CHRISTIAN YOUTH OBLIVIOUS TO REALITY

After hearing of a father who sat down with his son to discuss the content of one of his son’s favorite songs, Greenday’s “Longview”, not in a reprimanding manner but rather as an opportunity to have a father-son conversation, it taught me a parenting lesson I will never forget and will utilize: know what is inevitably going to reach my children’s eyes and ears, and see the opportunities for life lessons.

More then 75% of kids that attend youth group during their high school years will walk away from the church when they reach college. Studies have shown that a key reason for this is due to lack of “heavy” material that has prepared them for the real world. A second reason is they believe the church is irrelevant. Another reason for the departure from the church is a new taste of another reality.

Kids are being raised with Christian barriers around them so thick they don’t have a clue on what’s happening apart from their Christian communities. At youth group, I had a sweet, innocent girl ask me what Cocaine was! It was cute, but really weird. One of today’s hottest songs is “I Kissed a Girl”, by Katy Perry. She was raised by parents who are both Pastors. Here is what she said in a recent article in Entertainment Weekly.
"After leaving the nest and seeing some of the world and seeing all kinds of people, my brain has a little bit of a question mark about what I believe. I’m still searching."
It took her to move out of her Christian house in order see what's really happening in the world. And that’s a standard for kids that leave the house and decide to put their faith in God on the back burner.

A recent study by a research group in Britain recommends parents to watch some of the steamy nighttime dramas that are aimed towards their teens in-order to have an opportunity for must-needed conversation with their kids. “This provides a springboard for parents to communicate their own values as well as helping teens to think through and challenge their own existing beliefs about sex, sexual health, relationships and the opposite sex," writes Anita Naik, the author of the report, issued by Britain’s Department for Children, Schools and Families. Utilizing what will, in due time, be introduced to the kids by giving them a practical biblical lesson from a source that can potentially catch them off guard due to culture shock.

Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about whatever is true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, commendable, excellent, and praise-worthy. This is a standard verse used by Christian parents to help guide them through parenting, and I believe it does need to be practiced. But does this mean we need to raise our kids to never notice what is happening around them? Is it a mistake to take what is dominant in youth culture and see what truths can be found? In the Book of Acts, “Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.””
What are we preparing our kids for?