"And the people served the LORD all the days of
Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all
the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel." (Judges 2:7)
"And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there
arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works
which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight
of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers,
which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the
gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them,
and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and
Ashtoreth." (Judges 2:10-13)
Why are we losing so many young people? Why do fewer
young people respond to the Gospel? Why do such a large percentage of youths
who were raised in church quit church when they leave their parents? Let’s look
at a few factors:
A deceptive philosophy that has ruined many Christian
youths is the philosophy that we must compete with the world to keep our
youths, that we must offer them good, clean fun, recreation, and entertainment
or we will lose them to the world. This philosophy loses both ways, as we can
never expect to win competing against the world when it comes to fun and
thrills. Think about it: The high of a hayride or a roller coaster ride cannot
compare to the high they can get from a recreational drug, and the fun of rafting
or roller skating cannot compare to the fleshly satisfaction they can get from
fornication.
All too often a youth ministry is ministry to youths
and not ministry of youths. All the preaching and teaching of
"abstain," "thou shalt not," and "self-denial" is
meaningless when children and youths are not taught to serve God, and to serve
God by serving others, instead of expecting to be served. Note that service
marked the difference between the generations in Judges 2. How are we applying
the principle of serving to our young people's lives? (Consider Matthew 20:27; Romans
15:1; I Corinthians 15:31; Philippians 3:8)
Attempting to reach carnal people with carnal things
can be dangerous and is not Biblical evangelism. It is inevitable that someone
who supports trying to reach carnal people with carnal things will give the odd
statistic of someone who was converted this way, but it is important to follow
rules and not exceptions. While we should not condemn all secular amusements
and fun, and it is not wrong to have recreation and fellowship, providing
recreation and entertainment is not the church's mission and should not be the
church's focus.
Many Christian young ladies are no match for Satan's
crowd that we bring in hoping they will convert, and many are being defiled
because they let their guard down in an atmosphere that is supposed to be
spiritual. Many youths are introduced to gross sin in their church youth group
while their elders are hoping that youths will be converted and grow
spiritually because of segregating youths from mature influences, replacing
parental authority and respect for elders with peer dependence, and rewarding
the rebels and delinquents instead of rewarding faithfulness.
A popular theory in Christian circles is that young
people must be segregated from the rest of the church to reach them
effectively. But what is the Bible precedent? “There was not a word of all that
Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel,
with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant
among them.” (Joshua 8:35; also consider II Chronicles 20:13: Ezra 8:21:
Nehemiah 12:43; Acts 21:5. Incidentally, if a small child knows what you mean
by “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” which word in the KJV will be a problem? Think about
it.)
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and
smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:6) Here is a principle that
prepares children and youths for a relationship with God. It should be noted
that the Generation Gap is a modern phenomenon. Teenagers were not given a
separate identity or segregated into a different class of people until after
World War II. Children and teenagers are building an identity and naturally
seeking that identity from those around them, so we should be encouraging
fellowship with mature influences. All humans young and old tend to seek an
identity from those around them, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the
individual, but inexperience tends to make one a bit more vulnerable. Older,
mature Christians should be reminded to mentor young people and new converts of
their own gender, and youths should be reminded of the value of fellowship with
those who are older and wiser than themselves (especially of their own gender)
and taught to respect their elders in general. (Proverbs 13:20 & Titus
2:1-8) King Solomon raised up a fool who rejected the wise counsel of older men
and heeded the foolishness of his young peers because he learned to respect them
and trust their insight through regular fellowship. (I Kings 12:8) Contrast
this with the example of Christ, who, though He was God in the flesh, enjoyed
the fellowship of older men when He was young. (Luke 2:44-46; note also that
Christ was not teaching on this occasion but was hearing and asking questions.)
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt
be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also
forget thy children." (Hosea 4:6) “Till I come, give attendance to
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. …Take heed unto thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and
them that hear thee.” (I Timothy 4:13 & 16) What does it mean when God
forgets something or someone? Neglect and indifference toward the Word of God
among professed believers is deplorable. The Bible is God's message to all
mankind and provides guidance on every area of human existence and applying
Bible teachings benefits both believers and unbelievers; the important
difference is that for the unbeliever the Word of God is convicting and for the
believer the Word of God is cleansing. A good farmer or gardener prepares the
soil to make it receptive to the seed he plants; likewise, doctrinal
instruction is needed to lay a foundation for effective evangelism. All too
often the salvation of souls is made the only object of ministry and witnessing
while Bible doctrine and doctrinal preaching are neglected, and then we wonder
why fewer people respond to the Gospel. In many a conservative Bible-believing
church there is as much immorality, among both young and old, as there is in
any bar while the church tries to convert the lost and edify believers with
everything but the Word of God.
Not long after I was born again, I was surprised to
read in a Christian book about cults that most cult initiates or recruits come
from a religious background in a mainstream denomination, which I had been
thinking would prevent someone from being deceived by a cult. I was thinking I
had a disadvantage because I grew up in a JW family and was not raised in an
evangelical church and had not been attending Sunday School all my life. When I
left the JW cult I was burnt out on religion and avoided church for a long
time, and along with substance abuse I dabbled in New Age junk, so when I was
born again I realized that I was sorely lacking in Bible knowledge. But my
background turned out to be an advantage as realizing that I severely lacked
Bible knowledge compelled me to immediately start reading through the King
James Bible along with acquiring study materials (Topical Textbook, Bible
Dictionary, Reference Bible, Bible Concordance, etc.) and studying a lot.
Occasionally, well-meaning Christians that heard about my background offered to
help me and teach me and answer questions and assured me that they had a lot of
Bible knowledge because they were raised in church and had attended Sunday
School all their lives, but it didn’t take long to see that they had a lot of
beliefs but little or no Bible knowledge, and over time I observed that this is
not unusual for Christians who were raised in church. In any denomination there
are a lot of people who grew up in church and assume they are spiritual and
knowledgeable because they attended preaching services and Sunday School,
learned how to go through the motions of worship, learned just enough about the
Bible to argue about it, and have a lot of beliefs (traditions, assumptions,
suppositions, myths, theories, taboos, preferences, etc.), but have little or
no Bible knowledge, and, in many cases, as adults they are more of a liability
than an asset to their church. Regular church attendance is important but does
not replace family devotions and the religious education of children in the
home, and it is also needful to impress upon young minds the importance of
personal Bible reading and study.
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) “Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) A popular theory in Christian circles is that a
church cannot be effective without programs. While some programs might be
helpful, there is a need for caution. All too often church programs replace
united prayer, ministry, and patriarchy, and otherwise effectively program God
out of a church.
In some religious circles certain programs are
considered essential and above scrutiny because they appear spiritual and
involve big numbers to brag about, such as Church Bus Ministry. Let’s take a
closer look at this program that many are convinced is essential. (You don’t
have to agree with me, I just ask you to consider this.) Does a Church Bus
Ministry involve any negatives to consider?
• The bus ministry is an example of class evangelism:
The bus ministry was never intended to reach all men, the purpose is to bring
in large numbers of children to Sunday School and worship services, and bus
workers are often told not to bother trying to convert adults.
• There is little or no long-term fruit. Many point to
numbers and motives as a sign of success and spirituality while neglecting to
look honestly and objectively at long-term results. For example, how many of
those involved stayed active in church through their teen years, through their
twenties, and into their middle-age years, and how many of those few (if any)
who did would never have heard the Gospel otherwise?
• This encourages and reinforces poor parenting habits
and neglect of parental responsibilities. (E.g., encouraging parents to send
and not bring children to church, makes the religious education of children by
their parents at home appear unnecessary, etc.)
• While nobody should object to the church arranging
to provide transportation to church for those who are already interested in
attending church and would come if they had transportation, this is not the
usual purpose of a bus ministry. Bus workers routinely pick up children from
homes with more than one vehicle, and church bus ministries often operate in
cities and towns where adequate transportation is already available (busses,
trains, subways, taxis, etc.) and transportation to church is rarely a problem.
It is the prayer base that empowers a church, and it
is the word of God that leads lost people to salvation and saved people to
sanctification and service. United and prevailing prayer, and Bible preaching,
teaching, and study is the great need of the hour.
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