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55 6/25/2009
Why Kids leave the Church!
There is a wonderful book that just came out entitled, “Already Gone” by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer. We have it on our website if interested. It is a very telling commentary on the situation here in America as seen through the lessons learned from England. Though England used to be the very model of the Christian faith and home of so many leading evangelists and churches, since 1969 over 1500 churches have closed their doors. Now, only 6.3% of the population attends church of any denomination. What happened? A spread of ideas that were deemed harmless at first, have mutated into a disease that has nearly wiped out the church there in just two generations. Unfortunately, that disease has spread to the United States and we are facing the same fate. What was the disease? The slow compromise on the authority of God’s Word. They agreed to accept the teachings of the world on origins and reinterpret the Biblical account of Genesis.
It has commonly been believed that most kids are lost in college, however, research never been done before, has revealed a startling truth. Only 11% of those who have left the church did so during the college years. 90% were lost in the middle school to high school ages. 40% were lost during the elementary years. This shows our children and grandchildren are being affected much earlier than previously believed. Even more shocking, the study shown in this book reveals that Sunday school was actually a detriment to Christianity because it didn’t do anything to help develop their Christian worldview. When asked about evolution as the origin for human beings only 18.5% of those who never attended Sunday school believed it, while 24.6% of those who had attended Sunday school believed in evolutionary origins. When it came to premarital sex 47.7% of those who never attended SS saw it as wrong, yet only 40.8% of past SS goers saw it as sin. When asked “Do you feel good people DON’T need to go to church” the response was Yes for 39.3% from SS attendees to 28.9% of non-attendees. 39.6% of non- attendees thought Church was irrelevant and 46.4% of attendees. The reason for this is that the Sunday school has been teaching stories without any connection to real life. Isn’t ironic that we don’t speak of the Evolution story but we talk of Bible stories all the time. Stories are viewed as fairy tales and evolution is taught as science. This should concern us as Christians as there is a great need to revamp what is being taught in our Sunday Schools.
Jesus said, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things.” (John 3:12). Indeed, our children are not believing even the earthly things described in the Bible, is it any wonder they aren’t accepting the heavenly things? If you believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will you be persuaded though one would rise from the Dead (Luke 17). We are becoming more and more worldly and less Christian each day as the authority of the Scriptures is being stripped from our children. Even President Obama stated in his autobiography, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation and a nation of nonbelievers.” Isn’t it time we make an intentional push to train our children with a strong Biblical World view? Too many churches are ignoring the importance of standing firmly and without compromise on the Word as truth. Apologetics has become a vital factor in keeping kids in the church. When the church isn’t answering their questions that connect to real life, the Bible becomes just a story, not true history. This isn’t anything we haven’t really already known, but I pray that this book by Ken Ham will open the eyes of other pastors and people throughout the country to help them realize how important the Word and its authority is. How pray that they will see the damage the compromising attitude has done and will repent of their man-centered authority.
Another powerful statistic shown was that even despite strong levels of spiritual activity within churches in the teen years, most of those teens stop attending church as well once they get to be college age. In fact, a startling 61% of those heavily involved in youth activities left the church in their twenties. Why? In my opinion, if youth groups are going to make fun and games the focus of fellowship, the fruit will be short-lived. Bottom line is, when one grows up, there isn’t really time for as many fun and games and ones focus begins to change more towards career building. So once you reach your twenties, you are too old for the fun and games offered in youth groups and you don’t fit in anymore so why go to church anyway? What you win them with is what you will win them to. If you win them with Truth, respect and honor for the Holy Name of Jesus, that is something that can be, and should be, offered consistently by the church throughout our lives. Kids can get fun and games anywhere without the 15 minute devotion. Why go to church to get that if it can be found somewhere else? What the statistics show is that kids actually want to have answers and be fed real meat from the Scriptures, not just to be entertained. We must stop treating kids as if they are too young to understand the Bible. I have been doing a youth Bible study in my home for 16 years and we do an hour long Bible study (sometimes longer). Guess what? Youth have come for 16 years and are still be challenged and fed by the Word, despite the lack of fun and games. I have also seen most of these kids grow up and continue to remain in the church, having a close walk with the Lord. Train them with the Spirit of the Lord along with a respect for a jealous and holy God, and that Spirit will continue to lead them throughout their lives. Train them in fun, games and fluff devotions; you will be left with a fluffy outcome with very little respect for the Word of Truth.
Thanks for reading my ranting and raving. I just wish more people could see and hear what I do as I travel around meeting person after person telling me about children or grandchildren who no longer attend church. I wish they could also hear the comments I do from those who discover that the Bible answers their questions and they see that science and a young earth is not in opposition to the Scriptures. Young people are constantly telling me how their whole view of the Bible and life has changed after hearing the apologetics from Genesis. It is like a light bulb that is just turned on and you can see the gleam and excitement in their eyes as they can trust the Bible fully for, what is for many, the first time in their life. I know if people could see this, they would understand how important it is for us to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15-16). I would encourage any of you reading this to read “Already Gone,” and really make a personal challenge to take to heart and live out what it says.