Barriers to Lasting Faith 3

All this week we’re looking at barriers to lasting faith and the reality that far too many kids are leaving high school, home, and church, then heading off to college and walking away from their faith. Pastor Jon Nielson believes that one of the foundational reasons for this is that our kids have been entertained by our youth group efforts rather than equipped to live the difficult life of discipleship. He reminds us that in Ephesians, Paul tells us that Christ gave teachers to equip the saints for ministry and to build up the body of Christ. Youth workers need to see themselves primarily as teachers. Have we taught our students well if they graduate from high school without good Bible-reading habits, Bible-study skills, and strong examples of discipleship and prayer? If not, we’ve lost them. Youth workers, it’s good to build loads of fellowship and fun into the youth group experience. But  if that’s all there is, we’ve done more to win kids to fun, than to a lifetime of following Jesus.