Some Serious Dialogue Needed about Youth Ministry?

As a former youth pastor and current parent of 4 (2 teens), I have appreciated being able to see this subject from both sides of the pew so-to-speak. Vision Forum, in a recent article promoting a resource for christian families had something to say that, I think, needs to be further discussed w/ pastors, youth pastors, church leaders and parents across America. Maybe you will too...

"One of the hallmarks of American culture in the late twentieth century was the revival of the cult of youth. With its roots in Greco-Roman paganism, the worship of youth and the rise of a distinctively family-fragmenting vision of teenage life has dominated our media, our entertainment, our schools, and the very fabric of modern life... Frustrated with the absence of real parental involvement in the lives of the next generation, and desperately hoping to reach young people... the modern Church in America has drunk deeply from the youth culture phenomenon. This is most obvious in church youth groups, youth-driven worship programs, and even Sunday Schools. Now, after more than a half-century trend, the results are in, and they are not good — our youth are defecting en masse from biblical Christianity.

This trend has long been recognized by researchers — the fact that 61% of youth abandon the church during their 20s — but a common assumption has been that young people lose their faith due to their college experience. Thanks to penetrating new research spearheaded by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, a startling conclusion has emerged: Youth who regularly attended the most conservative, Bible-believing churches in America during their teen years were, in their hearts, already gone. To quote Ham and Beemer: “They were lost while still in the fold.”

Ham and Beemer have also uncovered hard evidence to support this surprising conclusion: that “Sunday School is actually more likely to be detrimental to the spiritual and moral health of our children.” Those who faithfully attend Sunday School are more likely to leave the church than those who do not — and to doubt the Bible’s reliability.

The evidence is in: The Church’s current model for reaching young people through youth groups and Sunday Schools is a failure. These programs are not only, on the whole, falling short of their aims, but they are actually contributing to the epidemic departure from biblical principles on the part of young people, as well as the massive defection from the Church of Jesus Christ. In short, the Church has proven to be its own worst enemy."

In other words, the majority of kids in our youth ministries are likely living double lives until they can get away with dumping their christian "personna" when they leave home. GULP! While some may reject the entire article as going too far, let me add my own observations. On the whole, my 15+ years of working with young people largely confirms what Ham and Beemer are saying. This short Vision Form article doesn't go into the possible causes of this failure (you're supposed to by the book I guess :o), but I have some thoughts about that - especially as a parent of 2 teens now. I think the reasons for our failures to reach our youth are:

1. We don't walk our talk as much as we should. I know I don't always do so - and it tends to invalidate what we teach big time. It's hard keeping your guard up all the time. But rather than "keeping our guard up" perhaps we need to be more seriously pursuing inner transformation so that our piety isn't a facade, it's the real deal. When young people are around transformed christians, it DOES make an impact on young people. As a parent of 4, I find it ridiculously difficult to pursue spiritual things. The din alone is enough to make it hard to spend time with God. Practicing the Presence of God is NOT for sissies :o) But I think it is an all important first step that Amy and I are pursuing with all our might (prayer needed!).

2. We don't "disciple" our youth, we entertain them and stuff them with trivia and facts that never make it down into their hearts. This, I think, is where we finally "lose them." Jesus' method of training HIS disciples was to disciple them for 3+ years. He didn't just teach them, he spent TONS of time with them so that they could see him model the spiritual transformation that He was trying to teach them to pursue. And it worked! But we just send them to Sunday School or Youth Group and expect the classroom setting to disciple them. But that's NOT how it works. It will NEVER work that way. Perhaps we should ask our youth workers to be spending time with kids as a discipler more than as a group entertainer with a little spiritual message thrown in. I realize that reaching non-churched kids may require more fluff. But once they are part of the community, they need to be discipled just as much as adults do.

What do you think? It's radical sounding I know - but John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostles all sounded pretty radical in their day too. Sounding radical may not be a sure sign you are on the right path, but it shouldn't be a sure sign you must be wrong either. Hmmmm..... :o)