I, as some would say, “grew up in the church.” When I say that, what I mean is that my parents became Christians, and they took me to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday evening and pretty much any other function of the church (e.g., fellowships, youth functions, etc.). I watched my father preach, teach and lead the church in many ways. I witnessed my mother setting the wonderful example of what it means to be benevolent, kind, merciful and loving. I had every spiritual advantage one might be able to list.
I left anyhow. Oh! I don’t mean I wasn’t at some building on the “appointed days, at the appointed hour.” What I mean is that years ago, I checked out mentally and was biding my time for—well, I didn’t know what, but I knew I hadn’t found it. I was a minimalistic Christian, which is kind of like saying, “I saw a jackalope or chupacabra.” I rode the faith of my parents hard for the benefits of social interaction with other girls and boys my age, but I had no faith of my own. I had not made the necessary jump from memorizing the list of facts doled out by my Bible class teachers to the place where I understood and embraced them. I had help, though, in reaching this comfortless, comfortable, meaningful, purposeless spiritual existence.
Have you ever noticed that kids ask a lot of questions? Sure you have. However, have you ever noticed how those questions grow more pointed and challenging as children reach a certain age when maturity begins to blossom? All questions from our children, regardless of age, are important ones. However, those pointed and challenging questions are the ones that ought to receive the greatest amount of attention and exploration. Why? These questions usually represent some hurdle our kids have regarding faith. They are finally exploring it for themselves, and very often they gravitate toward the gaps where their understanding is often thin or non-existent.
“But, how can we know there is a God if we have never seen or heard or touched Him,” they may ask. Their experience tells them that we must have evidence for belief. The Bible teacher says it. The preacher says it. Mom and dad say it. The schoolteacher says it. Thus, they have been trained to find answers and fill the gaps. Faith, after all, is the “evidence of things unseen.” In other words, there is a reason behind faith, and faith is reasonable. If it is not, then, it does not match the faith described in the Bible.
If these questions go unanswered, young people’s faith can wane or even disintegrate completely. This is not due to unwillingness on the child’s part or because the belief is inaccurate, but it may occur because they have been given no reason to believe. They may have no reason to connect with it on a personal level and adopt it as their own understanding. When we give mediocre, lame answers to valid and probing questions (even those that seem confrontational at times), then we contribute to this lack of faith. When we give transparent answers that do not even convince us, though they may be the “traditional answers” that the “church” has given, our children see right through the explanation. That experience widens the gap between them and the acceptance of a reasonable faith.
We do the same thing when we set a bad example, don’t follow our own teaching, teach with an inherent disposition of superiority or simply say, “You’ve got to have faith.” Faith is what they are trying to build with their questions.
Many adults today remain faithless not because they fail to know the facts, but because the process of building a strong faith broke down. You can help by always being ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you—a hope that is built on a faith that you won through hard fought battles over your own doubts and fears. Mediocre Christians create more of the same. Look around! Do we need any more of them?
Get serious about your faith. Ask the hard questions. What kind of answers do you have? Why do you believe what you believe? Is it reasonable? When you find it, teach the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
