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nikkiana · 08-19-2006, 09:48 PM

I can only speak from my own limited experience, but I honestly feel that the marked increase of young people (teens and twenty-somethings) leaving has less to do with higher education than it does the failings of the church (universal).

Let me stop to make mention that I'm saying this as a person who was not raised in a Christian home, converted to Christianity in the summer between my junior and senior year of high school and then left the church three years later angry and disenfranchised. I would not consider myself a Christian today, but rather a person who has an unexplainable draw to the teachings of Jesus.

From my experience, there are four prodominant behavior/belief patterns that seem to manifest themselves among the church going teen/twenty-something age group. For clarity, I'll call them the the Pretenders, Faithful Believers, the Apologists, the Questioners.

The Pretenders are the people who have absolutely no interest in becoming a Christian despite the fact they attend church. They find the idea deplorable. Usually, the only reason they attend church in the first place is because their parents make them, and often they "pretend" to be Christians just to keep older Christians in the church off their case. They've made up their minds that they're not ever stepping foot in a church again after they've left home well before ever leaving home and it's usually a very shallow-minded decision. Often, their main reason for leaving is "My parents think it's great, therefore it must be a load of crap."

The Faithful Belivers are the direct opposite of the Pretenders... They're generally not very interested in deep theological matters, but rather than leaving the church they're quite content to stay where they are. They're generally passified by the answer "Because God said so." to difficult questions and they're most likely to give you the answer "Because God said so" to tough questions. They're generally more interested in whether or not their peers are having sex so they can use peer pressure to stop them and the latest CD by <insert popular Christian band here> and they generally spend more time making fun of the "stupidity" of non-Christians.

The Apologists are the folks who have actually put a little bit of thought into their position and have come to the conclusion that God is great and his message needs to be shared. Apologists are often very enthusiastic about their faith, and LOVE discussion. Sometimes their enthusiasm gets the better of them and drives other people away, but in general, they mean well and want to be educated about what they're talking about. They have a very optimistic view of the church, despite it's problems.

The Questioners are also usually a very intelligent, thoughtful bunch.... but they're the pessimists. They're plagued by the questions that most of the other demographics don't bother to address... For example, "Does God exist?" and "What if we're wrong?" They find themselves easily frusterated with any sort of wrong-doing with the church and with Christians that give them answers to tough questions that are sub-par because they feel that dumb answers insult their intelligence ("Because God said so." is NOT an acceptable answer with Questioners). This group generally has an unexplainable draw to Christianity and has a very difficult time letting go...

Personally, I think the church blames the loss of the Pretenders to higher education when the reality is they lost them when they were sitting in the church pews.

They often lose the Questioners because they get too frusterated with other Christians that they just can't take it anymore and have to leave to retain any semblence of sanity. Questioners usually leave angry and disenfranchised, but also feeling like failures because they didn't really want to leave the faith entirely.

Apologists generally stay the course, so to speak... However, Apologists sometimes fall victim to the jealousy and scorn of older Christians. Apologists, generally are the enthusiastic ones, and in their enthusiasm, they bring new ideas and possible methods of doing things to the table. While it's largely dependant on the specific church, many Apologist's enthusiasm is shot down by older Christians in favor of doing things their way because it's the way things have always been done. If this happens to an Apologist often enough, he may become a Questioner.

Faithful Believers generally don't stray because they don't really think about it to begin with... If someone challenges, they say "Because God said so" and leave it at that. Attacks from the outside generally don't bother Faithful Believers that much...

The two groups who are probably the most "at risk" of leaving the church after being in acedemia are the two think-tanks... Questioners and Apologists. They often are slightly emotionally effected by any attacks on Christianity by outsiders... How they're effected depends greatly on the person, in my opinion... but I honestly feel that any deviance from the church is probably going to come from problems within the church rather than challenges from outside.

08-19-2006, 09:48 PM	#5 (permalink)
nikkiana Tilted Location: Brooklyn, NY	I can only speak from my own limited experience, but I honestly feel that the marked increase of young people (teens and twenty-somethings) leaving has less to do with higher education than it does the failings of the church (universal). Let me stop to make mention that I'm saying this as a person who was not raised in a Christian home, converted to Christianity in the summer between my junior and senior year of high school and then left the church three years later angry and disenfranchised. I would not consider myself a Christian today, but rather a person who has an unexplainable draw to the teachings of Jesus. From my experience, there are four prodominant behavior/belief patterns that seem to manifest themselves among the church going teen/twenty-something age group. For clarity, I'll call them the the Pretenders, Faithful Believers, the Apologists, the Questioners. The Pretenders are the people who have absolutely no interest in becoming a Christian despite the fact they attend church. They find the idea deplorable. Usually, the only reason they attend church in the first place is because their parents make them, and often they "pretend" to be Christians just to keep older Christians in the church off their case. They've made up their minds that they're not ever stepping foot in a church again after they've left home well before ever leaving home and it's usually a very shallow-minded decision. Often, their main reason for leaving is "My parents think it's great, therefore it must be a load of crap." The Faithful Belivers are the direct opposite of the Pretenders... They're generally not very interested in deep theological matters, but rather than leaving the church they're quite content to stay where they are. They're generally passified by the answer "Because God said so." to difficult questions and they're most likely to give you the answer "Because God said so" to tough questions. They're generally more interested in whether or not their peers are having sex so they can use peer pressure to stop them and the latest CD by <insert popular Christian band here> and they generally spend more time making fun of the "stupidity" of non-Christians. The Apologists are the folks who have actually put a little bit of thought into their position and have come to the conclusion that God is great and his message needs to be shared. Apologists are often very enthusiastic about their faith, and LOVE discussion. Sometimes their enthusiasm gets the better of them and drives other people away, but in general, they mean well and want to be educated about what they're talking about. They have a very optimistic view of the church, despite it's problems. The Questioners are also usually a very intelligent, thoughtful bunch.... but they're the pessimists. They're plagued by the questions that most of the other demographics don't bother to address... For example, "Does God exist?" and "What if we're wrong?" They find themselves easily frusterated with any sort of wrong-doing with the church and with Christians that give them answers to tough questions that are sub-par because they feel that dumb answers insult their intelligence ("Because God said so." is NOT an acceptable answer with Questioners). This group generally has an unexplainable draw to Christianity and has a very difficult time letting go... Personally, I think the church blames the loss of the Pretenders to higher education when the reality is they lost them when they were sitting in the church pews. They often lose the Questioners because they get too frusterated with other Christians that they just can't take it anymore and have to leave to retain any semblence of sanity. Questioners usually leave angry and disenfranchised, but also feeling like failures because they didn't really want to leave the faith entirely. Apologists generally stay the course, so to speak... However, Apologists sometimes fall victim to the jealousy and scorn of older Christians. Apologists, generally are the enthusiastic ones, and in their enthusiasm, they bring new ideas and possible methods of doing things to the table. While it's largely dependant on the specific church, many Apologist's enthusiasm is shot down by older Christians in favor of doing things their way because it's the way things have always been done. If this happens to an Apologist often enough, he may become a Questioner. Faithful Believers generally don't stray because they don't really think about it to begin with... If someone challenges, they say "Because God said so" and leave it at that. Attacks from the outside generally don't bother Faithful Believers that much... The two groups who are probably the most "at risk" of leaving the church after being in acedemia are the two think-tanks... Questioners and Apologists. They often are slightly emotionally effected by any attacks on Christianity by outsiders... How they're effected depends greatly on the person, in my opinion... but I honestly feel that any deviance from the church is probably going to come from problems within the church rather than challenges from outside.