I recently stumbled across a church group's website while I was poking around one of my other friend's Facebooks. While it was pretty much straightforward as far as that goes, one item in particular grabbed my attention. As one of their group discussion threads, the pastor of said church asked the following: "Why is it that kids (or teenagers), who grew up in church and were raised in the church, are leaving the church in such alarming numbers?"
As a youth leader in my own church, this is definitely a question I'm asking myself. And, as a teenager who for more than a decade "left the church" to a big degree, it's one that I've asked myself many, many times over the years. While I think that there are probably many different reasons why this could be so, I think that are two really big ones at play here. And to be quite frank, it's my opinion that if we were able to care for these two as well as we should, any others that might arise would probably be taken care of in fairly short order. So without further ado:
1. First, I think that we, as a church, need to do an infinitely better job of allowing, and enabling, our kids to grow up "owning their own faith". Not the faith that their parents have, or even the faith that their teachers or leaders have (not even the pastor!), but owning their own faith and relationship with Jesus Christ; one that is wholly theirs. The problem is this: entire generations of kids have grown up in the church, but they've never really grown in the church. Entire generations have (pick your own cliche here) been taken to church since they were barely able to breathe, were there every time the doors opened, and had parents who raised them in the church and saw them make decisions to accept and follow Christ at an early age, and yet something continues to go awry.
I recently took my first Theology class on my way to my master's degree in seminary, and on the first night of class the professor allowed us all time to share our testimonies (where we had come from, when we had made decisions, etc.). And while the rule wasn't steadfast across the board of course, one alarming trend stood out almost immediately if you were looking for it. Almost everyone said the exact same thing (only in different words): "I was raised in the church, I accepted Christ early on" and so forth, but almost all of that was followed with this: "But after awhile, for whatever reason, I fell away from God...". You can probably see where this is going. Raised in church, made decisions early in life, and yet they fell away. Why? Here's the next thing that seemed to show up as a trend in what they said. Almost each one said that it wasn't until they themselves decided it was time to come back, that something was missing, that they begin to make their way back to God. They finally, after all those years in church and hearing about God, decided to make their faith their own. It begs the question: Why did it take so long?
Put quite simply, I think that far too often we as a church, do a simply lousy job of helping our kids to grow. We don't do anything to instill in them an impetus to grow and make their relationship with God truly their own. It's almost as if we expect them to get it through osmosis or something. Simply by being there every time the doors are cracked, and always being in Bible Study, or youth group or whatever, and hearing sermons week after week, surely they will come to that faith all on their own. It's a natural part of the process. Put yourself there, and it will come. Right? Unfortunately, I think we know the answer to that.
We need to do a better job of challenging them to grow. We need to do a better job of allowing them to challenge themselves, and us, to grow. We need to encourage them to ask the tough questions that they need to ask, and not be afraid of what our answer might be, or worried if they don't agree with us on everything we say. We need to make them understand just how vitally important the Christian life is, and that it goes far beyond simply being in church for Sunday School and worship service and thinking that is all they need. We need to teach kids specifically to take what they are being taught, and apply those teaching to the way that they live. And quite honestly, teach them that if they are unwilling, or unable, to do so, there are going to be problems. Sunday School won't save you. Sermons won't save you. The only thing that will, is Jesus, and after that, truly beginning to live lives that are modeled after Him. Faith is not taught, it is lived and experienced. While we can teach the the fundamentals and the lessons that can be used to begin to live faith-filled lives, something is obviously not translating very well. It's like taking a history class in school. Learning the material for a test doesn't have an impact on your life, and the way you live it, unless it's personal in some way. And we need to do a better job of translating it into personal material.
Far too often we as churches do an excellent job of securing ourselves baby Christians, but don't do such a good job with ensuring that those same baby Christians ever grow. There are none so susceptible to disease and death as a baby, and it's not until they grow up that they begin to gain the immunities and other things they need to continue to grow and mature. The same can be said for those we are raising in the church. Are they being given the immunities (a true faith-based lifestyle) they need to battle the diseases (sins) that are out there? Are they being raised to cling to their faith with everything that they have so that a world that is out to destroy them can't do so?
The simple fact is this: The "world" is out to destroy people. The Bible tells us as much. It's not a pretty place, and it is looking for people to gobble up. I would go so far as to say that in the current times, it is looking especially for young people to gobble up. The world is an extremely shaky place. Are we doing what is necessary to put kids in the world who are on solid ground? Or are we sending them out with a serious case of the "shakes"?
Next time, reason #2...
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