I stumbled upon this today during my morning coffee break. What Teens Expect, Prefer, and Learn from Church is a interesting post of from churchrelevance.com about recent a survey from The Barna Group.
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.
DetailsRob Borley
October 22nd, 2007
5 Responses to “Teens Just Don’t Care”
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October 23rd, 2007 at 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.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Thanks Mike for your valuable input.
I think many Christian adults need to be treated this way too. I wonder if we have reached a point were we are so concerned about “getting people into church and therefore, in fullness of time, into heaven” that we have neglected that Jesus asked us to make disciples.
If our Christianity was about discipleship rather than “bums on seats” then I wonder if the feeling of pointlessness would go. (though you are right, we might have less bums.)
I think you are correct; young people do have a remarkable ability to detect pointlessness. But while adults will build little routines and rituals around it, young people will not put up with it.
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:40 am
I think part of the problem with keeping kids Christian is it is oftentimes impossible to reconcile the hyperbolic warnings about sin, evil and corruption with life experience, as one gets older.
For many young Christians, all the moralizing amounts to not a whole lot more than feeling uncomfortable about sex and fearing “losing control” with drugs and / alcohol - which are quickly discarded as soon as their curiosity has them looking into facts about human sexuality and liberal Christians insist that there is more to believing in God than ABSTAINING from things and respecting your elders.
I think a huge problem is that the message young Christians are given by many churches is ITSELF immature, and often taught by immature people.
The church disenfranchises it’s own membership, and then accuses it of ‘not caring’.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Maybe most teenagers are too clever to believe in god. God doesn’t exist.
It’s just a way for the rich, powerful people at the top of the church to stay rich and powerful and tell everyone else what to do.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Thanks for your contribution TigerPig, i sense from your post that you’re not in agreement with what what was posted above. As Bob has mentioned before, it’s great to welcome as many points of view as possible, but it is always useful to get an idea of where you’re coming from. Have you been involved with a church recently/at any time? When you say ‘most teenagers’, are you including yourself in that?
You mention the ‘rich and powerful’, would it not be fair to say that pretty much all major corporations and big business have a ‘top down’ approach, which makes the top men richer and more powerful while delegating responsibility downwards? As far as i know, the Bible describes the church as a body made up of many, many different parts, each as important as the other. There always needs to be guidance and direction of some kind, but perhaps your experience of it has been less than positive.
Let us know, good to ‘hear’ from you.