12. Thinking about solutions.
We know from the research, our own experiences and that of family and friends as well as our observations that the drift from faith by young people is real and it causes us some anguish.
Recognition of the problems cannot be the end of our journey. What can we do? What should we do?
I would suggest that initially we consider:
- God’s purposes for family and education.
- The good thinking and research by Biblical Christian thinkers with regard to human and faith development.
The human family is a creation of God and determined by Him. But human family is not ultimate; the family of God – The Body of Christ – is the endgame.
Just like the purpose of human marriage is to see a picture of Christ’s relationship with His people; human family points to the Body of Christ that will be eternal.
So, the journey for children begins with dependence on parents – but it doesn’t end there. There is a sense in which children need to progress from dependence on family through independence to inter-dependence in community and dependence upon God.
Many Christians have tried to articulate a progression of faith development. No theory of faith development is complete and no person’s faith development follows a strict formula. However, some of the observations can be valuable. We will be considering the faith development theory of John Westerhoff.
What we can state so far is that:
The purpose of family is to progress to faith in Christ, a dependence upon the sovereign God and an interdependence with people.
The nature of faith is that it should progress, grow, and deepen – from imitating, or assuming, the faith of parents and others to a position of ownership.
More next time.
Blessings
Brian