The above question has hit me really hard over the past week after watching Francis Chan's video from his book, "Crazy Love" ch. 5. In it he points out the dangers of being a "lukewarm" Christian. Though the chapter didn't necessarily talk about knowing what we believe and why, it sparked a discussion in several groups of youth I have met with recently. With each group I ended up doing a quick, off the cuff exercise, asking the question: "Why do you believe in Jesus?" The answers concerned me greatly. They ranged from..."Because my parents do," to "I don't really know."
My cause for concern should be obvious, but another reason it concerns me is this: How many teenagers go through their middle and high school years (even college for that matter) in a Christian youth group, but don't really know what they believe or if they even do. Have we missed the boat somewhere? Have we been too afraid of boring the kids that we have put too much emphasis on having fun and not enough time on going deeper? Sadly I think the answer is yes. But I also believe that because of society's increased negative influence in our homes, adults as well are struggling with who they are in Christ.
Now I want to make everyone aware that I am not in any way excused from this problem. I have had many faith struggles as well. The reason I write this is out of my concern for the kids. They are at a pivotal time in their life where they are going to choose to begin to go down God's road or go down the world's road. I believe that the foundation of their faith has to happen now and not later. Because there may not be a "later." Kids need to be taught that faith in Christ is a personal faith and that they need to make it their own. And if they haven't received Christ or been baptized because they aren't really sure what all of that means, then they need to speak with their pastor and parents about it. On the flip side, we as adults should be open to hear and look for signs of confusion. And most importantly, we must not make assumptions, but instead make 100% sure that the kids under our care know why they are at church and why they are in youth group. The choice to receive Christ's gift of Salvation is the most important decision they will make in their lifetime and it is very much, in fact, a matter of life or death. Finally, we must instruct them and guide them into the ways of authentic Christian living. It means teaching them that there actually still are rights and wrongs; things pleasing to God and things that are not. It means showing them the importance of prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. There are already too many lukewarm Christians out there and I truly believe that we along with this upcoming generation have the ability to change that. I pray that we as adults will disciple this generation and live a life that they can see, without a doubt, is 100% authentic Christian living. Amen.
-Shane
My cause for concern should be obvious, but another reason it concerns me is this: How many teenagers go through their middle and high school years (even college for that matter) in a Christian youth group, but don't really know what they believe or if they even do. Have we missed the boat somewhere? Have we been too afraid of boring the kids that we have put too much emphasis on having fun and not enough time on going deeper? Sadly I think the answer is yes. But I also believe that because of society's increased negative influence in our homes, adults as well are struggling with who they are in Christ.
Now I want to make everyone aware that I am not in any way excused from this problem. I have had many faith struggles as well. The reason I write this is out of my concern for the kids. They are at a pivotal time in their life where they are going to choose to begin to go down God's road or go down the world's road. I believe that the foundation of their faith has to happen now and not later. Because there may not be a "later." Kids need to be taught that faith in Christ is a personal faith and that they need to make it their own. And if they haven't received Christ or been baptized because they aren't really sure what all of that means, then they need to speak with their pastor and parents about it. On the flip side, we as adults should be open to hear and look for signs of confusion. And most importantly, we must not make assumptions, but instead make 100% sure that the kids under our care know why they are at church and why they are in youth group. The choice to receive Christ's gift of Salvation is the most important decision they will make in their lifetime and it is very much, in fact, a matter of life or death. Finally, we must instruct them and guide them into the ways of authentic Christian living. It means teaching them that there actually still are rights and wrongs; things pleasing to God and things that are not. It means showing them the importance of prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. There are already too many lukewarm Christians out there and I truly believe that we along with this upcoming generation have the ability to change that. I pray that we as adults will disciple this generation and live a life that they can see, without a doubt, is 100% authentic Christian living. Amen.
-Shane
