They Were Never One of Us

"Now I [Bunyan] saw in my dream that by this time, Pliable had
arrived back at his house. So his neighbors came to visit him, and
some of them called him wise on account of his return to his home;
some called him a fool for endangering himself with Christian’s
company. But others mocked his cowardliness, saying, “Surely
since you commenced your adventure, I would not have been so
fainthearted as to give in for a few difficulties.” So Pliable sat
cringing in their midst. But at last he regained his confidence so
that his neighbors then turned their attention toward deriding poor
Christian behind his back. However, that is enough concerning
Pliable." John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

It is extremely heartbreaking to see someone that you have traveled with on this journey fall away. You thought that they had the same heartbeat, the same dreams, the same calling. The enemy came calling and then they were gone.

I'm not referring to the prodigal son. He always knew his way back.  These left and never came back. They were convinced to join the journey, but were never convicted. They heard the word, but never met The Word.

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." Hebrews 6:4-6

"They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."I John 2:19

After Pliable returned he wasn't accepted by some of his neighbors. It wasn't long though and it was like he never left their midst.