Getting Students to Give a Darn

Growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when I lived there I didn't think it was anything that special. It is known for being the second cloudiest city in the nation (#1 being Seattle), and it's nicknamed the "Furniture City" known for it's production of furniture. WOO HOO. It was and will always be where my home roots are but I never felt any special bond with the city while living there. It wasn't until I moved away that I truly appreciated my home town for what it was. After living in Nashville for almost three years now, I now understand what it means to have a sense of pride and value from where I come from. Moving form the North to the South is a bit of a cultural shift. There are elements that are similar, but I have learned to appreciate the differences. What helped me learn this was removing myself from the familiar and stepping into a place and culture a bit unfamiliar. Leaving my comfort zone helped me gain a whole new understanding.

How can we get youth to care about they believe? How can we help them have a sense of pride and ownership in their faith? What if we took them out of their comfort zones and gave them a church experience that is unfamiliar?

I didn't think it would work and I didn't know how it would work but somehow God made it happen. This Saturday, we took our Sr. High Sunday School class to a Jewish Synagogue. My prayer has been for each teenager to have a hunger causing them to dig deeper into a rich theological understanding of who Christ is. I saw this prayer answered after visiting a synagogue. So how on earth does taking students to a Jewish Synagogue that doesn't believe Christ is the risen Lord accomplish that?

Our Sr. High Sunday School class has been studying other religions and denominations. We are on a journey of digging into what others believe and why in order to help us answer the questions what we believe and why. By giving student's a different religious or denominational experience they are exposed to a variety of ways to worship and experience God. This exposure gives the opportunity for students to decide for themselves what they believe and how they can best experience God. When students get to college they are going to be exposed to a variety of religious and philosophical beliefs. They will most likely struggle more than ever during that time about their beliefs. Most of this stems from being around several other people with different beliefs or without any beliefs in a highly educated atmosphere. Why not expose students to different beliefs before they get to college so they can wrestle and ask deep questions in the context of their Christian roots? I think this would help students build a stronger foundation and prepare them for college. This way they don't feel lied to by the church or lied to by omission about what else is out there.

Congregation Micah

Visiting the Jewish Synagogue was a great start. After all, Christians would not exist without the Jewish faith since it is the root of where our faith comes from. Students asked members of the congregation deep questions about what they believed and how they live out their Jewish faith. They showed nothing but respect and love. Nobody argued or debated, but we simply asked each other questions and learned from one another.

I have heard other churches teach different religions in the context of making sure students know that they are all wrong and Christianity is the best. This is not our approach. We are also NOT teaching universalism telling students that all religions are right but they are just a different path to God. My husband and I are teaching students to respect other religions and appreciate the culture surrounding those religions, but it's OK to lovingly disagree and ask questions. We are teaching that there are some aspects of truth in each religion but Christianity is the most true comparatively.

After visiting the synagogue, we all went out to lunch and students asked questions allowing me to explain... "As Christians, we believe there is one ultimate truth and that truth is that there is a God who loves you and knows you intimately. Unlike any other religion, this God came down to humanity and stepped into human flesh as Jesus Christ. And then God, the ruler and creator of all, chose willingly to die on the cross for your sin, and was resurrected so that we may have eternal glory with Him." We also talked about how tolerance is not about accepting everyone's opinion, but it is about listening, loving and respecting. Tolerance doesn't mean we have to hide our beliefs because we are afraid of offending someone. I think tolerance is about having the freedom to disagree openly, but knowing at the end of the day you are still loved and valued as a human.

This inspiring conversation happened all because students were given an opportunity  to step into a church experience unfamiliar to them. During our lunch conversation, for the first time I heard them talk about their faith and beliefs with a sense of pride in the same way that I now show pride for my hometown in Michigan. Because they stepped back and compared their beliefs to others, this allowed them  to start answering the most important question of all time from Mark 8:29 when Jesus asks, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?"