The result of numerous
polls reveals that the majority of young
people who grew up in the church leave it soon after graduating from high
school, and most of them will never return.
I've seen statistics that speculates that the rate is as high as eighty
percent. The reality of this sets in
when we look at the makeup of the congregation of our home church. This
shocking reality should cause us to take a long, hard look at how the church
"ministers" to youth. Why do they leave? While I'm
not a professional statistician or a sociologist, I have interacted with young
people and observed how the church relates to them, and I have come to
conclusions that won't be very popular with some. Here they are.
When our kids are elementary
school age, they go to Sunday school and Children's Church which is great. However, what are they taught? By the time they reach fourth or fifth grade
they have heard the story of the Walls of Jericho, Jonah and the fish's belly,
the parting of the Red Sea, Joseph and the many colored coat, and David and
Goliath a zillion times. Oh, the story is presented in a more advanced level as
they get older, but it is still the same story. By the time our kids finish
elementary school, they have been storied to death. And they are bored.
The Bishop entered into the fray and level a stinging
indictment against all mothers and fathers whose children no longer go to
church. The church would not be
suffering the decline in youth participation, he inferred, if mothers and fathers would bring their
children to church. He stated that the
dropout rate was around sixty percent, which I think is much higher. To validate his position he quoted Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will
not depart from it. The blame was placed
on the parents and he rested his case.
What the illustrative Bishop
failed to acknowledge that raising up a child takes more than the teaching of
the parent. When a child is born,. Figuratively
speaking, a conspiracy is entered into
by the parent, the preacher, the schools and the people that this child will
come in contact with during its formative years. These entities will take charge of this
child's mind, shape it and possess it.
To successfully raise up a child takes the interaction of all of these
entities. If any one of these
entities failed to do their job
successfully, the process suffers. Many of our children fail in the educational
system because they do not realize the relevancy of a good education and the system's
inability to impart this knowledge.
There is also a lack of spiritual knowledge disseminated
within the religious community. The dissemination of spiritual knowledge is more than telling a
story of Jesus walking on the water. Why
did the journey began, what transpired along the way and how this all will end
is the basis of spiritual knowledge.
The Bishop said it and I was
not impressed. When asked why young
people of today do not include going to church as a part of their lifestyle, he
placed the blame on the parents. Mother
and fathers, he said do not bring their children to church like they
should. His statements were a stinging
indictment on all of the mothers and
fathers who brought their children up going to church only to see them walk
away from the church. To validate his
position as a man of God, he again quoted Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and
when he is old, he will not depart from it. And agan he rested his case.
Some years later, while
researching my book, “My Search for the Real God”, I posed the question again
that most religious leaders still skirt around.
With no definitive answer forthcoming I was left to formulate my own.
First, they have never been
challenged in their faith. They haven't been taught theology and doctrine and
thus are clueless on what they believe and why they believe it. When challenged
by a college professor or coworker about matters of faith, specifically
Christianity, the only answer that can be given is indoctrinated clichés. , Then doubts creep into their minds and they
see no great reason for their faith. They never had anyone explain theology and
how it relates to all matters of life, and have not dug deeply into the Bible.
Their church experience has left them empty, and they find no relevance in
following Jesus.
Second, they have not seen
authentic discipleship lived out by adults in their lives - at church or at
home. They see the adults in church bickering about the color of the carpet,
the loudness of the music, and the length of the pastor's sermon. They see
adults who gossip, criticize, and live lives that are unholy. Young people are
very impressionable, and when they see adults clueless about their faith and
living like the rest of the world they think "Jesus really doesn't make a
difference, so why should I follow Him?".
And they plunge headlong into the "goodies" the world dangles
in front of them.
We are losing our kids to the
world, and we scratch our heads in confusion and anger and wonder why. Many of
us have failed our kids both intellectually and practically. Many churches of today are embracing the
entertainment aspect of Christianity to attract our youth back into the
church. Is this the hope of the church?
.
I strongly believe that we need
to teach our youth theology, not entertainment, so by the time they graduate
high school, they have a firm grasp on what they believe and why they believe
it. Our kids are hungry to know the truth, and we must be the ones to teach
them. Before the scientific age, people derived a sense of purpose from their
spiritual belief system. The encounters with ghosts, demons and other spiritual
apparitions heighten their ancient belief in the hereafter. In today’s society the belief in the
spiritual world is limited to a somewhat token belief in God, ghost and spirits
are nothing but a figment of a fertile imagination. The spiritual belief system has come under
attack, by the failure of many to understand the teaching of science. As scientific knowledge has been increased,
biblical knowledge has been increasingly rejected, or simply forgotten,
resulting in widespread lack of understanding of why humankind existed in the
first place.
When the question is asked, do
science and the Bible agree, without any serious contemplation of the adverse
effects, it is stated that science and the Bible disagree. With this attitude our young are sent to
schools where they receive an in-depth study of the teaching of science. Science teaches its students to believe in
that which it can prove and to discard that which cannot be proven. This attitude has allowed our younger
generation to discard the teaching of the Bible without resorting to the
cavalier approach of the sixties that declared God to be dead and redefine God
as a state of mine.
In the ancient days the belief
in the spirit world was just as important as a belief in the natural
world. Today the belief in the spirit
world has been debunked and left unbelievable even by many Christians. Matthew 14:26 presents a striking example of
the disciples expressing their belief in the spirit world. “And when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a
spirit; and they cried out for fear.”
Now Matthew 17:3 gives us an example of Jesus holding a conversation
with two deceased religious leaders. “And, behold, there appeared unto them
Moses and Elias talking with him.” There
really is no need to try and explain this.
The false teaching of the Bible has presented
God in an unbelievable manner. As the
physical world yielded up its secret, humanity became less central in the
ultimate scheme of things. Lack of
knowledge or a clear purpose in life has resulted in a kind of existential
anxiety with diminished inspiration about and toward life. Anxiety breeds moods
of depression. It is hard to be positive
in a universe void of purpose. It is
hard to be upbeat when science has made it possible for the human race to
destroy itself.
There is hope.
Jesus Christ tells us, “I have come that they may have life, and that
they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). This highjacked and misused scripture should
be the bases of our hope, not a promise of financial security. To have hope,
we need to learn God’s purpose for human life.
The Bible teaches us about God’s purpose. God’s design includes a plan that offers
eternal life to everyone who believes (Romans 6:23), and defer to everlastiong punishment to those who forsake him.
The young Sunday school student
looked up at her mother with glowing affection as they toured the museum
exhibits. Her mother was also her Sunday
school teacher at the local church and she was sure her mother knew the answer
to her question. Her Science teacher had
given her an answer that to her young mind, she was not satisfied with. When they walked into the display room the
huge statues of the dinosaurs stood in full majesty. Mama, the young girl said while tugging at
her mother’s hand, “Why are there no dinosaurs in the Bible?” The mother answer, "The Bible and science don't always agree."
To be continued
