"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 youth
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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