A new study might reveal why a
majority of Christian teens abandon
their faith upon high school
graduation (lusi/rgbstock.com) )
A new study might reveal why a
majority of Christian teens abandon
their faith upon high school
graduation. Some time ago, Christian
pollster George Barna documented
that 61 percent of today's 20-
somethings who had been churched
at one point during their teen years
are now spiritually disengaged. They
do not attend church, read their Bible
or pray.
According to a new five-week, three-
question national survey sponsored
by the National Center for Family-
Integrated Churches (NCFIC), the
youth group itself is the problem.
Fifty-five percent of American
Christians are concerned with modern
youth ministry because it's too
shallow and too entertainment-
focused, resulting in an inability to
train mature believers. But even if
church youth groups had the gravitas
of Dallas Theological Seminary, 36
percent of today's believers are
convinced youth groups themselves
are not even biblical.
After answering three questions at
YouthGroupSurvey.com , each survey
participant received NCFIC Director
Scott Brown's e-book entitled Weed
in the Church: How A Culture of Age
Segregation Is Destroying the
Younger Generation, Fragmenting the
Family and Harming Church as well
as access to a 50-minute-long
documentary entitled Divided: Is
Modern Youth Ministry Multiplying or
Dividing the Church? (Divided has
been viewed by 200,000 people.)
The survey is still active online
through Friday, Nov. 8.
Adam McManus, a spokesman for
NCFIC, is not surprised by the
church's deep concerns about youth
groups .
"Today's church has created peer
dependency," McManus says. "The
inherent result of youth groups is that
teenagers in the church are focused
on their peers, not their parents or
their pastors. It's a foreign sociology
that leads to immaturity, a greater
likelihood of sexual activity, drug
experimentation and a rejection of the
authority of the Word of God.
"Proverbs 13:20 says, 'He who walks
with wise men will be wise, but the
companion of fools will suffer harm.'
The result is that the youth stumble,
they can't see beyond their noses,
and spiritual adolescence is
prolonged well into adulthood. It's
crippling the body of Christ. That's
why it's time to return to the biblical
paradigm and throw out the youth
group structure entirely."
He continues, "I am greatly
encouraged by the results of our
survey. American Christians are
finally waking up to the disconnect
between the clear teaching in
Scripture in favor of family-
integration and the modern-day
church's obsession with dividing the
family at every turn. Age segregation,
especially during the tender and
impactful teenage years, not only
hasn't worked, it's been detrimental.
Even worse, it is contrary to the
Bible. But the good news is that
practices in the churches related to
youth groups are changing
dramatically. Twenty years ago no
one was even asking this question."
McManus cited the following
Scriptures to document his
contention that it's God's will for the
church to embrace the biblical model
of families staying together in the
service as the Word of God is
preached: Deuteronomy 16:9-14,
Joshua 8:34-35, Ezra 10:1, 2
Chronicles 20:13, Nehemiah 12:43 and
Joel 2:15-16.
"Our fervent prayer is that God will
raise up Spirit-filled, Bible-preaching,
Christ-centered, family-integrated
assemblies from the ashes of our
man-centered, family-fragmenting
churches," McManus adds. "Plus, the
church needs to begin to equip
Christian fathers to communicate the
gospel to their families. Today,
Christian parents are beginning to
realize that they have not fulfilled
their spiritual duties by simply
dropping off their kiddos to Sunday
school and youth group, allowing
other parents to disciple their
children by proxy.
"Let's not forget the powerful words
spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy
6:4-7: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our
God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your
strength. These commandments that I
give you today are to be on your
hearts. Impress them on your
children. Talk about them when you
sit at home and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down and
when you get up.'
"It is the parents' primary obligation
to disciple their own children,
impressing God's commandments
upon them in the home on a daily
basis."
Cameron Cole, youth director at
Cathedral Church of the Advent in
Birmingham, Ala., says, "There is a
propensity in our culture to outsource
the development of our children. For
intellectual development, we send
them to school. For athletic
development, we send them to Little
League. And for spiritual formation,
we send them to youth group. The
church has done a poor job of
communicating to the parents that
they are the primary disciplers of
their children. Parents don't believe
this, but the reality is that kids listen
to their parents far more than they're
going to listen to a youth minister."
"It's time for the Christian father to
take the central role which God has
ordained," McManus concludes.
"Gathered around the dining room
table, the father needs to lead family
worship once again, which had been
standard behavior for a vibrant
American Christian family for
hundreds of years, dating back to the
Plymouth, Mass., colony of 1620. Dad
needs to read from and discuss the
Bible, sing Christian songs and pray
with his family, his little flock over
which God has appointed him
shepherd. Frankly, I'm not as
concerned about what happens in
Sunday school in church as I am with
what happens in 'Monday school' and
'Tuesday school' at home with the
family."
www.charismamag.com/spirit/church-ministry/18920-youth-groups-driving-christian-teens-to-abandon-faith

I agree with 80% of this research. The age segreggation is okay as it gives opportunity for interactions, especially on solving common issues associated with the age. But truely, most youth groups are entertainment oriented and it hardly helps their spiritual lives.

I agree with u guys, but I think the problem is much deeper. The bible says when the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do? The problem go way beyond the time of the youth to when they are in their sunbeams/sunday school, many of this youth just grew into the activities of the church n never encountered Christ at any point in time.

It will be so funny with the answer you get from this same youths when u tell them to share their salvation experiences, many of them are not saved n yet we expect otherwise. I tell u the truth for I am witness, many dont even have the idea of what salvation is, all we have is religiousity. A bad tree can never produce a good fruit n vice versa.

I think the solution lies in we getting them saved (ofcourse by His grace emphasizing on personal relationship with Christ) at their tender age in the church n not just assume, n follow suit in their teen years. Emphasizing personal relationship with Christ n not just religion or fulfilling all righteousness, this kids actually express wat they see from the elders!

This is true to a good extent, youth groups often try 'modernizing' christianity and different erroneous ideas and concepts have been introduced, most youth groups don't focus primarily on the word, important topics like salvation, heaven and hell, faith and so on have been replaced by less important topics like how to dress as a christian, how to sing and use your talent for God and other things. I pray God revives his church at this crucial end time period. Amen !

Amen!

Secret_Dreams: This is true to a good extent, youths group often try 'modernizing' christianity and different erroneous ideas and concepts have been introduced, most youth groups don't focus primarily on the word, important topics like salvation, heaven and hell, faith and so on have been replaced by less important topics like how to dress as a christian, how to sing and use your talent for God and other things. I pray God revives his church at this crucial end time period. Amen !

I dint hear from u again?

Pastor Olu T:

I dint hear from u again?

sorry, I have been busy, I've been gathering information though. I'll definitely post them very soon, you can also get things that will shed more light on it. Thanks

Secret_Dreams: sorry, I have been busy, I've been gathering information though. I'll definitely post them very soon, you can also get things that will shed more light on it. Thanks

Kk no problem

The research really is true. Much of what the church is doing now is using entertainment, posh auditorium, nice music, well dressed ushers etc, to make up for our ichabod state in the church. And its not working, coz nothing can compensate for the absence of His glory.

We need to do whatever it will take to bring forth the glory of Christ again, instead of improvising to make up for its absence.

so what is yahweh going to do about it? send jesus over again!