. He left because he “loved this present world<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Sitting perhaps on the same pew are two Christians. At one time, Brother A could not be depended on to do his part, but that’s behind him now. Nearby, Brother B participates in the singing and bows his head for the prayers, but his heart is leaning increasingly toward the world. It won’t be long until he leaves the Lord and His church-another of Satan’s statistics.<\/p>\n Demas’ defection should give us pause to examine our own hearts for any indications of misplaced affections drawing us away from the living God (II Corinthians 13:5; James 4:4; I John 2:15-17).<\/p>\n On the other hand, if we have fallen short in our Christian walk, we can take a cue from Mark and become once again “useful… for service<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Drawn away What can we learn from two of Paul’s associates, Mark and Demas? Paul writes, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers” (Philemon 23-24 NASB; see Colossians 4:10, 14). Later Paul mentions both Mark and Demas again, but note the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1308,61,50],"class_list":["post-88543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-falling-away","tag-falling-from-grace","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-titus-desert-paul\/","url_meta":{"origin":88543,"position":0},"title":"Did Titus desert Paul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I hope this finds you doing well. I just wanted to let you know that I love your site. It helps me a lot in my studies of God's Word. I heard a radio minister say that Titus deserted Paul. He used II Timothy 4:9-11 as his proof\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-did-demas-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":88543,"position":1},"title":"What did Demas love?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was doing some digging about Demas.\u00a0Demas left Paul because he loved the world. We aren't supposed to love the world. It's never said if Demas ever got back in a right relationship with the Lord, but if he died in the state of loving the world, then he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89547,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-avoid-a-spiritual-failure\/","url_meta":{"origin":88543,"position":2},"title":"How to Avoid a Spiritual Failure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Earnhart In his final hours in Rome, awaiting an inevitable execution, a very lonely apostle Paul suffered some additional heartbreak. \"Demas,\" he wrote, \"hath forsaken me, having loved this present world\" (II Timothy 4:10). We are left to speculate as to the particulars - what dread fears or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-problem-with-an-attendance-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":88543,"position":3},"title":"The Problem with an \u201cAttendance Problem\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joey Sparks Worship attendance can be a sensitive issue for Christians. Some are satisfied with coming only on Sunday mornings. Or Sunday evenings. Or for long enough to take the Lord's Supper. Some are content with worshiping only on holidays. Some are only at the local assembly when facing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58603,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/paul-barnabas-and-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":88543,"position":4},"title":"Paul, Barnabas, and Us!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin We received an email communication from a man named Joe. He is a member of the First Christian Church. He has been using the Internet to search for \"people of like-minded faith.\" In his letter, Joe explains what he sees as the necessary conditions before he can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-say-he-left-titus-in-crete\/","url_meta":{"origin":88543,"position":5},"title":"Why did Paul say he left Titus in Crete?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just discovered your website after searching the Internet for \u201cPaul\u2019s letter to the Laodiceans\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Your explanation\u00a0is very interesting and has merit.\u00a0 Thank you for providing answers to so many questions that arise from time to time. Now that I think about it, I have a question:\u00a0 How do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Mark’s Recovery and Demas’ Desertion<\/h2>\n
What We Can Learn from Them<\/h2>\n