I am uncomfortable with the expression that teenagers are the “church of tomorrow.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure well meaning people imply by those words that teenagers will one day be the adults that populate our churches and serve as leaders in our ministries.
The contemporary church is seeing a mass exodus of young adults walking away from their faith in their late teens and early twenties. Some studies say the percentage is around 80% while others estimate it to be much higher. The statistic highlights major failures in many contemporary church ministries on a number of levels, but not all churches are seeing this lack of fruit.
In our first post we discussed boundaries with the opposite gender. Now we move on to understanding and protecting boundaries regarding parents and disciplinary situations. Here are a few thoughts:
It’s easy to forget that God has given us structures of authority and limitations to our roles. It’s easy to be unwise in our attempts to “help” people. It’s possible for a well-meaning minister to step out of bounds.
Nurture speaks of tutoring, educating, and training. This kind of instruction includes mild rebukes and correction but does not respond in a fleshly manner.
I explained to our teens that when we returned home each of them should give a testimony in a special testimony service as to what God had done in their heart and what decisions they had made.
