Friday, March 23, 2012

Why Youth Stay in Church When They Grow Up

John Nielson:
“What do we do about our kids?” The group of parents sat together in my office, wiping their eyes. I’m a high school pastor, but for once, they weren’t talking about 16-year-olds drinking and partying. Each had a story to tell about a “good Christian” child, raised in their home and in our church, who had walked away from the faith during the college years. These children had come through our church’s youth program, gone on short-term mission trips, and served in several different ministries during their teenage years. Now they didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. And, somehow, these mothers’ ideas for our church to send college students “care packages” during their freshman year to help them feel connected to the church didn’t strike me as a solution with quite enough depth.
Read the rest.

Keep in mind that this is not a formula. You can do all these things and still have your children leave the faith. I would add a #4 as well. The children see their parents repent. Repentance is the #1 fruit of the Gospel. If the Gospel is alive in your family you will be a repenting family. Sadly, this is not the norm.

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