"the people that I interviewed reported being shut down brutally when they expressed their doubts as young people"

I haven’t interviewed a bunch of young people, but I’ve been watching them leave the church (in general), bitter and discouraged and confused, for the last decade. And I agree- the church has programs and entertainment, but it can’t seem to handle it when people have doubts and struggles. I thought the whole point of ministering was to help people, especially young people in their formative years, figure out how to apply Scripture to their walk and relationship with Christ.

But I suppose that because this takes time and some ups and downs that church leadership just doesn’t want to mess with it. It’s “Shut up, obey without question, or you are a rebel”. This attitude leaks into the home, so that parents won’t allow their children to struggle, and the consequences for their confusion and making mistakes are so dire that they end living a double life. There is no middle ground, no reasoning, no nurturing.

I used to be surprised that so many walk away, but not anymore.

Dyck’s book sounds quite interesting. Glad to see that he recognized (in the interview) the “heart issue” involved in so many cases. I suspect it’s a larger percentage than he realizes though. Many are leaving simply because they have not been converted.

[Aaron Blumer] Dyck’s book sounds quite interesting. Glad to see that he recognized (in the interview) the “heart issue” involved in so many cases. I suspect it’s a larger percentage than he realizes though. Many are leaving simply because they have not been converted.

That was true for me. I said and did all the right things- through church and Sunday School, Christian school and Bible college, serving in churches and teaching… and then God threw me down on the ground so I could realize I was lost.

I think many kids who leave think they are saved, and thus don’t understand why they don’t understand Scripture and Godly principles. They are discouraged and defeated because their salvation isn’t having the effect they are told that it should. After all, don’t many Sunday Schools, children’s programs, and parents treat their kids as if they were regenerate, requiring Christian behavior, convictions, and service before any repentance has taken place? So they leave because there is nothing to this Christianity stuff. But they’ve never ever experienced Christ.

Well, they may be effective in sharing the gospel – that kind of first-touch ministry – but they aren’t effective at making disciples of Jesus. One of the statistics that just blew me away while I was researching for the book was Barna group’s finding that 65 percent of young adults in this country report that they made a decision for Jesus Christ. Well, I don’t think 65 percent, by anyone’s estimate, would be described as authentic Christians. So we are not doing a good job on the back end.

I agree about the back end problem, but it never ceases to amaze me that revivalist Christians never notice the “front end” problem. The fact that we even have to ask a question as vaguely worded and scripturally baseless as “made a decision for Jesus Christ” shows that we have serious problems communicating the gospel in the first place. A remember a study done recently on the results of the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades. When the respondents were asked what they meant by their decision, the most common answer was something about wanting to be a better person. Now, I don’t think someone listening to Graham should come away with that, but something happens between the preaching and the invitation. We are expert at getting people to do they know not what so that we feel better about ourselves.

i think the lazarus story is a good example because it shows dyck as a good christian teacher answering maybe poorly framed, but legitmate theological questions in a less-than-perfect way. it is a difficult theological question of why Jesus waited. recognizing this difficulty maybe could have led to a discussion that drew the lady back towards faith. her question could have been better worded like, “How can Jesus as God be perfectly loving and merciful but still seem to toy with and manipulate his friends and followers in a very vulnerable situation?” A question of capriciousness should not be answered with sovereignty.

I have been studying the works of Francis Schaeffer with some other people in our late twenties to early thirties age range. One of the thing we appreciate about Schaeffer was his solid commitment to biblical orthodoxy coupled with a deep sense of compassion and love for those who were asking honest questions about the Christianity. He is a good example of someone who spent alot of time with people, treated them with dignity and respect, and took time to listen to them.

It is said if he were talking to someone for an hour he would listen to a person express their doubts, questions and objections for 55 minutes before spending the remaining five minutes in response. He really wanted to hear people out, especially young people, and find out what their particular hang-ups were. I don’t see alot of that these days; especially in myself.

Hearing people out takes alot of time, and it is messy. Its not a three or four point apologetics prorgram or formula. Kids live in a very disconnected culture these days. Young people aren’t stupid. They know when someone truely cares about them and what they are saying, and they know when they are a cog in a church program or evangelistic campaign. They can see when there is a disconnect between the message and reality. Schaeffers book “True Spirituality” has been helpful to me in this regard.