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.

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.

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’.

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.

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.