Youth workers are some of the most influential people in our childrens’ faith journey. And it seems in today’s world there is a desperate need for Gospel-driven leaders to serve.
On this latest edition of Connecting Faith, Jo welcomes popular speaker and author Brock Morgan, as he discusses his book . We find refreshing honesty, hope and encouragement for youth ministry. Here’s where the conversation takes us:
What do we mean when we call today’s culture in America “Post-Christian”? Brock explains the term as denoting a society that emerges after the Christian church has lost its coherence. The primary voices in a culture are no longer Christian.
The primary religion of America’s teens today isn’t Christianity. According to Brock, it is a moralistic, therapeutic Deism. Teens think of God as existing, but having no active, vital role in everyday life.
Against this backdrop, the more challenging parts of our life of faith are things many young people simply won’t care to tackle. It’s a culture of immediacy, and if something doesn’t prove immediately satisfying, they’re probably not going to stick with it.
The Christian faith has suffered acutely by the way it’s been presented in the media, Brock believes. Teens are adopting that portrayal as their view of what the faith really is. When you add that presentation to real life negative experiences with Christians, then a barrier to belief really begins to develop.
As youth leaders and volunteers work to share the truth of Jesus in view of these challenges, their partnership with parents is vital.
Sharing from his own experience, Brock expresses the yearning that many young people share for a faith of depth and clarity. That’s who Jesus is, and we need to communicate that exciting reality. To do this successfully, it’s about so much more than talking. It’s about living out that faith.
