Walking Away: Part 2
Searching for the Solution
Last week, I shared about the dilemma that we are facing as the body of Christ. Believers are walking away. Students who have grown up in church, who have come through our ministries, are facing a slow deconstruction of their faith. The voice of the world is speaking loudly into their hearts, trying to pull them away from the God they once served. That voice is beating down on their doubts and breaking their faith apart.
Today, we will discuss how the voice of Christ can speak louder. Undoubtedly, when the voice of Christ speaks into our student’s doubts, the Gospel will have victory. We will talk about different ways to jump into the ring and to fight harder for the hearts of our students in this unending battle.
1. Preach the Gospel
This may seem like a given. In fact, it may seem like the typical Sunday school answer. However, examine your ministry. Thinking over my time in student ministry, I can see obvious seasons where we veered off track with keeping the preaching of the Gospel center.
I can think to times where we elevated God loves you, so do right. Instead of, you can’t do right apart of Christ, so dwell deeply with your Savior.
There is a huge difference. In our ministries, we must teach our students to rest in the fished work of Christ and to pursue His heart through the Scriptures. This is the heart of the Gospel.
One great way to keep the Gospel center is through a solid study of Scripture. God’s Word is living and active. Yes, it will cut down to the heart of deconstructionism…. if our students know how to properly study. Study Scripture in context. Figure out what the original authors intended. Keep Christ as the center of the story. God’s Word is less about what we need to do and more about who we need to know. (Check out this resource here.)
As students come face to face with the God of the Scripture, He changes hearts. When He changes hearts, He seals them with His Spirit. Deconstructionism is no match to the power of God revealed through the Gospel.
2. (re)Define Student Ministry
We must redefine what student ministry is. This may seem like a silly statement, but truly think about your purpose in ministry. What is it??? Stop and think.
To help further explain this question, I want to share with you about the youth ministry that I grew up in. My youth pastor continually reminded us that it was OUR youth ministry. We knew that “Transformed Student Ministry” was operated by the students within it, not by the pastor who led it.
We led worship. We assisted in small group discussion. We prayed for one another. Essentially, the students were taught how to actually be involved in the world of ministry.
Our students are less likely to walk away from their faith, when they have personally seen and been a part of Christ making a difference in the lives of their peers through ministry. Get them involved. Equip them to do ministry. Then, send them out into a lost world.
3. Answer the Tough Questions, Be Transparent
Do you know which questions I am talking about?
“If Good is good, then why does evil exist? Couldn’t Christ have found another way to redeem the world? What about suicide? What about homosexuality or pre-marital sex?”
The list goes on and on. (We will have a blog post on answering these questions soon.) Our students have questions. Often, they don’t ask these questions because of pride or fear of judgments. Personally, I remember having questions about my faith, that I didn’t ask because I wanted to keep the appearance of the good-church-girl.
We must create a culture of openness and transparency in our student ministries. Students need to know that questions are welcomed. My youth minister kept a box in the back of the room where we could put questions.
Can I let you in on a secret? If the Church doesn’t answer our students’ questions, the world will.
I grew up with a friend that was secretly living a homosexual lifestyle, but told no one. He didn’t share his struggles and ask his questions. Consequently, the world welcomed him with unjudging arms and answered those questions for him. He has since walked away from his faith, friends, and family.
How dare we push student’s doubt away. How dare we judge them when they fall. Christ welcomed doubt and questions and He always pointed people to Himself.
Study apologetics with your students. Talk about homosexuality. Talk about the issue of evil and brokenness. Talk about how doubts sowed properly can lead us to a closer walk with Christ.
I pray that the atmosphere of piety changes in the church today. We are a needy people that are desperate for the work of God and the righteousness of Christ. We aren’t good and we don’t know everything. Our righteousness is filthy rags and we need a Savior to redeem us. A Savior who welcomes our questions. A Savior who walks with us in our hurts and doubts, who welcomes us to Himself and bids us to go and sin no more.
Overview
We must join the fight. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option in this war of deconstructionism in the lives of our students. This most effective tool to this is the Gospel of Christ as revealed through the Word. Arms your students with the tools to relentlessly purse Christ in Scripture. Encourage them to be transparent with one another and to ask the tough questions. Then, walk with them in finding the answers even if you aren’t sure of those answers yourself.
In the next blog post, we will discuss developing Biblical community and using meaningful service opportunities as a way to develop disciples in your ministry.