Bible Reading: Hebrews 10:22-39
Church attendance is rapidly becoming a thing of the past for most young people in their 20’s.
According to the Associated Baptist Press, six out of ten teens currently involved in church will not continue after high school graduation. Only 20% of all young adults in their 20’s will continue in church. Why do so many teens drop out of church after they reach their 20’s?
The Barna study found that young adults feel little allegiance to a certain congregation or denomination. Almost 70% of them think if they cannot find a local church to help them become more like Christ, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.
People in their 20’s were also as likely as older Americans to attend events not sponsored by a local church, to participate in a spiritually oriented small group at work, to have a conversation with someone else who holds them accountable for living faith principles, and to attend a house church not associated with a conventional church.
Youth ministries should be judged not by the number of attendees or the sophistication of events. Instead, church should focus on helping teens learn commitment, passion and resources to pursue Christ intentionally and whole-heartedly after they leave the youth ministry nest.
Teens and young adults need to be taught and understand the importance of the church. That becomes a complex task when the government and public education teaches just the opposite; but even more of a detriment is when parents fail to be faithful, fail to tithe, fail to support the pastor and church staff – no wonder so many young adults are dropping out of church. This situation certainly calls for us to do a better job of teaching our pre-teens and teens, and yes, our parents the importance of a local, indigenous, Bible-believing, Bible-preaching, Bible-practicing church! Amen!
What to do:
✞ Be faithful at teaching and abiding by what we teach our teens.
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