Why do young people leave the church? Why do they abandon the teaching they received?
Perhaps they haven’t found what they need and want in church and in what they’ve been taught. They want . . .
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. Perhaps they haven’t acquired good enough reasons to hold on to what they’ve heard. Maybe they find it 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, they find it easy to leave church and abandon what they’ve been taught.
It starts with young people’s perception of the Bible.
They get 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 conviction 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’re free to question reasons to believe.
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 the interest 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 pay 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 to hold on to the teaching of God’s Word. 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