When it comes to loosing kids to secular philosophy (see the "Western Discipleship" article a few down) its because most churches and parents never challenge the kids worldview. They go to university having never been taught how Christ fits into all this secular stuff they are learning. Can we real this fish back in? We better because kids will not come back to church until we do. They are demanding that we answer how Christ is relevant to every day life of science, ethic, politics, family dynamic, biology, search for truth, economics, psychology. The universities happily does an excellent Job of Deconstructing Jesus Christ thus showing how church has not place in any these departments.
"Confront Them with, rather than isolate them from, the major cultural battles of our day. Challenging students to love God fully by thinking deeply, discerningly and truthfully about His word and His world is foundational to what a truly Christian education is. Any other educational means and methods that do not include this as a goal cannot, in my opinion, really be considered Christian education (even if there is a plethora of rules,Bible references and verses to memorize.) (Helping Students "Get it": John Stonestreet. Mission frontiers, Setp-Oct 2009, pg43)
Teens Want The Opportunity to Do Hard Things That Give God Glory
But Teens, you need to stop waiting for Adults to provide it FOR You. Use your mind, and will for God's glory and stand up yourself, you can do this!
Here is a book every Teen should read. "Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations" They tell YOU to stand up and MAKE opportunities. Written by to Twin teens, home-schooled interestingly, who did hard thing for the kingdom in their teen years. Incidentally, Both were hired by a US Senator, flown to a different state, to run his campaign for him, at 19 years of age. WHAT?
They call their fellow teens to rise up and do something significant for Christ. Throw off the low expectations Adults have for them, and so something for Jesus in their Teen years. Buy a box Amazon for the Youth Group. Get the kids to work through it and discuss it and listen to your kids reaction to it. Anyone engaging youth please read it.
How Low is the Bar Now?
We went from this - My mother and her sisters were helping their father manage a farm by driving tractors, plowing fields and planting acres of fields at 12-15 years of age with no one standing over them. My brother and I were commercial fishing at 9 years old. Preaching at 14, because some adults saw what kids can do., if given opportunity or exposed to the expectation that youth can contribute, should contribute, to the kingdom. We have a church full of saved high school teens who could be preaching regularly, and leading Sunday School Classes. Instead of just attending youth group, slumped in a chair, actually Leading youth groups for their lost teens friends. I know teens making a difference. They never learn more than when sharing and teaching themselves.
More than Pizza Music & Video Games:
"It is foolish to expect students to take Christianity and the world seriously if all they have been exposed to at youth group is games, pizza, and mindless mini-therapy lessons that may or may no come form the scriptures. The church should be the place where we no longer believe (and students no longer experience) the myth of adolescence." (Helping Students "Get it": John Stonestreet. Mission frontiers, Setp-Oct 2009, pg41)Myth? Yes did you know that this view of "The troubled Teen years" is for the most part a western philosophy & phenomena, that is relatively unknown in the majority world cultures of the south, and East? Sure kids slip up, but contribute much in most other cultures. It's worth doing more research on this subject.
A Flawed Theology of Non-Service:
If teens can be "Genuinly" saved, they must genuinly serve then. In fact, we are saved FROM sin, FOR works of Service, says Ephesians 2:10. Unfortunately, we have communicated to people (especially Teens) that we can be saved without wanting to serve. People now feel they can "Receive the Mercy", without feeling any sense that they have "Accepted the Mission" that goes with it. That is not able to be -biblically for anyone, let alone teens. So not expecting teens to serve the kingdom is simply theologically corrupt. We give the impression that kids are too young to do anything significant for Christ. "Leave them alone, they are just kids". This does not a biblical thought, but rather, from modern secular western philosophy. Teens crave something of significance, and some want to break out of the coddling pattern.
In fact, research done by the EFC (Evangelical Fellowship of Canada) shows that Kids and young adults want church to be "Intellectually" challenging, and find it is not. Here is what enevitably happnes repeatedy, to any of us who want to stretch kids intellectually with a biblical Worldview; When we begin to get them thinking deeply, they have never complained to me or their parents. But when their parents or Granparents hear what we are doing, they complain. It often comes form other "Coddling Metality" youth workers who start saying things like - "This is over their heads -It's way to much, this is university stuff". I sat at a dinner table just yesterday with a Minister Couple who are teaching their kids Lee Strobels "Case for Faith&Christ", ABC's of basic teen Spiritual survival in western contexts today. The kids are not complaining and infact are sharing and talking more than ever. However, another youth aid thinks its over their heads, it's to deep. "I am even having troubble understanding this stuff" she told my friends. The same happned to us in one of our churches. We were teaching Jr & Sr high kids "How to think like a Zhristain" A Christain worldview study seeking to show how faith is to permeat every part of our own world view.We were teaching them analyze and then apply a biblical worldview to secular philosophies accoring to the scriptures. My wife was raked over the coals big time for this one. In both examples the complaints are a product of an adult with this secular Coddling mentality, and it only seems normal to them that the church should be "Spiritually coddling" too. The kids never complianed even once. The Adults do. Thus the above book's premise - Adults are setting the bar to low for us. So let`s raise it up for oursleves teens.
Here is Ralph D Winters (US Center For World Mission) introduction to the concepts of "Do Hard Things" Worth a listen.
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