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By Seth Barnes
We Christians wonder why so many young people are leaving the faith and struggling. We point our finger at media and other villains. But perhaps we should look at ourselves first. What does the Bible say that believers need? After spending much of my life seeking to impart faith to young people, here are four things that I’ve found work.
All young people should have the opportunity to walk as Jesus and his disciples walked.
“Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:6)
Where does faith come from? It may be grounded in good theology, but it comes from the heart. It comes from experiences that impact the heart. The faith Jesus and his disciples walked out was radical. Young people deserve the opportunity to see if that model Jesus gave us still works.
Young people deserve a particular kind of experience—an initiation. We see Jesus initiating his disciples in Matthew 10. The church should send out its young people on mission as a part of their training, free of charge, to see if he shows up as promised.
“Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” (Matthew 10)
All over the world we see in other cultures that as young people move to adulthood, an initiation is normal. The transition is hard and thoughtful parents will help their kids prepare for it. But not in America. No wonder 54% of young people are deeply anxious and even wonder if they are mentally ill. Where are the adults helping them make the transition to adulthood? Young people deserve better from their elders.
All young people should be given the opportunity to practice true religion caring for widows and orphans—serving God’s vulnerable children.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” (James 1:27 and Luke 4:18-19)
We need to align ourselves with God’s priorities. When I connect with those who are in distress, I stop thinking about myself. Their pain elicits my compassion. And when I help them, something in me feels better. Why is that? I believe it’s the Spirit of God that blesses those who care for his kids who have no one else—widows and orphans.
All young people should be given the opportunity to experience the body of Christ functioning as intended.
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12)
God made us with a need to deeply connect with one another and with him. Churches where that doesn’t happen feel stale and unhealthy. But there are plenty of churches where it does happen. And if our leaders will lead with more authenticity and vulnerability, their congregations will follow. I’ve seen this process works even in our cynical culture.
We need to give young people the opportunities to see that, as bad as the world may seem, God is still present and active. Getting outside the walls of our church buildings and into places where he has promised to meet us makes all the difference.
Reprinted with permission from Seth’s blog, Radical Living. Thanks, Seth!
Seth Barnes is the founder and president of Adventures in Missions, a discipleship and missions ministry that has taken more than 125,000 people on mission projects. One of their initiatives, The World Race, provides trained teams of young adults the opportunity to engage in 11 international mission contexts in 11 months using an experiential, missional discipleship model. Adventures emphasizes listening prayer, relationships, and servanthood in their work among the poor. In addition to overseeing Adventures in Missions, Seth is a speaker, author, and prolific blogger. His blog, Radical Living, can be found at www.sethbarnes.com.
