Are They Already Gone???

Most of us who have been hanging around church very long are very aware of the incredible statistics of kids who have grown up in the church (very involved in children's ministries and youth groups) and upon graduation from high school never darken the door of a church again. They have answered altar calls and gone through confirmation classes and been baptized and, then, for a significant period of time or maybe forever, they live as pagans. I was one of them.

We have always kind of thought that the problem was that the lure of the culture when they go to college or out into the world of work was too strong and they basically abandoned their faith for culture. I agree with a book that I am reading right now called Already Gone that proposes that the kids have actually basically shut the idea of the Gospel and the church down often by the 5th, 6th, 7th grade, or high school and not when they leave home. They are 'already gone.' The church has taught kids some basic lingo about 'Jesus living in our hearts' and taught them some moralism -- that they live out their faith by not drinking, smoking weed, or having illicit sex. So, we have teenagers walking around with a complete misunderstanding of what a life 'in Christ' really means. I understand this is a huge generalization as we see young people who also have truly been regenerated by God and have repented and believed the Gospel at many ages; however, for the most part these college age kids are not abandoning a true faith, they actually gave up the charade of a false conversion a long time before we thought.

What is going on? The American church has, for the most part, not taught parents or the children Biblical Christianity. We have not preached and taught the Gospel and/or repentance from sin. The reason I mention the parents is that it is a Biblical mandate for them to be the primary teachers and models of a Gospel-centered life. The church has not done its part in producing quality adult disciples who then pass that life of Jesus being the center of every area of their existence to their children. I think we have a defeatist attitude that says that 18-19 year olds are going to party and have sex outside marriage, so we quit trying -- we quit believing the power of the Gospel and the power of the transformation of the Holy Spirit. And I think we underestimate what 8-14 year olds can understand about the Bible.

I love what our Bridge Kids and Youth are doing for the young people of our church, but this topic is bothering me. I am driven to challenge our ministries to fight this trend with every fiber in our beings.
Two initial things must happen to get a start in the fight:
1. We must preach and teach the inerrant, authoritative Bible to parents and kids alike. The source is Jesus Christ; we must do our part to develop Gospel-centered lives.
2. We must continue to emphasize that the children's understanding of a Gospel-centered life is the primary Biblical responsibility of parents - not the church.
The life must be taught and modeled. This is no game. Parents #1 responsibility on this planet is to develop the Lord Jesus Christ in their children. Sports are neat -- I played them, coached them, still love them, but if they take priority over the Gospel, we have sinned. Music and dance are great, same deal. Even academic achievement can be set above Godliness. To sum this up, the world has taught us that our kids should be molded by 50 different things and we run them ragged to cover them all. We prioritize lots of things ahead of the Gospel; then, we are shocked when our kids are 'already gone' in middle school or high school, and completely gone from the faith and from church in their 20's, many never to return.