I’m not sure that the stats mean a great deal and I assume that this is based in the US but the conclusions are interesting all the same.
Obviously, hearing God’s Word is not enough to transform many teenagers into being doers of God’s Word. So what is needed to engage these teenagers in a way that causes them to start caring enough to do God’s Word? I believe that meaningful relationships are the key. The measure of your relationship with teenagers directly affects the measure of the influence you have with them. And your influence can dramatically shape how they live their lives.
It is not simply enough to get young people through the door of your church and hope for some sort of spiritual infusion. We need mature Christians to engage with these guys, form relationships with them and be the spiritual mothers and fathers that they so desperately need.
7:15 pm
What would also help is if teens were treated like adults who will soon have to deal with real world issues instead of preaching 50 million times about peer pressure or “letting your light shine” in chemistry class. Sadly, this is only a small part of a bigger problem in which Christians are not getting much truth anymore. Seriously, the height of the Christian life anymore is to be a good family person, mention “Jesus” and “church” every now and then at work, and not cuss. Christians have forgotten that their two purposes, in order of priority, are to spend time with God and to proclaim the gospel to others, with the second purpose stemming from the first.
So it’s no wonder that teens, who have a remarkable ability to detect pointlessness, don’t see much worthwhile about the modern Christian life. And, in the end, if Christ is not enough to keep them around, then their faith will only be as strong as their youth pastor’s and will only last as long as they keep hanging out with their Christian friends. The true mark of faith is pressing on when there is no good reason other than Christ Himself. Maybe if we started telling teens stuff like this, they would stick around. Many more would probably leave, but many disciples also left Jesus when He started telling it like it was, and those who stuck around proved faithful even to the point of death.