A few months ago I had a conversation with a father who was heartbroken when his daughter returned from her (Christian) college to announce that she was a now a witch. I've heard this story more times than you'd think. A young person leaves the Christian home for the first time and ends up in the grips of the occult. I'm not trying to scare you, but I want you to understand this is a serious threat, even for our "good, young people". So how does something like this happen? I've thought it over and these are my conclusions:
1. They can't defend their beliefs. They've been raised to believe certain things are right and certain things are wrong, but never taught scripture to back it up. The sad truth is that they don't know what they believe, and the even sadder truth is that they WILL meet someone who DOES know their beliefs no matter how heretical they may be. Our youth can't explain why we pray "our Father which art in heaven hollowed be thy name", but they will encounter young men and women who can explain EXACTLY why they worship the earth, or nature, or follow individualism. When they are engaged in a debate regarding their beliefs, our young people will lose even though they carry the truth because they can't express it. When the "good Christian kid" realizes their peer knows what they believe and they don't, they start to question their own beliefs.
2. They haven't had the Word poured into them. When I was in high school in was becoming unheard of to have a Wednesday night service that didn't revolve around a basketball goal, volleyball net, or video games . I've brought this up before and I don't want you to get me wrong. I'm not bashing using these tools as a way to entice young people into the safe space of the church. My problem is that too often that was ALL it was about. You could go to youth service and never hear a scripture other than in a vague reference, and everyone knew we were just killing time until we were able to commence hanging out. We are now at a pivital evaluation point in youth ministry. My generation that grew up with X-Box for a youth pastor are now adults, on their own and they have nothing to show for their years in the church. They don't know the bible, or how to hear the voice of the Lord, and are wondering around aimlessly searching. Again, I'm not saying these tactics are inertly wrong, but if we have a young person in our ministry for 6 years who has strong hand-eye coordination but can't quote a scripture to save their life then it's time to hang up our hoodies and skinny jeans and move on. They move out on their own or start college and encounter true evil in the world and they freeze because we haven't prepared them for the battle. If we love them, we need to prepare them for the world they are going in to. Preparation means making sure they are full of the Spirit when they leave and know how to hear Him when He speaks.
3. We gave them a community instead of a family. As described above, the church has done a good job of creating community centers. I think if a church has the resources for an area where kids can have safe fun and the community is made better, they should go for it. Fellowship should be a priority in our churches, but there is a difference between community and family. A community is based on geographic or idealogical closeness, family knows know limits. We are a close community when we see each other, but when our kids go off to college are we still there for them? If we were family the way the bible instructs us, we wouldn't let our kids slip away. We would let them know we care for them and think of them no matter how far they are. What does this have to do with the occult? Followers of these false religions do one thing very well: they make outsiders feel included. How do we prevent that? We create a family around our kids that shows them they are loved, wanted, and never alone.
I know this post may seem random or "out there" to you, but I honestly can't count the number of times this has come up in recent years. Please don't throw these thoughts out of your mind just because this idea seems so foreign to you, because these points apply just as much to young people stumbling into alcoholism, drug abuse, and promiscuity. Let's love our kids enough to accept the realities of the world we are sending them into and prepare them to stand strong.
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