{"id":1986,"date":"2010-09-28T07:20:44","date_gmt":"2010-09-28T12:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=1986"},"modified":"2010-09-22T11:53:35","modified_gmt":"2010-09-22T16:53:35","slug":"september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"September 29-October 5, 20010&#8211;Christian Kids Not Really Christian?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Jay McDivitt, Mequon, WI<\/p>\n<h3>Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n<p>What is one thing you have learned about \u201cfaith\u201d from a grandparent and\/or a parent?<\/p>\n<h3>Christian Kids Not Really Christian?<\/h3>\n<p>Kenda Creasy Dean, a professor at Princeton and author of <em>Almost Christian<\/em>, argues that more and more young people in Christian churches are embracing a \u201cwatered-down,\u201d and not really \u201cChristian\u201d faith \u2013 something she calls <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ptsem.edu\/iym\/lectures\/2005\/Smith-Moralistic.pdf\">\u201cmoralistic therapeutic deism\u201d (MTD)<\/a>. MTD doesn\u2019t reject basic Christian beliefs, but it doesn\u2019t really encourage them either. Instead, MTD affirms that \u201cGod\u201d created the world and is available to help you feel better when you\u2019re down, but otherwise stays out of the way. God wants us to be nice and happy.\u00a0 The God of MTD says good people who go to heaven. While these may be common assumptions about faith, Dean argues, these are not the historic claims of the Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>Why are kids embracing this watered-down version of the faith? Primarily because no one is taking their faith development very <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_59791306.jpg\"><\/a>seriously. While parents will<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_597913061.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2001\" style=\"margin: 5px;border: black 2px solid\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_597913061-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_597913061-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_597913061.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> bend over backwards to drag kids to tutors, coaches, practices, and games to make sure that they learn or even excel in algebra, hockey, dance, soccer, or piano, it seems the name of the game for religion is to \u201cexpose\u201d kids to faith \u2013 and hope they soak something up. Far from the radical commitments of the first disciples, many Christian churches assume that kids are doing well if they make a few good friends at youth group, have fun at camp, learn how to be nice, and avoid premarital sex or illegal drugs.<\/p>\n<p>The problem lies mostly with parents, Dean argues: Too many parents don\u2019t understand <em>themselves<\/em> why the Christian faith makes any real difference in their lives or in the world. They get \u201cnice\u201d and \u201cgood\u201d \u2013 and, perhaps, \u201cpure.\u201d But they either didn\u2019t grow up in the church or they were taught the same watered-down version of the faith.<\/p>\n<p>What to do about it? The jury is still out. Many see a new passion growing among young people who want a faith that matters in a world that seems to be off balance. Others see an increasing decline in Christianity in North America that will bring faith practice here to the same low levels seen in Europe for decades.\u00a0 One thing is for sure: Dean has started a conversation which will continue for some time as churches, parents, and young people wrestle with what it means to be Christian in the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What do you think of Dean\u2019s suggestion that Christianity has become mostly a religion of \u201cnice\u201d and \u201chappy\u201d people?\u00a0 Does this sound like the Christian faith you see at church or in your home? Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>Other than being \u201cnice\u201d and \u201chappy\u201d \u2013 and praying to God when you need help \u2013 what does it mean to you to be a Christian? What\u2019s the real Christian faith, if the version Dean talks about is fake?<\/li>\n<li>When you think about the future, how do you want the next generation of kids (your kids or your friends\u2019 kids) to learn about being Christians? What would you do differently from what you\u2019re experiencing at home and at church today? What would you do the same?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, October 3, 2010 (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=151741880\">Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=151741915\">2 Timothy 1:1-14<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=151741975\">Luke 17:5-10<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Text links are to <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/\">Oremus Bible Browser<\/a>. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Growing-In-Faith\/Worship\/Lectionary.aspx\">Lectionary Readings<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.agnusday.org\/\">Agnus Day.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Reflection<\/h3>\n<p>The disciples ask Jesus to \u201cincrease our faith!\u201d How many of us have asked the same thing? When we read about tragedies around the world\u2014or experience them ourselves in cancer, car accidents, or parents losing jobs\u2014it\u2019s hard for a lot of us to believe that God is real and doing good in the world. Faith gets rocked all the time, especially in the confusing and changing and crazy years of the teens and twenties.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus\u2019 response to this very normal request is surprising and a little bizarre: \u201cIf you had just a teeny-tiny bit of faith, you could move mountains.\u201d Assuming none of us has ever told a mountain to move and had it obey, this seems like a rather strange exaggeration. Not all that helpful, at least on the surface.<\/p>\n<p>But maybe that\u2019s the point. Maybe what Jesus is saying is that the amount of faith isn\u2019t what matters. We sometimes say \u201cThat woman is <em>really<\/em> faithful; she does x, y, and z for the church.\u201d or, \u201cI wish I could have faith like <em>that guy;<\/em> he\u2019s always got the right answers.\u201d That makes faith all about <em>us\u2014<\/em>about how often we go to church, when and how we pray, what we do or don\u2019t do on Friday night or Sunday morning, or how many Christian t-shirts or pieces of jewelry we wear. But if faith is all about us, then not only are we off track, we\u2019re doomed.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what is dangerous about the \u201calmost Christian\u201d faith that Dean describes. It\u2019s all about us.\u00a0 Faith becomes how <em>we<\/em> feel, about how nice <em>we<\/em> are \u2013 and God only enters the picture when <em>we<\/em> have a problem that we can\u2019t fix. Then we pray \u201chelp me!\u201d and hope God will show up and do something.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not what faith is all about. Faith is the hope that God has planted in us by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith is the trust that God didn\u2019t just create the world\u2014and occasionally shows up to fix things when we ask for help\u2014but rather, God is turning the whole world upside down and inside out. <em>God<\/em> is the one moving mountains, destroying death, forgiving sin, healing divisions, and changing lives. Faith is the gift God gives us to see that \u201cthis is most certainly true\u201d and the encouragement to tell the world about what we have seen.<\/p>\n<p>Believing that God is turning the world upside down means that we will see, live, and talk differently. It means we will question more about \u201cthe way things are\u201d and believe more about what God is doing. And it means we will have to practice seeing, speaking, and living <em>the faith<\/em>. Christian faith is a sheer gift, but it does not come naturally; it comes with practice. And practice takes patience and time.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why it is so important for us to listen to our ancestors. Part of the problem of \u201cMTD\u201d is that it is all about \u201chere and now\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s about <em>my<\/em> issues and <em>my<\/em> life. But Christianity is about the Beginning and the End; it\u2019s about how Jesus is the first and last Word in creation. And that message has been given to us by those who have gone before us. The reading from 2 Timothy is a great example: \u201cI am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you\u2026Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the gift of baptism, we have living in us the same faith that was given to our parents, our grandparents, and all those who have gone before us. It is solid stuff which makes bold claims about the past, present, and future of creation that go way beyond being \u201cnice\u201d or \u201chappy.\u201d And it is ours to live, to grow in, and to pass on to those who come after us. Since we believe that we \u201crely on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to God\u2019s own purpose and grace,\u201d we know that whatever we do with this gift, God will keep on giving it to us and to our grandchildren, now and forever. And thanks be to God for that.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What is different about what your grandparents believed and what you believe? If your answer is \u201cnot a lot,\u201d why? If it\u2019s \u201ca lot,\u201d what do you think created the difference?<\/li>\n<li>When have you ever wished for \u201cmore faith\u201d? What happened?<\/li>\n<li>What difference does Jesus actually make in your life? In your parents\u2019 lives? In the life of your church?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Activity Suggestions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Arrange for a few older members of the church to come and talk about thier faith life. What was confirmation like for them? Did they ever leave the church? Why or why not? What do they think is the most important thing for young people to learn about Jesus and\/or the church? [Perhaps this is a good time to pair each youth with an older adult for a mentoring\/prayer partner relationship, if you don\u2019t have one already.]<\/li>\n<li>Make a \u201cfaith family tree.\u201d Have them draw their family trees \u2013 including non-\u201cfamily\u201d members (such as godparents, etc.). Identify what each person did (or didn\u2019t) teach them about Jesus and the Christian life.<\/li>\n<li>Write a letter to your kids\/grandkids\/godkids\/nieces\/nephews. Whatever you imagine for your future in terms of relating to the next generation, pick a kid that you will someday be responsible for. Write them a letter about what you want them to know, learn, and experience as a child of God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Closing Prayer<\/h3>\n<p>God of our ancestors: you have planted in each of us the seed of faith. Help us to grow in a deep and meaningful relationship with you. Teach us the important stuff, and strengthen us to pass it on to those who come after us. Thank you for all the faithful people who have gone before us and for giving us faith, especially when it\u2019s hard to believe. In Jesus\u2019 name we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Jay McDivitt, Mequon, WI Warm-up Question What is one thing you have learned about \u201cfaith\u201d from a grandparent and\/or a parent? Christian Kids Not Really Christian? Kenda Creasy Dean, a professor at Princeton and author of Almost Christian, argues that more and more young people in Christian churches are embracing a \u201cwatered-down,\u201d and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[5914,334,435,66,319,425,394,5911,483,5909,5910,5913,544,331],"class_list":["post-1986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-almost-christian","tag-disciple","tag-doubt","tag-education","tag-faith","tag-faithfulness-to-god","tag-gods-love","tag-happy","tag-hope","tag-moralistic-therapeutic-deism","tag-mtd","tag-nice","tag-sacrifice","tag-witness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>September 29-October 5, 20010-Christian Kids Not Really Christian? - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"September 29-October 5, 20010-Christian Kids Not Really Christian? - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributed by Jay McDivitt, Mequon, WI Warm-up Question What is one thing you have learned about \u201cfaith\u201d from a grandparent and\/or a parent? 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Christian Kids Not Really Christian? Kenda Creasy Dean, a professor at Princeton and author of Almost Christian, argues that more and more young people in Christian churches are embracing a \u201cwatered-down,\u201d and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/","og_site_name":"Faith Lens","article_published_time":"2010-09-28T12:20:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":334,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_597913061.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"faithlens","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"faithlens","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/"},"author":{"name":"faithlens","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7"},"headline":"September 29-October 5, 20010&#8211;Christian Kids Not Really Christian?","datePublished":"2010-09-28T12:20:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/"},"wordCount":1702,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2010\/09\/shutterstock_597913061-300x200.jpg","keywords":["almost christian","disciple","doubt","education","faith","faithfulness to God","God's love","happy","hope","Moralistic Therapeutic Deism","MTD","nice","sacrifice","witness"],"articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/september-29-october-5-20010-christian-kids-not-really-christian\/","name":"September 29-October 5, 20010-Christian Kids Not Really Christian? 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