A Back-to-School Survival Guide by Scott Klusendorf Tomorrow is back-to-school day for most students, and that means getting our kids ready for classes. I’m not talking about stockpiling school supplies or hitting the clothing sale at Robinson’s/May. I mean preparing students intellectually to persuasively defend their faith on unfriendly turf. Parents, you may want to grab pen and paper, because in a moment I’m going to give you a "Back to School Survival Guide"—4 key points of knowledge your kids should know before they leave high school. What brought this on was a conversation I had recently with a new youth pastor. He knew I had been one (10 years ago) and he asked a pointed question: "As a former youth pastor, if you had it to do over, what would you do differently?" I shot back immediately, "I would teach my kids to think!" Why the emphatic response? It was not because I had a bad experience as a youth pastor, but because the teaching philosophy so prevalent at the time placed little value on the life of the mind. True, there was a healthy focus on relationships, group building, entertainment, praise and worship, practical tips on dating, self-esteem, etc. But the "experts" who trained youth pastors in the 1980s, though well intentioned, said little about training kids to think. Completely absent was any instruction on loving the Lord Jesus with all our minds, as we are commanded to do in Scripture. Consider this. Many evangelical churches spend 12 years or more teaching kids about worship, spiritual warfare, prayer, and Biblical self-esteem. These are all legitimate topics to cover with young people. But the instruction often stops there, with tragic consequences. Upon completing 12th grade, these students are sent off to the secular university ill-equipped to persuasively defend their Christian worldview (assuming they have one). While teaching on praise and worship is important, it provides no help whatsoever when Christian students are forced to confront ideas hostile to a theistic worldview. The result? Christian students are marginalized and rendered ineffective in their witness for Christ in the public square. Or, worse yet, they abandon their faith altogether. Christian youth leaders must not let this happen. Biblically, we are commanded (1 Peter 3:15) to "always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that lies within you." Notice the emphasis on providing a reasonable defense. In fact the Greek word for "defense" is apologia, which means to make a case the way a lawyer would in a court of law. So, here goes. If I had it to do over again, my purpose statement as a youth pastor would be "to build young Christian thinkers for a public defense of the faith." I would concentrate my teaching on 4 key areas: 1. The relationship between philosophy and Christian faith 2. The relationship between science and Christian faith 3. The relationship between bio-ethics and Christian faith 4. The relationship between history and Christian faith I’m not going to cover these four areas exhaustively today, but I will give a couple of points from each that are essential. Many of you will no doubt think of other things I have left out, and in a moment you can give me your take on what’s missing and how our churches can do more to prepare our kids. I’ll also suggest a couple of resources for each of the four areas. READ MORE: mtio/articles/aissar33.htm
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 10:26:25 +0000
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