Faithful Guides

Pastor Dave and Jennie Tietjen lead VBS at Evangel, Wheaton IL

The next generation

Last week was VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church.  This year I helped with the technical needs during the opening and closing session each day—music videos, PowerPoint, etc. As I sat in the back of the room packed with bright-eyed children and teen volunteers, the thought came to me, “I wonder how many of these young people will come to know Jesus and follow him the rest of their lives?” [1]

Troubling signs

The trends are not encouraging.  While it has always been true that some young people drift away from their childhood faith and church affiliation as they leave home, the times are changing. 

Getting attention over the past few years has been the “rise of the ‘nones’”—people who claim no religious affiliation.  The proportion of self-proclaimed agnostics and atheists is slowly growing, after being relatively stable in the past (less than 5% of adults).  The leading edge of the trend, however, has more to do with a rejection of organized religion. This goes along with a general decline in trust in major institutions (including public schools, banks and television news, among others).  Yet, there remains among many of the “nones” a search for spiritual meaning in their lives.  [2]

Compared to most countries in what was known as “Christendom,” the U.S. remains highly religious, with high rates of affiliation, belief in God, church attendance and other factors. There is, however, trouble in River City, and as Harold Hill famously proclaimed in The Music Man, it is spelled with a capital “T”—especially for the younger generations. [3]

Unlike previous generations, where people returned to the church after marriage and especially when children came on the scene, one of the most disturbing trends is the permanent departure from the church in adulthood.  There are simply too many competing forces in our culture.   

The church we attend is across from the DuPage County Fairgrounds, which has activities every Sunday throughout the year.  Model railroaders, ham radio, antique cars, cats and dogs, and on and on.  Next to the fairgrounds is a city park that is filled many Sunday mornings with families whose children are involved in youth football and soccer.  As you go further away the competition only increases, with shopping centers, movie theaters, restaurants, seasonal festivals and all manner of options for that time during the week once reserved for church attendance.   It is a situation that seems normal to the younger generations—it is what they grew up with—but for Baby Boomers and older, the change that has occurred in our lifetime is remarkable.   

In his book Coming Apart Charles Murray makes many insightful and disturbing observations. The book documents “The State of White America, 1960-2010.”   The middle class is coming apart says Murray, with traditional values of work, marriage, family and education disintegrating.  He suggests that while traditional values can still be found among highly educated and higher income whites, they are not “evangelists” for those values. They are not concerned with passing those values on to their own children, nor are they champions for proclaiming the importance of those values to the fabric of society.  [4]

What kind of world are we sending our children and grandchildren into?  The question has worried parents for a long, long time, I am sure.  But the changes in America today are more profound than ever, particularly for people whose faith is a 24/7 proposition, with God and the Bible at the center.

Surviving the riptide: the need for faithful guides

When we see the happy, eager faces of children today and wish them to become vibrant Christ-followers in their adult lives, what can we do?  Countering the attraction and “normalcy” of a secular culture is like trying to escape from a rip tide.  It can be frightening and dangerous, but it can be done.  When caught in a rip tide the advice is not to fight the current, but to swim across it. While still being pushed further away from the shore, you will eventually be free from its power and able to swim ashore or at least be in a safer location for rescue. How does that translate to daily living?  It requires embracing young people and empowering them to recognize the rip tide of culture (in combination with Satan’s deceptive power) and know how to deal with it.

Prayer is paramount.  Deep. Consistent. Persistent. It brings the power of the Holy Spirit to protect and rescue us from the riptide. The daily prayers of grandmothers were significant for our own children and set an example for us as grandparents.  That level of prayer comes only from lives deeply devoted to Christ. 

There are many Scriptures that provide counsel. Two of the most familiar come from Proverbs and Ephesians. John Peterson’s “The Message” paraphrase expresses the ideas in a contemporary style:

Point your kids in the right direction—when they’re old they won’t be lost. [Proverbs 22:6]

Fathers, don’t exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master. [Ephesians 6:4]

Of course, the advice of Proverbs is not a warranty. There will be doubts. There will be wandering. There will be prodigals. But, the “seeds” planted by godly parents—or the music, stories and witness of a week at VBS—may germinate into a search for faith, sometimes much later in life.  Indeed, some of the best guides have travelled their own prodigal path.

The Good News Translation of the Ephesians passage uses the gender-neutral “parents” instead of “fathers.”  While the sense of the verse certainly applies to mothers, I think the focus on fathers is critical today.  Part of Charles Murray’s analysis in Coming Apart points to the diminished role and outright absence of the father in the lives of many children today.

The role of fathers is a core value that has been seriously damaged in the past fifty years. In the wake of riots in Ferguson and Baltimore, it is encouraging that some civic and religious leaders have come forward to speak to the importance of fatherhood and traditional two parent families. We do not improve society by diminishing the value of marriage and family in order to avoid offending those who have suffered broken relationships.  We must bring the love and grace of Christ to brokenness of all kinds.

To be a faithful guide does not require perfection.  In fact, just the opposite. None of us is immune from struggles and temptations. Indeed, seeing a person whose faith has been shaped and strengthened by those struggles and temptations can bring the gospel to life for those who have not yet accepted Jesus' call to follow him. .

As the cultural riptide pulls our children from the shore of belief, the ability to swim to safety may well come from the teaching of mothers and fathers, grandparents, coaches and mentors, other faithful guides whose lives are living examples of the truth and power of God’s Word, walking in “the way of the Master.”