Last month I was in Fresno, CA where I did a DL academy. The church asked me to speak in the morning services on “Satan’s Seductions” and follow-up with the parents Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. We had a great response from the parents who were very interested in understanding the culture their kids are living in today. One point I made was the fact that many of today’s church kids have never personalized their God. He is still the God of their parents and their church. We discussed the mass exodus we are experiencing from the church by our pre-teens and teens and how Satan has seduced them into a world that opposes everything we believe as committed Christians.
Within 24 hours of our meetings I received email messages from three families. One mom said that when she went home Monday night her young teen daughter informed her that she no longer believed in God. She was very grateful that she had attended the meetings and had something to say to her daughter. The other families confirmed the things I had presented and told me the sad stories of their own battles with evil in their homes.
Under the noses of parents and pastors is another world that has one objective . . . seducing our kids and destroying Christian families. Last week I read a stat from the Association of Family and Marriage Ministry that in 2006 there were 42,000,000 porn pages available to our kids on the internet and 25% of all search engine requests are for porn. The largest group of viewers of internet porn are children between 12 and 17 years old. As Christian parents and leaders in the church we have a giant to slay who is taunting us at every turn. We can’t give up, we must keep fighting for the hearts, minds and souls of our kids.
I wonder how much of the exodus is due to parents not being as involved in the parenting/spiritual upbringing of their children because they have become increasingly busy? So, if it is not reinforced at home, does the kid really internalize?
Another thought I had was wondering if the exodus is also due to children being segmented and always being “served” rather than getting involved in and feeling a part of the whole church. I think small/medium churches can accomplish this easier than the super large. I’ve noticed more of my kids stick, when they go through the jr high years, when they are part of my leadership team for kids/youth in cm. They start in 5/6th grade and continue on serving in significant ways, not only in cm, but whenever something comes up in church that they can help in (ie: mother’s day, etc.)