Youth Ministry is not the Problem… You are.

Last updated on: December 2, 2011 at 4:01 am by Andy Gill

Youth Ministry is not the Problem… You are. 2011-12-02T04:01:06-05:00 Andy Gill

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The statistics are staggering. 88% of children raised in Christian families leave church at the age of 18, never to return. Only 4% of the “bridger” generation, or Gen Y, will be Bible-believing Christians when they reach adulthood, all while, the 20 something male is almost completely absent in the American church, which seeing the above statistics, doesn’t look like that will change anytime in the near or further future…

The question comes around to then, “Why have so many teenagers and young adults walked away from the church?”

Many say it’s the “unbiblical” segregation of ages. Some turn to the program itself and say it’s our programmatic rundown, the lack of adults taking initiative in the lives of our students, or simply bad communication from our pastors and parents when it comes to articulating what our faith should look like…

Kenda Creasy Dean, professor and head of the youth ministry department at Princeton Seminary, discusses this topic in her book “Almost Christian” suggests that we actually aren’t mis-communicating anything, in fact we’re communicating quite clearly, she says:

“We are doing an exceedingly good job of teaching youth what we really believe: namely, that Christianity is not a big deal, that God requires little, and the church is a helpful social institution filled with nice people focused primarily on ‘folks like us —which, of course, begs tthe question of whether we are really the church all.”

“What if the blase religiosity of most American Teenagers is not the result of poor communication but the result of excellent communication of a watered-down gospel so devoid of God’s self giving love in Jesus Christ, so immune to the sending love of the Holy Spirit that it might not be Christianity at all?”

Have we watered the gospel down, changed the face of Jesus, re-created what Christianity actually is so much so that nobody wants to be a part of it, that a majority of our teenagers, and young adults have completely walked away from the church?

It seems as if the problem is not necessarily youth ministry (that being our current programmatic model of youth ministry or the segregation of ages) but the problem at hand is our own faith and the lives we’ve modeled as “followers of Jesus”.

Dean goes on to say, “If theological malpractice explains teenagers half-hearted religious identities—then perhaps most young people practice Moralistic Therapeutic Deism not because they reject Christianity, but because this is the only “Christianity” they know… If this is the faith they see lived out by their parents, their pastors, and their churches, how would they know it’s a sham?”

The question no longer remains at, “Is youth ministry the problem?” but it’s now turned to, “Is the church in America actually representative of the church in scripture?”

I’m not so sure that we should be completely concerned as pastors, about the faith of our teenagers and young adults, but more so concerned about our own faith, and what we’re modeling and communicating to our teenagers through our actions…

Referencing back to Dean, she states, “Lackadaisical faith is not getting peoples issue, but ours… So we must assume that the solution lies not in beefing up congregational youth programs or making worship more “cool” and attractive, but in modeling the kind of mature, passionate faith we say we want young people to have…”

Are you living this “mature, passionate faith we say we want young people to have”? This is definitely a hard question to answer, some might immediately write it off without consideration, but as pastors, leaders, and older adults I want to challenge you to look inside scripture read through the teachings of Christ, and ask, “Have I given everything to Jesus? Do I love him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?”

(These quotes were taken from Kenda Creasy Dean’s most recent book titled “Almost Christian” if you’re involved in youth ministry in any way shape or form, that being parenting, mentoring, or pastoring this is definitely a must read! You can buy it here.)

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 1, 2011

Self Abandonment

Next Post

December 3, 2011 Kathleen. #LiveHard

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Books Buzzfeed Christian Church Church Culture Dating Dechurched eXvangelical Guest Post Humor Inspirational Justice LGBTQ Life Marriage Media Millennials Mini Post Monday Money Podcast Politics Race Reason Relationships Science Sex Socioeconomic Theology Theology Uncategorized Video Wednesday Youth Ministry

Select a Month June 2020 March 2020 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What idols' worship did the Israelites imitate in the wilderness?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Babylonian gods Egyptian gods Canaanite gods Philistine gods

Support this
Column