By Kirsten
I did not grow up in a Christian home. In fact, my family was vehemently anti-Christian for my growing up years. So, as a freshman in high school when the voice of Christ finally broke into my heart, I didn’t know where to turn to find a model of how to be a Christian. My youth group was no help; they simply advertised a feel-good model of the gospel when I didn’t really feel that good. My church was very poor at understanding youth and so failed to do anything really of any benefit. I was lost for a good number of years, and thus formed some bad theology and habits of which I am still recovering.
Years later, working as a youth intern, I find my past situation quite prevalent for a lot of youth who turn to Christ. One of the big problems? Lack of education. Particularly for youth groups, leaders expect the youth to already know everything about Biblical history and context or seem to find no problem with the fact that a lot of kids don’t know a whole lot relating to the Christian scriptures or how to traverse their often confusing world. In fact, leaders I have talked to about the situation can’t effectively articulate themselves why the Bible is an important document for Christians to know.
The rising disinterest in Christianity or outright opposition to Christians, particularly in the West,
has a lot to do with a lack of interest in joining a group of people who proclaim a God of purity, yet live lives of impurity, who preach a God of peace, yet utilize every opportunity to create unrest, who criticize every group of people for godlessness, when they themselves live as if God is dead. I propose that knowing a bit more about what the Bible says and what it means can be a big step towards living a more righteous, Christ-centered life. This endeavor begins with the youth. They are the present and future and have a very powerful voice in a broken world. They are our mission field and we have a great duty to invest responsibly in their lives.
