by Pastor Mike Housholder
There’s a popular misconception that kids and teens these days are drifting away from God simply because they’re part of a rebellious and self-centered generation.
But according to a recent study in a leading Christian journal, most kids wander from God due to a lack of spiritual guidance from surrounding adults, and, in fact, today’s youth are crying out (not always in the most obvious or healthy ways) for faith and a moral center in their lives, longing for “grown-ups” to teach them about God, values, and boundaries …
Exhibit A: Hope’s Vacation Bible School, which continues to explode in growth. As a church, VBS is a way for us to communicate clearly to children biblical truth and moral boundaries. Jesus is praised as Lord, the one true God, and the way of salvation for all. Children are taught God’s commands to love all, forgive freely, honor parents, worship fully, pray fervently, and give generously.
Those Bible-based life lessons are precisely what today’s youth yearn to learn, and they show up by the thousands, and then they bring their friends. Along the way, they discover God, new life, freedom … and the blessing of moral boundaries.
Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t live, theologically, on the edge of some kind of narrow-minded fundamentalism, and I’m not suggesting every aspect and issue in a child’s life is clear-cut, with an overly simplistic spiritual application. I don’t want to reduce the Christian faith or biblical scholarship into some watered-down, conveniently interpreted weapon for a misguided culture war. I am, however, suggesting that in a culture that defaults toward spiritual and moral relativism far too quickly and easily, kids often get lost in artificial shades of gray that don’t exist in reality … and it’s hurting them.
Despite the changing moral whims of pop culture, there remains this virtue called truth, acknowledged or not. All truth is God’s truth, or it is not truth.
Truth is … there is a God. Regardless of precisely when or how, God did create the universe. God is love. Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and rose from the dead to open the door to new and eternal life for all who are joined to him by faith. The Holy Spirit directs our lives, producing love, joy, peace … and self-control. He afflicts the comfortable, and comforts the afflicted. That’s a short list. It’s all true, Bible-based, and there’s nothing gray about it.
I know it’s tempting for parents, mentors, teachers, coaches, and even church leaders – living in a world that has grown increasingly hostile toward all things religious (particularly Christianity) – to remain vague about God with our kids, to minimize God-commanded moral boundaries, and soften the lines between right and wrong.
But it’s not worth it. Too many kids are getting lost. Too many are drifting. Too many are walking without God.
I believe it’s time for the grown-ups to grow up and take on the responsibility of instilling faith and values in our children. Let’s teach our kids the truth about God and his guidelines for life this side of heaven. Let’s lead by example, not superficially, but honestly. Let’s pray with our kids, read them Bible stories, and talk openly about God with them.
Most of all, let’s give them Jesus. Let’s give our kids a love that will fill their hearts now … and forever.
