10. Correlation and Alignment

The most common issue expressed by those who walk away from faith and/or faith communities is the lack of cohesion between experiences and observations and the seeming inability of a Christian faith to address those issues.

Parents and educators must commit to continued conversation. If conversations do not take place with a seven-year-old, they are not likely to begin with a fourteen-year-old.

We must spend time helping young hearts and minds to find faith and experience alignment with the issues of life.

Thoughtful questioning is an essential initiative for adults. There needs to be a personal engagement and connection. We need to be like Paul who says,

…we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves…”[1]

We need to share how we came to know Christ and be known by Him. We can then ask: Where are you in your journey of faith?

We need to be wary triumphalism and talk about the times when a miracle didn’t happen for us, or prayer was not answered in the way we desired in our life[2]

We can then ask: When have you been disappointed?

We can talk about times when we possibly misunderstood God’s leading; when maybe we thought one thing, then realised it was different

We can then ask: “When have you been surprised?”

We need to reflect upon times when we did something wrong and we thought we were disqualified from being used by God

We can then ask: “Has there been a time or situation where you feel that you let God down and thought He would be disappointed with you?”

Real, vulnerable, but strong conversations help our young people to be honest and seek solutions to the alignment of faith and experience.

Blessings
Brian

 


 

[1] 1 Thessalonians 2:8

[2] 2 Corinthians 12:7-9