By Not Known
We know how times have changed and so have teenagers. Back when today’s adults were growing up, the church tradition involved recitation of Christian creeds during weekly worship services. The entire congregation participated, old and young. Whether as young people then understood the significance of those repeated words or not; whether we protested or agreed with the ritual or not – the remembering of Scripture was designed to ward off error, and to help grow children and young people into a healthy relationship with their heavenly Father.
God’s word has power to change and that power is unchanging. Although teens may not be as receptive. God’s word is still changing lives today. Yet, today’s kids show up and assume the encouraging posture of engaged skepticism. They want to talk about spiritual things. They are even excited to talk about the Christian faith and biblical truth. The challenge, however, is that they are skeptical about its validity. To them, Christianity is just one option among many.
Teenagers are searching everywhere and in everything to fill their souls -television, music, and popular books written to their audience, in the occult and New Age religions, in relationships, achievements, and material things. George Barna did research and found that 66 of American teens “have experimented with psychic and/or occult activities including seances, casting spells, consulting mediums, etc.” The figure here in Singapore would not be too far off, although most would tend to think the percentages may be lower. The influence of the media can be overpowering.
Still, spirituality is popular with teenagers, and they can be led into truth by adults who are loving, diligent, and willing to provide biblical answers to their questions. This generation is different from previous generations who may have been apathetic about their spirituality and more interested in the social aspects of the church. Today’s teenagers are committed to finding spiritual fulfillment. They can be evangelised by adults who consistently model and share with them about what it means to be Christians – to know the one true God.
So while we pray for our teens, let’s also pray for ourselves. As we grow, we should be good models to our youths in the church and at home. Let’s also pray that we will personally have an active interest in their relationships with the Lord. Leading young people to the Lord is not just the tasks of our youth leaders or Sunday school teachers. It is a task that all of us must be involved actively.