Today I want to talk about something that's been on my mind for quite some time now...teenagers and the church. This is a subject I actually feel quite passionate about. I know that most of my readers aren't Christian, so I'm going to try to make my points relevant for more than just the arena of the church. Also, what's the point in having a blog if I can't rant and rave every now and again.
Over the past few years it has come to my attention that the church is failing the youth of today. I suppose I've known this ever since I was a member of several different youth groups, but it never seemed to really hit home until I was old enough to view the construct from the outside as an adult. I recently heard someone refer to youth groups as being essentially babysitting for teenagers. I can tell you right now that the youth groups of today (at least the ones I've seen) do appear to fit that bill. I remember all to well from my own experience that church youth groups are extremely clique-y places, as are most teenage social constructs. However, last I checked the church was supposed to be an open place where anyone feels welcome. While I know that this isn't always the case even in the adult arena it seems even more important where kids are concerned.
According to recent research around 70 of young adults will drop out of church after high school. Youth pastors like to blame this on the fact that students go off to college and are busy, but the same rates are seen even in those that don't continue on to college. This seems to say to me that the church is doing a lousy job at helping teenagers feel that church is important in their lives. My own experience with youth groups has been mostly negative, and I spent the majority of my high school years as a youth leader at one church or another. The only shining spot was with a youth pastor named Shane who made a significant impact on my life and sense of self-worth. He wanted the students to take charge in the activities and teaching and did everything possible to break down clique barriers.
One thing I see adults do far to often is underestimate the intelligence of the average teenager. The teaching in most youth groups is dry and simplistic. These are the years where kids are asking the tough questions: "Why should I believe in a God?" "How do I know all this stuff you've been telling me is true?" Yet most youth groups don't even bother to try to answer these questions, instead they just flounder around trying to find a balance between kids Sunday School and the plain sermons you hear as an adult. In the end they seem to come up with merely a really flashy attempt to entice students in and then bore them with simple inapplicable sermons.
I think the church is afraid. Afraid of being considered uncool, afraid of ruffling some feathers by addressing the tough issues. There are so many troubled and questioning youth today. These kids need place to go to find answers or even just some support and understanding. These students are the future of the church, and it treats them with neglect and disrespect. The church will pay for it's neglect, when one day they look up and see an aging congregation.
So...phew...there's my rant for ya. Oh, on a side note, since this is the second time I've used a song as my post title, I've decided I want to label all my posts with songs that I think fit the subject. Today's song is: "Lost the Plot" by the Newsboys.
Breakfast
15 years ago
2 comments:
Within my own paradigm, I think there are other reasons for kids to leave church, but setting those aside, adults have been viewing their kids with condescension and dismay for thousands of years. I think it's one of the ways that not only kids differentiate themselves from the previous generation, but that societies change from one prevailing belief system to another. Not good news from your perspective to be sure.
History does however show us that as people grow, they have phases. The baby boom, a traditionally very liberal piece of the electorate, found God a few years ago as evidenced by the overwhelming Republican victory during the 90's.
In the final analysis, it's the people in an organization that define it. If it's a big deal to you and you think you can make some positive changes, perhaps it's time to take on a leadership role. "The Church" is a pretty easy scapegoat (just as The Man, the bureaucracy, the Party, Men, Women, Whites, Blacks, whatever can all hold us down) until we recognize that it's an amalgam of people with their own desires, needs, and visions for the future.
When faced with paradigms that aren't working, there are two traditional reactions that people have. Some people seek to bring back a paradigm from the past. "Those changes you instituted didn't work; we should have just done it my way!" These reactionaries are extreme examples, but there are also people who just don't have the flexibility to alter their vision. These people seek to work harder and smarter to fix the problems they see. There's either a block here, or they don't experience enough dissonance for change to make sense.
The second type of person recognizes the failings of the existing paradigm, and can either work to alter the existing model or completely demolish it and start from scratch. There are pluses and minuses to both tactics, but the difficult part is deciding how to convince people that they need to change. A certain period of dissonance (as disastrous as it appears to we who can adapt quickly!) is required before any meaningful changes can be made.
Anyway, good post.
Some very good points. I especially agree with your statements about changing a system if you think it's broken. That is a reason why I was a student leader for many years. I'm actually considering getting back into it as an adult sponsor, but remember what I mentioned to you awhile back about church politics...lets just say I'm not particularly wanting to jump into that pit of vipers just now.
On the topic of how adults show condescension towards their children, I do agree that it pushes kids to differentiate themselves from their parents. However, I don't think it's the ideal model. Mutual respect would be the ideal relationship. Now, we all know that nothing in this world ever fits an ideal model, but I still think it's a good thing to strive for on both sides.
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