Emotional highs are not enough!

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind … (Romans 12:2)

by Jonathan Sarfati

iStockphoto

CMI speakers often minister to churches with few young people.¹ We often meet anguished parents whose adult offspring have abandoned the faith in which they were raised. Yet many churches do have vibrant youth programs, so what could have gone wrong? Plenty! If the programs concentrate on entertainment, then kids might find they can be entertained better by the world. Or else they concentrate on emotional commitment, but emotions are fickle. But what about training kids in what Jesus called “the great and first commandment”: to “love the Lord your God with all your … mind” (Matthew 22:36–38). This must include helping them think through questions they often raise.

Questioning is a good thing

Some parents and pastors think that this abandonment starts with their children asking questions about the faith. However, without thinking, how can they develop “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16)? Rather, we should be more worried if they are not asking questions. As we have discussed previously,² this is a likely sign that the children are just borrowing their parents’ or church’s faith. But a borrowed faith will not last long after leaving home.

Unanswered questions are a bad thing

According to one of the leading Christian apologists outside CMI, Nancy Pearcey:

Studies find that the main reason people abandon their Christian upbringing is unanswered intellectual questions. The researchers were surprised; they expected to hear stories of relationship issues—people saying they’d been hurt or emotionally wounded. But the reason given most often by those who de-convert is that they could not get answers to their doubts and questions.³

We know this from countless letters. E.g. a while ago, a teenage girl wrote to CMI:

Answered questions really make a difference

However, she continues

And over a decade later, she was still going strong, working as CMI’s New Testament specialist.⁵ But many teens in her position are not so fortunate. As Nancy Pearcey says, many church youth groups still ignore intellectual development:

Youth groups rarely encourage young people to grapple with tough questions. Instead the goal seems to be to engineer events that ratchet up emotional commitment. But emotional intensity is not enough to block out questions. If anything, it leads teens to redefine Christianity in purely emotional terms—which leaves them vulnerable when they finally do face their questions.³

We have answers—but they must get out there!

Now we have more creationist answers than probably at any time in history. But what use are they if people are not exposed to them? The same goes for defenses of Christianity in general, as Pearcey says:

The good news is that in recent years, apologetics resources have become far more available. The bad news is that many churches continue to ignore those resources, treating Christianity as though it were primarily emotional.²

Creationist and general Christian apologetics are connected, since creation is foundational for Christianity, as shown in the new commentary on Genesis 1–11, The Genesis Account. This also shows that Christianity is a system of Total Truth,⁶ making objective claims about history, the future, and morality, as well as providing the basis for science. So Christianity is not limited just to a privatized belief with no effect on the real world. But likely thanks to our ministry in churches, which is possible thanks to your support, our material is getting to unexpected places. One example is a recent debate between Christian apologist Frank Turek and atheist Michael Shermer, Is Morality Better Explained by God or Science? Although Turek opposes biblical (‘young earth’) creation, he used a clip from our DVD Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels on the Darwinian basis for the Nazi Holocaust.⁷

Once again, thank you for standing with us.

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