Why are young people leaving the church? Why are they abandoning what they’ve been taught?
Perhaps it is because they don’t find what they need and want in church and in what they’ve been taught like . . .
renewal,
relationship,
realness,
relevance,
and what we will considering in this post — reasons.
Maybe they aren’t hearing sufficient reasons for why they should stay. Maybe they haven’t acquired good enough reasons to hold on to what they have heard. Maybe it is easier to go with the flow of the world than to stand in opposition to something they themselves don’t have adequate reasons to believe. Unanswered questions leave them with doubts. A shallow belief system leaves them defenseless in this world. As a result, it’s easy to leave church and abandon what they’ve been taught.
It starts with young people’s perception of the Bible.
They are bombarded with that which stands in opposition to God’s Word at school, on TV and the Internet, with their peer, etc. To stand in the midst of such opposition they need to be convinced of the veracity of God’s Word. They need to see that the Bible is more than a crutch, more than a fable, more than an option.
To Read: Young People’s Perception of the Bible (follow the series of related articles)
They need a reason to hold on to God’s Word as the absolute standard and solution for life.
It continues with an environment in which they are free to question.
How much better that they wrestle with the truths of God’s Word with you than the other options. Encourage them to ask questions. Guard against putting them down for their doubts and skepticism. If you don’t have all the answers, that’s okay. You can get back to them on it or better yet, work together at finding the answers.
1 Peter 3:15 applies to all people, but most certainly must be exercised with teens.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …
Notice that an interest has been built within the person … “give an answer to everyone who asks.”
As teachers, this could suggest that we need to introduce the lesson in such as way that it grabs students’ attention. We need to be paying attention to teens’ culture and understand what they grapple with and address what matters to them.
Also notice that we are to “do this with gentleness and respect.”
Teens want and need reasons if they are going to hold on to that which they are being taught. However, they don’t want it forced on them. If you push too hard, they might rebel and further retreat. If it isn’t meaningful to them, they will probably be disinterested and bored.
To Read: More on 1 Peter 3:15